The Crucible – The Character of Abigail 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. Abigail is a defensive girl. She is always defending her reputation and herself to get out of trouble. Abigail was on orphan, her uncle Parris feeds and clothes her. She was also expelled from the house by Goody Proctor, therefore she has little standing in village. After she was caught dancing in the woods, Parris questioned her name and she replied angrily,"Be no blush about my name." Later, when Hale was questioning Abigail about dancing in the woods, Abby defends herself, "I didn't see no Devil", and she points to Tituba, taking herself out of the spotlight and trouble. Her relationship with John Proctor and her animosity to Goody Proctor also interest is as they are reasons why Elizabeth Proctor was accused as a witch and later the death of John. Abigail loved John but John only lusted because of strains in his marriage. When Elizabeth expelled Abigail, John gave up. This is shown when Abigail asked John."Give me a word,John. A soft word." John replies,"I will cut of my hand before I'll ever reach for you again." Abigail cannot have John, this caused bitterness and hatred towards Elizabeth. She says," She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me, She is a cold, snivelling woman..." Abigail is wicked and confident and is not afraid to take control of situations. This is shown when she is with Parris, Abigail is respectful on the surface but she hides her resentment and disrespect. She talks back to defend her name and in Act One, she suggests to Parris," Uncle, the rumour of witchcraft is all about; I think you'd best go down and deny it yourself." She is also aggressive and forceful, the other girls are afraid of her. When Mary Warren suggested that they should confess to dancing in the woods. Abigail threatens them,."..I have seen some reddish work done at night and i can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!"
In every family, there is one child that is always very misleading and evil, and besides that, they get away with everything that they do that is unsound. The certain person in the family may break on of you mom’s favorite plate, and then end up placing the blame on you, and then persuades your parents that he or she is telling the true. Abigail Williams is the poor duplicate of that sibling or relative. She influences everyone that she is an innocent teenage girl, but that is not the case throughout the play. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Abigail is the bona fide misleading and evil teenage girl.
However, she was not able to do this on her own; the community helped to hang nineteen innocent people. Her place in society, having an uncle for a reverend, placed her in good light. She would be able to escape most suspicion because of her position in the society. Furthermore, the Puritan people were easy to scare, and Abigail was well aware of the matter. If she could scare a few people into believing in witches, when rumors were already flowing, she would be able to divert attention from herself, while seeking revenge for Elizabeth as well. After the incident with Reverend Parris, she needed to find people to blame. Although, some people may say she should be pardoned for her past; she was an orphan from the beginning so she did not know better. “ABIGAIL: I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine, and I have seen some reddish work done at night (Miller 19, act 1).” Her claimed true motives were because of her terrible start to life. Although she had an uncle, who was a villain himself, she was without parents and a true guide for the important lessons of proper humanities. She was also raised without love or nurturing, leading to the reason why she had an affair with an older man. Abigail was neither a victim nor did she act entirely on her own. Abigail found herself backed into a corner, use the societal Puritan
Abigail shows much dislike for Elizabeth in the play and says to John "She is blackening my name in the village!" (Act 1). Once the town hears rumours of this affair they shun Abigail. This disengagement makes Abigail seek vengeance towards them; accusing many people of witchcraft. Abigail is a strong and determined character; she manipulates people to get herself out of her own trouble.
Her selfishness is evident when Abigail and her friends accuse the innocent people of Salem of witchcraft. She puts the blame on others, so she does not get punished for dancing in the woods. Abigail shows her anger towards John Proctor when she tries to accuse his wife and ultimately gets John killed. Her anger leads her to make the poor decisions of getting John killed, even though he did nothing wrong. She is a coward when she puts the blame on innocent people and runs away before John gets hung. Her craven attitude is the last flaw that ultimately leads her to run away from Salem. Abigail’s flaws eventually bring her to her downfall by the end of the
One of the most important conflicts that transpire is between Abigail and John, and Abigail’s jealously towards John’s wife Goody Proctor. The first case of jealously and conflict between these characters is when John has called Abigail to the woods to confront her about the accusations her and the other girls have been making. Abigail thinks differently; she believes that John is calling her to the woods to tell her that he wants to be with her. This is not the case though, John says he comes in friendly but he later reveals his true intentions and tells Abigail that she is not to call out Elizabeth’s name. Abigail proclaims “: Oh, I marvel how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be— Proctor, angered-at himself as well: You’ll speak nothing’ of Elizabeth.” Abigail: she is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, snivelling woman, and you bend to her! Let her turn you like a- Proctor, shaking her: Do you look for whipping’? Abigail refers to Goody Proctor as “ a snivelling woman” to make John believe that she is upset that Goody Proctor is vilifying her reputation in the town. The real reasoning behind Abigail insulting her is not because she thinks her name is being blackened but she is trying to cover up her unrequited feelings she has for John. Abigail is later brought up in the Proctor household...
Yet, in the movie, she is established to be more of a “witch” in her disposition. “.But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know now.” This scene in the play is only spoken about in the dialog between Abby and Reverend Parris. Though, in the film, this phantom part is actually depicted. This succeeds in showing that Abigail is the central antagonistic girl.
