Arthur Miller's The Crucible

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The devil is defined as being a spirit or power of evil. In the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, numerous citizens of Salem Village are prosecuted and convicted for having made contact with the devil. While historically, the Salem Witch Trials were an effect of greed and vengeance and are said to be false, the devil was indeed present in the town of Salem; he takes the shape of a young girl named Abigail Williams. Abigail depicts her evil spirit and coalition with the devil though her deception of anyone willing to listen, her irrational behavior, and her immoral actions, which directly defy the Puritan church. A lie is dangerous and powerful in the hands of anyone, but in a sinner’s hands, it has the potential to be fatal. Give the power to lie to one such as Abigail Williams and “thirty-nine people [may] be arrested” (Miller 56). The arrest of each of the thirty-nine Salem citizens is directly, or indirectly, at the fault of Abigail Williams because of her false statements and accusations. What may possess her to place so many lives on the line is beyond rational reasoning; but after consideration, one may come to the conclusion that Abigail has an evil soul. An evil soul is not something others can treat, or even see; this illuminates the means by which Abigail fools so many intelligent people into trusting her and feeling contrite for her. She easily denies accusations by simply promising there “[is] nothin’ more. [She swears] it” (11). So easily these lies slide off of her tongue into the innocent victims’ ears, and they believe every word. The ease of fraudulence she displays is remarkable, and it is no surprise that she sparks fear and awe in many of her young protégés and other revered members of Salem. Abigail even... ... middle of paper ... ...ong after John Proctor and other accused members of the town attempt to debunk Abigail’s act, she mysteriously “[vanishes]…she does not return and… [has] robbed [her uncle]” (126). Her blatant disregard for important aspects of Puritanism shows her lack of reverence for God; and although Abigail manages to escape prosecution in her hometown of Salem, she is no safer from hell than a true witch. Abigail defines the devil though the evil aura she casts onto those around her. Abigail became the perfect symbol for the devil in this play through lies, tricks, and lack of regard for anyone other than herself. Abigail’s accusations of witchcraft cause chaos in Salem; and many people she accuses are condemned because her vengeful accusations. It is only logical to believe that Abigail did not care about her fate because she was already damned due to her ties with the devil.

Fear Tactics in The Crucible
653 Words | 2 Pages
Abigail Williams is accused of witchcraft early on. In order to avoid conviction she confesses to witchcraft, accuses Tituba of forcing her to drink blood and do witchcraft, and accuses Elizabeth Proctor, Sarah Good, Goody Osburn, Bridget Bishop, Goody Sibber, Goody Hawkins, Goody Booth, and countless other innocent people in court. She throws herself down in the court and does other dramatic actions in order to convince the court that a person is in fact a witch. This leads to people being falsely accused of witchcraft and forced to accuse others in order to live. Because of Abigail's growing power in the court, people become fearful of her. One of the most important people who begins to fear her is Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth is afraid that Abigail will accuse her of witchcraft. She also gives more insight into Abigail's behavior in court. She states that Abigail will “scream and howl and fall to the floor” when the accused are brought forth (50). The people and the court begin to believe that Abigail can see who the witches are. Her words and actions become the deciding factors in a defendants fate.
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The Crucible: Abigail Williams is to Blame
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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.
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Arthur Miller's The Crucible
1463 Words | 3 Pages
down, and tries to make out that she is the innocent victim in all the
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How Does The Crucible Show The Nature Of Power And Authority
2327 Words | 5 Pages
...ithout concrete evidence. Also, Abigail allows innocent people to be alleged and sometimes even hanged without a chance to defend themselves. Her main reason was to prove the hypocrisy within the town. “Let you beware, Mr. Danforth. Think you to be so mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits? Beware of it!” Abigail is hinting that no one especially Danforth, who is loaded with power and authority is able to escape the devil. She sees the trials as a game. Abigail wishes to punish Salem for its hypocritical values by falsely accusing women and men for their wrong doing. Danforth, with the abuse of his authority in a way represents the “Un- American activist committee,” by questioning as many “Communists” as they could. Abigail’s abuse of power represents how blame was thrown onto innocent people, for their lives to be taken if they didn’t “name names.”
