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. The true antagonist of the play is the town of Salem itself, because of the judgemental and self concerned peoples, and its oppressive views. Abigail;s outrageous actions are due to her desensitized views on death and actions otherwise viewed as unethical. From her youth ABigail recalls: “ I saw indians smash my dear parents’ head on the pillow next to mine and i have seen some reddish work at night” (Miller 20), because of this Abigail is numb to death and suffering and is in fact quite morbid. There is no problem in condemning other to death in Abigail’s eyes because she doesn’t see the issue with it. Abigail does not seem to comprehend that it is unethical to let people be hanged and stoned to death and has no issue telling others that she “ can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down” (Miller 20). Not only is Abigail desensitized to murder and death, she is also numb to other unethical dilemmas. Abigail is desensitized to corrupting the Proctor’s marriage because of her childish lust and obsession for John Proctor. Such desires can be seen through her encounters with Proctor. In regards to their so called “relationship” she says: “it’s she put me out, you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out, and you loved me then and you love me now!” (Miller 22). Abigail does not view her behavior t... ... middle of paper ... ...without there be a proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience may doubt it” (Miller 99). What made a minister of the Lord do such a thing? The oppressive views of the townspeople of Salem. Being in the town of Salem, surrounded by people judging and others and condemning them for crimes, forced Reverend Hale to do things he wasn’t comfortable with. So, what would stop the town of Salem from doing the same thing to Abigail Williams, who is still a child with an easily impressionable mind? In conclusion I ask this again: 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 slept with on more than one occasion, be the victim? Abigail is truly a victim just as much as one of those she condemned to death, because of Salem’s judgemental, self-concerned and oppressive views and beliefs led her to it.
Have you ever wanted something so badly, that you would do anything to get it? Abigail Williams, one of the main protagonists in the play The Crucible, is a prime example of this. The Crucible takes place in Salem village, where over twenty people are being persecuted for witchcraft. She wanted to be with John Proctor, a married man with three children, more than anything. The extent that she was willing to go is belligerently horrific. Abigail's flaws of immaturity, jealousy, and deceitfulness led to her ultimate downfall of her beloved John being sentenced to death.
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail William’s flaws – mendacity, lust, and arrogance – that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. Driven by lust, Abigail was able to lie to the Salem community in hopes of covering her and her friends’ deeds and gaining the attention of John Proctor. Her arrogance enabled her t0 advance her deceit.
Throughout the many acts of the play, we sense the anger rolling off Abigail’s words. “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, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!” By these words, we know that Abigail Williams is angry. She’s angry at John Proctor for trying to hide the crime he committed with her, and for the lack of closure she
She didn’t care about those lives that vanished because of her nor did she care about lying and turning against her own friend, Mary. One of the reasons why Mary was scared to tell the truth to the court was because of Abigail, She frightened her, and the other girls with threats. Mary knew that if she spoke Abigail would turn against her use everything in her hands to rid her and make sure she never spoke the truth again like Mary says on page 80, when proctor and the others were trying to convince Mary to tell the truth. “She’ll kill me for sayin that” Were the words that came out Mary’s mouth.Those words are the ones that prove that Abigail Williams is not innocent but if not guilty.Once Mary spoke the truth, Abigail turned against her just like mary knew it would happen, She began saying things that were not true once again. She began to pretend as if Mary’s spirit had left her body and were hauting her, She said things such as “Mary please don’t hurt me” making it seem as if Mary was hurting her.This made the other girls also begin to pretend and repeat everything Mary was saying making seem as if they were bewitched by her. This is another thing that shows how she manipulates
At that instant, Abigail was able to abuse her new found authority and use it as power against the people of Salem. This new found power led to 91 citizens of Salem to be accused of witchcraft. To begin with, Abigail had her own amount of authority that she had used as power in order to keep the other girls quiet about what had happened in the woods. “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 (20).” Abigail Williams had her own personal conflict of confusing authority for power. Abigail and the other girls thrived on this chance to take control of the situation. It was an opportunity for Abigail to not have to follow rules, speak hesitantly, or be precautious of her actions. At the time of the Salem witch trials, everyone had their own duty to preform. The woman would cook and clean and the men would work to provide. Having an opportunity where the tables were turned and the young women had the possibility to have an input was overpowering. It was easier for Abigail to have power over others rather than having the power to control herself.