The seventeenth and early eighteenth century, brought thousands of immigrants to America in pursuit of freedom and a new life. Some desired freedom from religious persecution, others wanted a chance to be free from the poverty that ensnared them in England Thus the American colonies were formed. Although the colonies were all united under British rule, they eventually separated into various regions including the Chesapeake region, the New England region, the Middle region, and the Southern region. Despite all the colonies being primarily inhabited by people of English origin the Chesapeake and New England regions evolved into two distinct societies due to religious, economic, and societal factors.
Today in society a person’s future is often dictated by their past. Traumatic events will in many times create a such a person to behave in an unacceptable behavior. Throughout literature such people are used as characters to further the plot. The term frequently used for this type of character is an antagonist. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, the protagonist, Abigail Williams, creates the sole conflict based on her adolescent years. For characters like Abigail, in The Crucible, her early life and relationship with John Proctor contributes to her actions despite some being seen as inexcusable.
Abigail’s struggles come from many of her personal desires that are forbidden in her society, causing her to lie. However, this also creates further social problems, such as the initiation of the witch trials. After Betty is stuck in a coma, Reverend Parris questions Abigail about the night in the woods, because he is suspicious and she denies that it had anything to do with witchcraft. Abigail replies to Parris saying, “ We never conjured spirits” (24). Abigail lies to Parris, denies the statement that witchcraft ever occurred, and says that all they did was danced. Witchcraft and dancing both are sins in the society, and she knows that her reputation is at stake and finds the need to lie to look innocent. Parris wants to be sure and calls Reverend Hale to look further into the issue. Once Reverend Hale comes into town, he questions Abigail about the night, and she once again denies everything he asks her. Abigail is being questioned by Hale, and once Tituba enters she screams, “ She made me do it! She made Betty do it! She makes me drink blood!” (45). Abigail denies every...
Abigail Terrorizes the young girls to keep her own reputation from being destroyed. After admitting to Reverend Parris about dancing in the forest she pleaded by stating to the little girls “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you,” (Miller 1268). Abigail understands that if the truth gets out about her drinking the charm to kill Elizabeth Procter she will be sentenced to death, thus evident by how she speaks to Mary Warren and Mercy Lewis while, Betty is non-responsive after being threatened by Abigail. The depths she went to ...
Abigail is presented to the court with a group of girls who also have been with her during the night when she was caught dancing. She pleads “I want to open myself! . . . I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil” (Miller 45). She uses them as a scapegoat even though she knows that they have a high reputation in this village. This brings the villagers more fear that “Witches” can also be highly respected people, but so far they were the only ones with high reputations to be accused. Abigail knows that she now holds a high reputation, so she uses it to accuse others to cover up what she has done. She was considered wicked and sinful before the trials, and now is viewed by the village/court as an innocent young girl.
In the time between that daring ascent made by Jean Pilâtre de Rozier and the first flight of the Wright Brothers in the infamous Kitty Hawk in 1903 (infoplease.com), all air travel and exploration was done with a balloon of some sort. The expedition of Jean Pilâtre de Rozier is described by BelleStar (1995) as;
In “The Crucible”, by Arthur Miller writes about the Salem witch trials. He writes about a group of girls who have practiced witch trials and how the girls are to blame innocent people. One of the girls, Abigail, a young girl from this story, she accuses others, has an affair and tells all kinds of lies, doesn’t follow beliefs and she is evil.
In The Crucible, Abigail Williams is a seventeen year old girl, who lives in Salem. She never had a childhood nor purity, because of the age that she is, the essential dark side came along with a continuous amount of unfortunate events. Every time something had gone awry in the town of Salem, it had looked as if it always lead back to Abigail. The majority of what she has done was lie and created a shattering destruction and even in some cases, ruin lives. Abigail Williams is motivated by her love for John Proctor; this creates her decision to have an affair with John, accuse numerous innocent people that stood in her way of witchcraft, and disappears when she thinks the tables may turn on her.
She started all the accusations about witchcraft and she blamed innocent people because she wanted revenge on those who hurt her. She also framed Marry Warren and Elizabeth Proctor for being involved in witchcraft. She framed Marry into giving Elizabeth a poppet. Little did Mary know that it was a poppet that had a needle in it which represented a form of unacceptable witchcraft. Before this happened, Parris and Abigail talked about what happened in the forest she denied the harsh allegations she wants to lie to the citizens so she cannot be punished by anyone. “My name is good in the village! I will not have it said my name is spoiled! Goody Proctor is a liar!” (Miller, 570) Abigail is now starting to lie about how things occurred, she is now blaming it on Goody, Proctor who had nothing to do with the witchcraft that has happened in the forest. She also tried to make it clear to Mrs. Putnam that she did not see any signs of witchcraft at her house or with Betty. She was with Betty and Parris. Betty starts showing evident signs of witchcraft. She attempted to fly, but was held back by Parris. After Abigail found John Proctor outside.”She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her.” (Miller, 578) Once Abigail finds John Proctor she talked to him and things did not go well. John said he never wanted to see her again. She does not believe him she thinks anything to do with her. He makes it clear he does not