...In the Crucible, by Arthur Miller my character Abigail is seen as a selfish person who only looks to do things for her own convenience. Throughout the book we can see Abigail do many actions to benefit herself rather than helping others. The reason she acts this way is because she is worried about her reputation. She also fears being singled out from the Christian community. The only thing she has left is her reputation which is why it is so important that she keeps it. In the phrase “She made me do it! She made Betty do it!,” she tries to act as if she was also a culprit in the situation. In another part of the book she threatens Betty to not speak a word about the accusations. “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.” Abigail will go to any extreme to save her reputation even if it means using violence to protect herself....
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...get what she wants no matter the cost or consequences. She is a jealous and deceitful woman in the Crucible by Arthur Miller. Miller writes about how she tries to manipulate people in order to get what she she desires. Her actions in the short story “The Last True Witch Hunt” further prove these characteristics about Abigail and how she behaves. In act one Abigail was talking to the other girls who were involved in the incident in the woods. She said to them “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”. (p. 1244) Abigail is threatening the girls that if they were to tell anyone about what they were really doing in the woods that night she would harm them. This shows that Abigail is willing to threaten her own friends in order to protect herself. In my short story about Abigail she is willing to get another woman killed in order to be with her husband, exactly like she attempted to do in The...
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...will be hanged. One may be telling the truth in claiming innocence of witchcraft, but the court will not believe a person accused of witchcraft unless one has confessed. The assumption of the practice of witchcraft came about when Abigail’s Uncle Parris, caught her friends and her dancing around a fire in the woods conjuring spirits. As the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller goes on, some of the characters are found to be honest, jealous and full of pride. Honesty is said to be the best policy, however in The Crucible, the characters...
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...Act One of The Crucible introduces a love triangle between John Proctor, his wife Elizabeth, and Abigail, their former servant. This results in a strained relationship for all involved and has a negative effect on all three characters as it costs Abigail her job and reputation, and it leads to a series of possible problems for the Proctor’s marriage. Abigail is introduced in The Crucible as a character who has an “endless capacity for dissembling” (9) As the former servant for the Proctor family, she is not only fired by Elizabeth Proctor because of her relationship with John Proctor but her name is also “blackened” by the somewhat spurned wife. When Proctor enters Betty Paris’s room and encounters Abigail, her “eyes widen” as she is pleased by his presence, and she expresses to Proctor that she waits for him “every night” (22). John, however, tells her to “put it out of mind” as he is not interested (22). Abigail’s words reveal she desires to be with Proctor; furthermore, she makes it a point to remind him that she was fired by his wife because of their past relationship when they had feelings for each other, and according to Abigail, they still do. This foreshadows that...
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...Being the main source of drama, Abigail Williams was altered The Crucible, a historic play, by Arthur Miller to provoke the witch trials, to develop the protagonist, John Proctor, and to draw parallelism McCarthyism. Abigail, at the age of 17, who is 5 years older than the historical Abigail, was the main accuser in the witch trials. According to the Shmoop Editorial Team, “Abigail is vengeful, selfish, manipulative, and a magnificent liar...She has an eerie sense of how to manipulate others and gain control over them”(n.p). In regards to their remark towards Abigail, we can infer that her personality caused the entire witch trials in the play. Arthur Miller also had to alter Abigail’s real age in order to match her nasty personality and to make her...
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...The Crucible: Who was Responsible In 1692, it was dark times for the town of Salem, Massachusetts, times where the phrase witchcraft spread like wildfire. A town where speculation overcame common sense and where chaos overcame order. The town was mostly composed of farmers, priests, and common folk, but there was one person who wanted more than the common life, she wanted power. Her name was Abigail Williams, the sole reason of why the events in Salem became reality and the fears of many became true. Abigail Williams is the most responsible for the events in Salem because of her lust for John Proctor, her jealousy, and her vengefulness. Abigail was quite a delusional girl when it came to falling in love, especially with John Proctor, one...
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...revenge. People want to inflict the same pain that they went through on others. Arthur Miller demonstrates this through his book The Crucible. The Crucible demonstrates a theme that when revenge determines justice, havoc ensues; this theme is displayed through the allegations that Abigail Williams makes against John and Elizabeth Proctor, and their servant Mary Warren, as well as through the Putnams’ willingness to implicate their neighbors. Abigail Williams is a narcissistic and manipulative character that is driven by her obsession with John Proctor. Henceforth, she tries to get...
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...John Proctor was one of the men of power in the play, but as it progressed it was lost due to the wrath of Abigail. He was the the lover of Abigail whenever she worked for him and his wife before she was fired because Elizabeth, his wife, figured out that they were having an affair. One of his first downfalls was whenever he was talking to Elizabeth after Abigail started targeting her for being a witch due to her jealousy of wanting to be with Proctor. Elizabeth accuses him of fretting to accuse her because of their past together, but he begs to differ saying that “... [he has] good reason to think before [he] charge fraud on Abigail, and [he] will think on it” (Miller 54). His hesitation to accuse Abigail could’ve been one of the many things...