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Abigail Williams The Crucible Essay
567 Words | 2 Pages
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail who was responsible for the Salem witch trials. Abigail Williams, niece of Reverend Samuel Parris and former worker in the Proctor house, is the seventeen year old girl whose parents were killed by Native Americans. She also had an affair with John Proctor while Elizabeth, his wife, was pregnant. It was Abigail’s flaws – immaturity, envy, and lust – that led her to be the most responsible for the tragedy of the witch-hunt in Salem.
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Examples Of Injustice In The Crucible
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Through Miller’s depiction of Abigail Williams, readers can view an example of how someone who has been cast away by society believes that she owes no responsibility towards the rest of her community. Abigail is a character who has suffered many unfortunate losses throughout her life in Salem. As a young child, her parents were killed by Native Americans, and she was forced to reside with her uncle, Reverend Parris. She is cast out by the man she loves, John Proctor, and is driven by vengeance to accuse innocents of witchcraft
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Abigail's Power In The Crucible
1194 Words | 3 Pages
Abigail easily transformed the naive town of Salem into her own personal hub of power. To gain the attention of the judge, she threatens, “Let you beware…that the power of Hell may not turn your wits?” (Miller 100). Through the firmness of her diction, she shows the judge that she is the one who has the power, because she is the one who knows who the witches are. She changes the entire political status of the town by having a women be on top. The diction serves purposeful to convince others into believing that she is empowered to stop the workings of the devil in Salem and is one of the few who can accurately do so. Not only does her diction transform the town but also prompts her friends to conceal their secrets. As directed to convince her friends she specifies, “Now look you…We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters. And that is all” (Miller 19). Abigail is presented as the “leader” of the girls who initiated the Salem Witch Trials. With her strong diction she showed that she was in-charge and they had to follow her commands. It was important that Arthur made her a fierce girl because it is more believable that she was capable of accomplishing her deeds. Similarly, through out the Red Scare, McCarthy had to be assertive and strong willed in order to gain he trust of the whole country into believing what he says. The words of Abigail is important
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Did Abigail Williams Cause Mass Hysteria In The Crucible
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Abigail quickly pointed fingers towards the most vulnerable the ones that were least able to defend themselves in court. After many accusations from Abigail it led the court to confusion to apprehend anyone who they thought were a part of witchcraft when it was actually Abigail who should have received punishment from the court. Some evidence that supports my claim is when Abigail denies that she has engaged in acts of witchcraft that took place in the forest, in her attempt to keep her record clean she claims that betty fainted from a shock rather than from witnessing a conjuring of spirits. This way she could lower the suspicion that they had about what happened in the woods. The evidence above supports my claim by showing how Abigail consistently lies to save herself causing a problem that looked to be small into a full scale argument of misunderstanding. Also by threatening all of the girls who witnessed the conjuring with a death that will make them suffer. This in turn caused all of the witnesses to fear for their life and instead of accusing Abigail they begin to accuse others of being seen with the devil. Blaming others who took no part in their witchcraft resulted in innocent people being apprehended and further escalated the problem. “I saw sarah good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” This
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Who Is Abigail Lie In The Crucible
599 Words | 2 Pages
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams is one of the most influential people in this play. Even though she is a very underrated character, the power she has over everyone is tremendous. She deceived everyone to believe that there’s a large amount of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. So once things started to get out of hand, she had no other choice but to just go with it. You see, Abigail’s a very good liar, so when people got in the way of what she wanted, they got accused immediately. Though Abigail only wanted one thing from the beginning and that was John Proctor. Because of her lying, she had thrown herself into a big mess by her lying, no remorse, and her selfishness desires.
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How Is Abigail Presented In The Crucible
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Abigail’s words prove that she is not only evil, but a manipulator because of her threatening all of the girls that were with her on that day in the woods; that if they dared speak to anyone about what really happened, she herself would kill them. The girls were so frightened by her threats, that they remained quiet, and listened to Abigail in order to
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The Crucible: Who is to Blame?
