Abigail In The Crucible Act 1 Essay

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Abigail in the Crucible Act 1 Within the Crucible, there lies a complex story involving the accounts and happenings surrounding the 1692 Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Act 1 of the Crucible sets up the unfolding of events which lead to witch accusations and increasing superstition among the puritan community. The Crucible reveals the intriguing and malicious character of Abigail Williams to be a manipulative and unabashed liar, who possesses the remarkable quality of self preservation even among what seem to be insurmountable odds. The character of Abigail Williams demonstrates domineering behavior throughout the act in such events as Abigail’s threatening the girls to remain silent regarding events in the forest, Abigail’s attempts of seducing John Proctor, …show more content…

Throughout the community, word of the supposed “witchcraft” begins to leak out under the immediate concern of Rev. Parris. Rev. Parris fears that the incident could taint his reputation among the other Puritans. As a result, Rev. Parris continually interrogates Abigail with the intent of getting what he feels is the truth. Abigail continually acts innocent in order to eliminate the suspicion of Rev. Parris. To keep the incident a secret, Abigail threatens the girls involved in the incident, so that they will not talk. More specifically, she threatens the girls with death by her hands. Her logic for this is quite clear, she wants to be cleared of all suspicion, and by putting fear into the girls, she feels that this is a adequately accomplished. As a result, Abagails tatics of manipulation keep her from receiving harsh persecution and accusations.

Another act of domineering behavior on part of Abigail is her repeated attempted seducing of Mr. Proctor. Abigail’s reasons for this are not quite clear, but one

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