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Abigail Williams Morally Wrong

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Although morals are an indication of a person’s perception of right or wrong, there is a fundamental thread that connects morality to everyone. Whether these morals are in relation to a religion, culture or the law, society has developed universal moral standards. However, individuals are capable of abandoning morality as a whole, resulting in significant repercussions. William Shakespeare and Arthur Miller show evidence of this in The Merchant of Venice and The Crucible, when their characters step away from their morals and carry out wrongful actions. Although the underlying reason for the characters’ social demises is similar, the motives for their actions are specific and personal. By carrying out actions fueled by revenge, both Abigail …show more content…
Abigail Williams, in The Crucible, is capable of disguising her true emotions to mislead the court towards persecuting others based off of her false accusations. Her ability to deceive others and escape with being dishonest leads to the deaths of many characters. Abigail Williams is self-indulgent and utilizes deception to her personal advantage to save herself from accusations of witchcraft and to install her idea of justice in the legal system. By carrying out this deception within the courts, she offends moral principles, demonstrates her selfish nature and lack of remorse for her murderous actions. Even after being revealed as a fraud, Abigail masks the truth through the pretense that Mary Warren is attacking her, purely to protect herself against the possible punishment associated with her deception and lies: “Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; it’s God’s work I do” (Miller 92). Unlike Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Abigail uses deception to protect herself without considering of the lives of others. Portia’s kindness and loving nature are revealed when she disguises herself as a lawyer to save Antonio, while risking her own life and good name. However, this kindness turns into cruelty after she prevents Shylock from leaving with his dignity and continues to destroy his life with excessive punishments: “Tarry, Jew! / The law hath yet another hold on you” (Shakespeare 4.1.346-348). Furthermore, she continues to deceive the court and in the process, strips Shylock of his values and dignity. Portia’s morals and convictions should have prevented her from humiliating Shylock, but her lack of morality allows her to advance from defending Antonio to unnecessarily persecuting Shylock. No matter the context, deceiving others is wrong and displays the absence of morality in

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