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
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.
In Arthur Miller’s play, “The Crucible”, a dramatic story unfolds about hatred and deception among the townspeople of Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692. During this time, people were being accused of practicing witchcraft and conjuring with the devil. Once accused, all one could do was deny the practice and hang for it or confess and be condemned to prison. Many took advantage of this, including a young girl by the name Abigail Williams who is the main character in the play. Who is to be blamed for the death of the innocently accused? Many can argue and say that other characters in the story share blame in the Salem Witch Trials. Though, the ultimate responsibility belongs to Abigail for the deaths of many innocent people during this time.
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
At the end of act one, Abigail and the girls, who confessed to witnessing and being victims of witchcrafts, have established themselves as saints within the community. While Salem is corrupt and the community was fill with suspicion, a saint is the greatest and safest role to be seen; Abigail and the girls are now at the top of the hierarchy and no one within the community can speak against them or harm them because Abigail’s solitary power protects them. To establish her hierarchy, Abigail threatens the 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 19). Abigail exerts her power to control these girls through threat, and letting the girls know that she is in-charge and to maintain that leadership, she will harm them. Confirming Abigail’s exertion of solitary power and corruption is James H. Read. According to James H. Read, “Hobbes subjects internalize a certain “picture” of that power and of their own roles and obligations” (507).Abigail internalizes power as dominating and controlling others weaker than her. Additionally, Abigail’s corruption is so deep that she demonstrates her hierarchy with Mary Warren. When Mary Warren began to tell the truth about the witch accusations,
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.
For the case of Abigail Williams, she made use of the paranoia of the witchcraft trials to her advantage to carry out personal vengeance against Elizabeth Proctor. Firstly, she amplifies the townsfolk’s’ fear of the supernatural by pretending she was being attacked by witches. By pretending she was being attacked by an invisible bird sent out by Mary Warren (“why do you come, yellow bird?”) and accusing countless people of witchcraft, Abigail sows discord and fear amongst the staunch Puritian villagers, by making them suspicious of one another and addressing their fear of the unknown. She then manipulates their fear and paranoia to work to her advantage. Since act 1, the author has shown that Abigail has harboured a hatred of Elizabeth Proctor (“It’s a bitter woman, a lying, cold, sniveling woman”) partly because she was fired from the Proctors’ service, and maybe also because she wants John...
To demonstrate, Abigail is a murderer. She was the cause for nineteen innocent people to be put to their death. John Proctor says, “I believe she means to murder” (Miller,1201). Proctor states this when Abigail accuses John’s wife, Elizabeth of doing witchcraft upon her using a poppet to cause harm. Elizabeth is Abigail’s enemy because she wants John Proctor all for herself. Abigail thinks that with getting his wife out of the picture she may be able to keep him all to her own, feeling the need to punish her by murdering Elizabeth as she seeks for revenge due to death.
In one of America’s darkest times, a period of pain and death. A town was torn apart by a quest for vengeance. The whole town getting caught up in the hysteria kept it going. This unholy event ended with the deaths of 20 villagers accused of witchcraft. All of this chaos was started by one person, one young woman. I will now explain why Abigail Williams is to blame for the witch trials, and deaths of the accused witches in “The Crucible.”
Abigail Williams is the start of all the hysteria in the town of Salem. She has caused alot of innocent villagers that were accused of witchery killed with her lies. Run from her or avoid eye contact and fear the you may be the next one put in court in front of neighbors and family members and be accused by the screaming children that you sent your soul out to harm them for the devil. The same children that scream at you are hideing the truth that they were caught in the woods dancing by Reverand Paris. Instead of faceing their consequences they lies to defend themselves from receiving small punishments for dancing.