642 Words | 2 Pages
The first reason Abigail is to blame for the deaths of the innocent Puritans is her lustful personal ambition to be John Proctor’s wife. John and Abigail previously had an affair, which basically began the hysteria. An exasperated John attempted to tell Abigail the affair is a thing of the past, by saying, “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.” Abigail, however, relentlessly strives to keep their “romance” alive. Because of this intense jealousy of John’s wife, there is an enormous amount of tension between Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail even goes as far as to consume a potion with the intent to murder Elizabeth, which Betty confronts her about by saying, “You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!” Abigail is so envious of Elizabeth, she does the unthinkable by accusing her of witchcraft. She claims that Goody Proctor’s spirit came to her and stabbed her with a needle. She felt that if she could dispose of Elizabeth Proctor, she could take her rightful position as John’s wife.
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Abigail Williams Corruption
229 Words | 1 Pages
Among those with good morals, lies those who have evil morals. Abigail Williams, the most sinful character in the play, contributes to the corruption of women in Salem. These acts of evil stem from the girls who danced in the woods. Abigail strikes out against those who wish to confess by saying “we’ll be whipped” scaring others. (Miller 1.18). Abigail from the beginning is rooted with evil and she still gets to hold hierarchy among others.Abigail is evil in her actions and serves as the “ringleader” for the group of children but, is not respected by John Proctor who calls her “with great sympathy but firmly: [a] child” (Miller 1.22). The most corrupt and evil character in Salem, is also the most juvenile, which Miller portrays through Abigail.
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Abigail Williams In The Crucible Essay
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I never knew what pretense salem was, i never knew the lying lessons i was taught by all these christian women and their covenanted men and now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, sin it is, you loved me yet!”. Which means she never had sin, but yet she did for John and she would do anything for john. She did all that just to have him and at the end she got him killed and she didn’t get anything but hurting or getting others killed that got in her way. Abigail is vengeful, selfish, manipulative, and a magnificent liar. She seems to be uniquely gifted at spreading death and destruction wherever she goes. She has an eerie sense of how to manipulate others and gain control over them. This is why Abigail is the most to blame for the salem witch trials and dreadful hangings. All the lies she made up she dragged every single one of the people that got in her way that was her goal but yet she didn't get what she wanted the most
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In General Pride Is At The Bottom Of All Great Mistakes In The Crucible
513 Words | 2 Pages
Abigail shows us how we can make mistakes because of pride as is when she is hurt because of John's rejection, which causes her to accuse his wife plus other random people in Salem of witchcraft. After the higher authority of Salem notices this, the town sees her as the savior of the town who has come to cleanse them of witchcraft. Therefore, they put her on a pedestal, which inflates her ego. The negative
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Essay On Hypocrisy In The Crucible
1402 Words | 3 Pages
The characters of Abigail, Reverend Parris, Danforth, Mary Warren, and Thomas Putnam, illustrate the moral corruption and hypocrisy at the heart of Salem’s society and witch trials. Abigail realizes that she has power and, “turned her own violation of Salem law into a occasion for naming those for whom she has little liking and, in so doing transforms herself into a local heroine” (Schlueter and Flanagan 116). Abigail really wants revenge on Elizabeth Proctor and will do anything to have her killed so she can be with John again. One of the reasons Abigail doesn't want to confess is because if the people found out she wanted to cast spells against Elizabeth, they would realize she had an affair with John Proctor and think she interacted with the devil. Proctor brings the past affair into court and says, “She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave!” (Miller 116). Elizabeth was only one of many people she tried to have killed. The finger pointing from Abigail was used to get the attention of dancing in the woods out of her hands. Reverend Parris also displays moral corruption and hypocrisy in the story. Parris is a selfish liar who only
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Arthur Miller's The Crucible

Fear Tactics in The Crucible

The Crucible: Abigail Williams is to Blame