Abigail Williams In Arthur Williams The Crucible She is the niece of Reverend Parris and the cousin of Betty Parris; she used to work as a servant for the Proctors, before being sent away by Elizabeth Proctor; she is the ringleader of the “afflicted” girls. Abigail Williams was the initial instigator of the witch hunt in Salem in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible. She lied and accused others of witchcraft in order to save herself. During the Salem Witch Trials over 200 people were accused of witchcraft and 20 were executed (Blumberg). Abigail Williams is a member of a strict Puritan society. Witnessing her parents being murdered right in front of her, being forced to live with her selfish inconsiderate uncle, and having a love for a man she …show more content…
Elizabeth Proctor is a perfect example of this given the fact that she is the wife of John Proctor, the man Abigail has strong feelings towards. John and Abigail had an affair when Abigail used to work as a servant for the Proctor family, but Elizabeth found out and sent her away. Abigail shows a profound sense of jealousy and hatred towards Elizabeth because in her mind she is the only thing standing in the way of her and John being together. “She‘d dare not call out such a farmer‘s wife but there be monstrous profit in it. She thinks to take my place, John” (Insert Citation.) Abigail accuses Elizabeth of practicing witchcraft in attempt to take her place as John Proctor’s wife. She claimed Elizabeth Proctor sent out her spirit and it stabbed her with a sewing needle which was coincidently found in the poppet Elizabeth received from Mary Warren (one of the “afflicted” girls) that night. After Elizabeth Proctor was taken in for witchcraft John practically forced Mary Warren to testify in court saying that she and all the other girls lied and made everything up. During the trial John confesses to having relations with Abigail Williams in order to explain why she would have motive to falsely accuse Elizabeth in order to get her out of the way. John proclaimed that Elizabeth knew of this affair and
The motivation of jealousy is portrayed by Abigail in The Crucible numerous times. In the play, Abigail's motivation of jealousy is shown when Betty says "You did, you did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!". (1107) Abigail's jealousy gave her motivation to try to kill Elizabeth because she was convinced that John loved her as much as she loved him. Another example of Abigail's jealousy is when she says to Proctor "She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her! Let her turn you like a --". (1110) Abigai...
In the Crucible there was three characters that stood out from all the other ones in this wicked story. Abigail Williams was a big influence in this story she would lie and lie to get out of things and she was also the leader of the girls in the woods. Furthermore she also had an affair with John Proctor which made John and Elizabeth relationship unstable. Also John Proctor runs into a situation at the end of the story where he is put in the position if he wants his pride of not signing that paper full of lies or die knowing he did the right thing of not lying. Additionally, Elizabeth Proctor has never lied ever until the day John was being prosecuted for his witchcraft and possibly adultery and Elizabeth lied so that his name wouldn't be ruined.
During the early years of the colonies, there was a mad witch hunt striking the heart of Salem. Anger, reputation, and even religion play an important part during the play of The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. The author allows us to witness the vivid idea of the hysteria taking place in Salem, Massachusetts, and why it was so vulnerable during the time.
The Crucible is one of the most bizarre accounts of a historical event to date. The naïveté of the townspeople leads them down a road of madness and confusion, led by a shameless Puritan girl. Abigail Williams was a ruthless girl who showed no mercy upon accusing her victims of witchcraft. Knowing the entire town of Salem would believe her and the other girls, she would not hesitate at charging anyone she wished with the crime of the Devil’s work. However, a challenge arose to Abigail when she decided to accuse Elizabeth Proctor, and eventually her husband John, of witchcraft. The Proctor marriage was not just any simple marriage; it had its times of cold shoulders, heartfelt truth, and undying love.
How can a girl who condemned seventy two to a death sentence and drank a charm to kill a man’s wife, a man she has slept with on more than one occasion be the victim? It’s possible when the town she lives in is worse than her. Although Abigail Williams is typically thought of as the antagonist of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, she is in fact a victim as much as any other tragic character in the play.
