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The Crucible - Abigail Williams is to Blame 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.
A motivation can be described as a character having a reason to behave or act in a particular way. Someone or something can be someone's motivation. A child obeys its parents to avoid punishment or a clerk works overtime so that he can afford a better car are examples of motivation. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, characters illustrate several types of motivations. Throughout the play, Abigail is motivated by jealousy, power, and attention.
Further into the play, Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft. She saw Mary 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 parents 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
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.
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
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...
Even though Abigail claimed to like John, she mostly loved the attention he gave her. When Abigail was younger she witnessed both of her parent’s being killed. “I saw Indians smash my dear parent’s heads on the pillow next to mine”. (Miller 20) However in the beginning of The Crucible Abigail is portrayed to be innocent because she is an orphan and she saw the murder of her parents. After the incident she was raised by her Uncle Parris. Although being raised by her uncle she never...
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.
“Nothing is hidden that won’t be exposed. Nor is anything concealed that won’t be made known and brought to the light” (Luke 8:17 CEB). The Crucible written by Arthur Miller is a page turner with new problems and more drama on every page. In this emotional story a town in Salem, Massachusetts is undergoing a series of trials to vilify the civilians who were accused of witchcraft. The accusations were based on animosity and jealousy from a group of ill advised girls. There was one girl who was considered the leader of this wretched cause, her name was Abigail Williams. She was a very manipulative and petty girl. She abused her power that she obtained over the group of followers she had managed to maintain. Abigail appears to have no conception of how to treat others or how to reasonably work things out. She tends to resort directly to violence and threats knowing that the people around
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 Williams was the most courageous character in The Crucible, because she did many things that were against Salem's ideology. “...for she will not sit so close to something so close to something soiled” (Miller 11). That quote was Reverend Parris to his niece, Abigail Williams. She was viewed as a heathen and rejected socially within the parish. She was very courageous because she pushed past her status and made change within Salem to get what she wanted.
Witchcraft hysteria was easily believed in the Salem Trials time. In the Crucible, I believe that Abigail Williams is responsible for the witchcraft hysteria. Also to be held responsible for the imprisonment and execution of innocent people due to lying and selfishness.
As a child, Amelia Earhart was not as interested in aircraft as people would think. Amelia thought it was “boring." (ameliaearhatmuseum.com 2014) Amelia was known for playing with the boys. She even climbed trees with her sister. She was the ultimate tomboy. As she grew older, Amelia started to become interested in the art of aviation. Once she started to take this new part-time career, she realized this is what she wanted to do as a full-time, hands on, job. Earhart purchased her first plane and started taking lessons. Once Amelia was not considered an amateur anymore, people really paid more attention to her as a new female leader. Amelia was a very well liked and respected by the public. She was even written to and about because the public wanted to name lakes, ponds, homing pigeons and even their babies in honor of her. Amelia Earhart showed many women that if they want to do something, they need to follow their dream. (ibnlive.in.com 2014)
In The Crucible, Abigail Williams is a cunning, manipulating and deceitful character who thought of an idea where she can get away with anything without fearing any consequences. A teenager never looked at as a dangerous character by her society; Abigail figured that she could avoid trouble by making up lies to cover up her practicing witch craft. When the other girls from her community who were also involved in this started feeling guilty, Abigail verbally threatened by saying "..Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shutter you. And you know I can do it.."(Act I, 20). She never did play around with her getting in trouble and ruining her chances to be with John Proctor, the man whom she was most in love with. Elizabeth and Abigail are merely opposite of each other. A faithful wife to John Proctor, Elizabeth was more than a bystander in her commu...
It has been almost 75 years since the famous pilot, Amelia Earhart, disappeared somewhere over the Pacific during her attempt to fly around the world. She was very-well known and when news hit of her disappearance, many were devastated. Amelia changed many lives, giving inspiration and serving as a role-model for women everywhere. Her impact still stands today. The tasks she went through and all her hard work to change the female image will never be forgotten.
The Salem Witch trials of 1692 was an event that shaped the history of this country, as well as the lives of those whose wives and husbands were condemned to death. In order for such an event to occur, there must be a set of people who catalyze the event, and others who speak out against it. In “The Crucible”, certain characters help contribute to the rising hysteria of witchcraft, and others contribute to the disapproval of so many wrongful convictions. Throughout the endurance of Arthur Miller 's The Crucible, vengeance and the love for John play a big role in the actions and fates of various characters. Since Abigail Williams is motivated by John Proctor, her decision to lie and accused others of witchcraft resulted in the deaths of many people in Salem by the end of the play.