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...my physical representation is Abigail Williams in the classic play ‘The Crucible’. Arthur Miller depicts Abigail Williams as a villain. Abigail is seventeen years old, the niece of Reverend Parris, she has been working as a household help for Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail was fired for having an affair with Elizabeth’s husband, John Proctor. Abigail’s was a manipulative young girl. I have represented Abigail as a spider, as she manipulates events like a spider manipulates and captures it victims through its web. On the first act, it can be seen that Abigail has a surprising power over the girls, she controlled the girls with her threating dialogue, “And you know...
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...Society The 1600s in New England represented a time of fear and suspicion that culminated in the persecution of those considered blasphemous as witches. Through The Crucible, Arthur Miller describes the irrational behaviour of people in “all classes”(Miller 7) from Salem, Massachusetts during this time of misdemeanor. Many characters throughout the play incriminate others due to bitterness and jealousy. For instance, Abigail indicted her former lover, John Proctor’s, wife. Ultimately the corrupted men and women of Salem reached their goal of hanging the pure, which leads to hysteria amongst the townsfolk. Although John Proctor begins the play as an ambivalent and uncertain man, who is paralyzed...
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...Emotions control people more than they believe. In the Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is an orphan, young and Christian girl living in Salem, Massachusetts. Abigail falls in love and can not fall out, causing a chain of events guided by jealousy, power, manipulation and determination making her a more selfish person than before. Abigail Williams’ love for John Proctor controls her in the beginning of the play. Abigails says, “You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet! John pity me, pity me!” (Miller 45) She is so in love with John Proctor and it scares her that she is going to lose him. She is so afraid, Abigail is willing to manipulate John to stay with her by saying,“I have a sense, for heat, John, and yours has drawn me to...
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...The Crucible written by Arthur Miller is a play that showcases the importance of telling the truth in all situations, even when it may appear to be the wrong course of action. The play takes place in the town of Salem, Massachusetts during the chaotic times of the Salem witch trials. Miller presents the characters of Abigail, John Proctor, and Elizabeth Proctor as three townspeople who are connected by the sins of the past. Although these three characters are different in far more ways than one, they all share a special purpose in revealing an important truth to the readers of this play. Abigail, John, and Elizabeth all showed that not speaking the truth can have immense consequences on other people, not just themselves. Abigail Williams had no trouble lying throughout the entire play, even when her actions sentence people to death. After Paris first found the girls...
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...Miller’s book, The Crucible. In this book there is a group of mysterious and troublesome teenage girls. Abigail Williams is looked at as the leader of this group. Abby is obsessed with John Proctor, who is married to Elizabeth Proctor. He consumes her mind and most of her decisions revolve around him. Since Abby is motivated by her love for John, her decisions to send Elizabeth to jail creates many complicated accusations by the end of the play. Abby would do anything to be with John, including trying to kill his wife, Goody Proctor. In Act I, Abby’s cousin Betty suddenly emerges from her sleep and starts bickering with Abby. They start talking about the night before and the events that occurred when Betty exclaims, “You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!”(19) Betty mentions this extremely mysterious act of witchcraft, but Abby declines the accusation right away. Abby’s actions prove her jealousy and she knows she doesn’t have a chance with John as long as Goody Proctor is still alive. Therefor, she tries to kill her with a charm, or in this case, witchcraft....
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...“A man may be aware that there is something...hollow in his own way of life, but still lack the power to express it in memorable language.” (Prudhoe). In the Crucible, several people notice the obvious corruption that lies in the Salem witch trials, but are unable to fight it due to lack of power. In Act three of The Crucible (1953), Arthur Miller expresses his frustration at the perpetual power grab under the façade of justice. Miller uses juxtaposition, dramatic irony, and selective dialogue in order to show how when struggling to clear one’s name, cold-hard facts are often overlooked in exchange for the promise of influence. The purpose of the act is to demonstrate that in every play for power, there must be pawns to manipulate and facts...
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...In the play The Crucible many residents of Salem and neighboring areas were striked with terror as news of witchcraft circulated through one fateful night. Reverend Parris strolled upon his neice and her friends dancing in the forest. As the news got around town , many names were thrown around by Abigail and Parris to pretect her and the Parris name. Though many people were blamed and hung for "being a witch", one person I believe should not have been accused was Elizabeth Proctor. She was accused of witchcraft by Abigail. Abigail disliked Elizabeth strongly because she was married to John and Abigail loved him. Abigail wanted Elizabeth dead so she wouldn't be in the way of her and John. She never comitted a crime, she knew abigail was after her. "It is her dearest hope, John, I know it. There be a thousand names; why does she call mine? There be a certain danger in calling such a name- I am no Goody Good that sleeps in ditches, nor Osburn, drunk and half-witted. She'd dare not call out such a farmer's wife but there be a monstrous profit in it. She thinks to take my place." Arthur Miller. One person certainly was the reason for the trails, Abigail Williams. She was a liar and very manipulative. She lied to everyone about what happened in the forest and she named off people who had no connection with witchcraft just to save her own name. She had no remorse for anyone. She wanted Elizabeth to be hung so she could be with John. She threatened her friends and would not let them...
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