In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, the main character Abigail Williams is to blame for the 1692 witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Abigail is a mean and vindictive person who always wants her way, no matter who she hurts. Through out the play her accusations and lies cause many people pain and suffering, but she seemed to never care for any of them except John Proctor, whom she had an affair with seven months prior to the beginning of the play. John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth used to employ Abigail, until Elizabeth found out the affair and threw Abigail out. Although John told Abigail that the affair was over and he would never touch her again, she tried desperately to rekindle their romance. "Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I'll ever reach for you again." (Page 23) She claimed that she loved John and that he loved her. Before the play began, Abigail tried to kill Elizabeth with a curse. She thought that if Elizabeth were dead John would marry her. Further into the play, Abigail accused Elizabeth of witchcraft. She saw Marry Warren, the Proctor's servant, making a poppet. Mary put a needle into the doll, and Abigail used that for her accusation. She stabbed herself with a needle and claimed that Elizabeth's soul had done it. Although Abigail claimed she loved John, she may have just loved the care and attention he gave her. John cared for her like no one else had. In a way he could be described as somewhat of a father figure to her. When Abigail was just a child, she witnessed her parents' brutal murders. "I saw Indians smash my dear parent's heads on the pillow next to mine..." (page 20) After her traumatic experience, she was raised by her uncle, Reverend Parris, who is somewhat of a villain. In the play it was written, "He (Parris) was a widower with no interest in children, or talent with them." (Page 3) Parris regarded children as young adults who should be "thankful for being permitted to walk straight, eyes slightly lowered, arms at the sides, and mouths shut until bidden to speak." (Page 4) Therefore, it is obvious to see that Abigail grew up without any love or nurturing.
Comparison of Elizabeth Proctor with Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's The Crucible Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor, the leading female characters in 'The Crucible'. Both show determination in order to get what they want. Abigail, a cunning girl that is out for revenge, feels she has superiority over many of the other characters even though she is only a young girl. Elizabeth's character portrays a wife in distress after she finds out about her husband's affair, yet she still has courage throughout the play. She shows determination when she is in need of strength to keep her going, after Abigail accused her of witchcraft.
Abigail was able to easily deceive and manipulate the court to try and get what she had set her eyes on, being John Proctor; a much older, married man who had had an affair with Abigail once when she was a sort of servant in his household. After finding of this, his wife Elizabeth had banished Abigail from their house. Abigail sought revenge...
Lydia Velishek Mr. Stensrud Honors: US Literature & Composition 10 October 2017 Title Here It is clear that Abigail Williams is portrayed as the antagonist in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, taking place in the late 1600s in Salem, Massachusetts and based on the witch-trials therein. She serves as a catalyst for the witch trials by falsely accusing innocent townspeople with the intent of maintaining the position of power she gains from them. Due to the transparency of her actions, Abigail’s ulterior motives are also distinguishable.
Abigail Williams is manipulative and wants everything to go her way. She is the main character and causes trouble everywhere she goes. The Salem Witch Trials is about hearings and prosecutions of people who were accused of witchcraft. In The Crucible Abigail is a no good villain. Abigail first commits adultery with Elizabeth’s husband. Later on Abigail begins to accuse innocent people of doing witchcraft which causes them to die. Abigail Williams uses the Salem Witch Trials to put out all the resentment she has toward everyone.
the town. Abigail doesn't want anyone to find out that she was in the forest so
The Crucible demonstrates a dynamic relationship between fear, judgement, and death. In the Salem community, individuals were accused of witchcraft and executed based off the words and actions of others. Words that murdered innocent victims and brought hysteria to the quiet town. Malice laced in accusations charged by a few teenagers of Salem who wanted control. Abigail who is the ring leader of the entirety of the ploy, who used Christian principles, and played off the fear of others for her own gain. Arthur Miller portrays Abigail Williams as a manipulative, envious, and a deceptive antagonist which brought her fate upon herself.
Abigail Williams is to be blamed for everything that happened in the Crucible. Whenever something bad was happening she was there in the middle of it. Even if the situation had nothing to do with her she would make it about her somehow.
Abigail Williams the main character in The Crucible by Arthur Miller draws the interest of the reader as she is a wicked, confident girl who lies to get what she wants and defends her name and her life.
The year is 1692 in Salem, a small town in Massachusetts, and the Puritans community is in serious trouble. In the story “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, the Puritans community is in the Salem court where John Proctor admits to committing adultery to Abigail Williams who at the time was very young. Abigail Williams is where the court started after she is involved in the case where John Proctor is accused of committing adultery with her. Abigail also lead the girls and their witchcraft accusations in court. Abigail truly believed that John Proctor still had love for her.