What if someone you care about was accused of doing a horrific act that they are indisputably innocent of and there is no way to prove it? What if you were accused of doing a horrific act that you certainly did and you could not prove it? What if you lived in a town where there was so much hysteria that the justice system relied on accusations solely as evidence? What if the punishment for these horrific acts was death? In The Crucible, these events occurred and resulted in over twenty innocents accused of being with the devil that resulted in most of those innocents to their deaths by being hanged or being pressed by large stones. Although, Abigail Williams did not kill any of them directly, person to person, she was undoubtedly the character …show more content…
In other words, she drank a charm to kill Elizabeth Proctor and danced in the woods, both sins in the Puritan society of Salem. “We must tell the truth, Abby! You’ll only be whipped for dancin’ and the other things!” (Miller 18). Performing those two sins could have got her and the other girls whipped, but Abigail created these lies by accusing innocent people of practicing witchcraft and told the girls they had to as well otherwise she would call them witches and they would be hung. Subsequently, by Abigail forcing her friends to accuse other innocent people, those innocent people then accused other innocent people so they wouldn’t get hanged, which all started with the girls dancing in the woods. Therefore, Abigail could have stopped all the craziness by taking a whipping and getting the reputation of dancing in the woods but instead she created the horrific event of The Salem Witch Trials. Moreover, if Abigail and the other girls honestly confessed that they were dancing in the woods and drank a charm in addition to not accusing anyone there would not be a fear of witchcraft in Salem and no need to accuse uninvolved individuals and later provoke their deaths. Thus, if there is not a fear of witchcraft there would not be such an extensive amount of people accused of witchcraft who are jailed and …show more content…
Furthermore, her parents were murdered by natives when Abigail was a young child and grew up as an orphan taken by her haughty uncle who could care less of children and more of his name. Secondly, she was an unmarried teenager, which was uncommon back in the 1690’s in Puritan society. Lastly, her name is not so white anymore since her former boss, Elizabeth is blackening her name. Consequently, Abigail begins to accuse people who are in the bottom tier in of their Puritan society like Goody Good and Goody Osburn. Sadly, the courts took people’s accusations as evidence and nothing could change that testimony unless there is another accusation that contradicts the current one. “I want the light of God . . . I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Miller 45). Abigail could have stopped after accusing Goody Good and Goody Osburn but instead she tries to improve her rank in town and accuse others who are higher up on the ladder of reputation and is able to do this because she was viewed by the judges as a savior, cleansing the town of witches. The constant accusations by her and her friends she forced led to the turmoil of The Salem Witch Trials.
In The Crucible written by Arthur Miller we are introduced to one of the main characters Abigail Williams. Abigail is your typical mean girl, she won't stop she gets her way, she will take down anyone who stands in her way and does not care if she hurts them in the process. Throughout the book we see Abigail accuse and lie to many people which causes drama and suffering in Salem. She seemed not to care about anyones feelings except John Proctor. Abigail was having affair with John when she was working for him until Elizabeth, Johns wife, found out and fired her.
What would you do if you were accused of witchcraft by someone who was just trying to get back at you? In Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 women were being accused of being witches and more than half of them were innocent. Arthur Miller tells about how the town fell apart after hearing the word “witch” and people lying. The whole story goes downhill because lies just keep piling up on each other. Abigail Williams and John Proctor are two big characters that lie throughout the whole play.
Abigail Williams: Abigail only cares about herself. She is selfish and cold; she manipulates her friends and the people close to her. All of her actions are for her own well-being. Abigail manipulates people even though others lives are in danger. All of the hangings that occurred in Salem were her fault.
These girls used witchcraft as a means to escape the guilt of being found dancing in the woods. In particular, Abigail lied repeatedly, both protect herself and place blame on others, like Elizabeth, John Proctor's wife. She also friends the other girls to do the same when she say, “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). Because Abigail refuses to tell the truth and does not allow others to do so either, the trials occur. If Abigail hadn't been so desperate to save herself and use people's fear to her
Later in the play, she begins accusing people she doesn’t like in Salem of witchcraft, “I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Miller 45) Abigail eventually goes power-crazy, admits she sinned by beguiling the judges and accusing all the incident and tries to illustrate her repent but, the accused are still hung for
Have you ever encountered a person who just seemed to care about themselves, kept things secret, or even put the blame on others? 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. Her lies and accusations cause a lot of people pain and suffering. She never cared about any of them except for John Proctor because she had an affair with him.
She could have just taken the punishment, but she blamed everyone else in the town of being a witch. Saying their spirit made her and the other girls go out into the woods to dance and drink from the pot. On the other hand Abigail could be considered innocent because growing up she did not have any good role models. Her uncle, Reverend Parris, was more worried about the church and what the people of the town thought of him that he did not care for his family.
When talk of witchcraft first surfaced in Salem, the town went totally ballistic. As word about the girls dancing naked in the woods got out, people were more afraid of the supernatural force more than ever. Some of the girls supposedly became ill and fingers started to point at Abigail. One can put him or herself in Abigail’s shoes and imagine how scared she was. Perhaps she was so freaked out by the thought of being accused of witchcraft that she made bad judgement of decisions, who knows?
“People at war with themselves will always have collateral damage in the lives of those around them.” In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, Abigail Williams is a selfish 17 year old who wants everyone around her to be as miserable as her because she cannot get what she desires most in this world, John Proctor. With this being said Abigail is the person who is most responsible for the Salem Witch Trials. Despite the fact that she is the trigger to the mass agitation which happens in the novel, she is not the only one at fault. The role of John Proctor and Judge Danforth are also to blame.
Abigail uses the fact that every person shes accused has been a witch to secure her position as a trust worth witness in court. As seen when the suspension is raised to her, Abigail says, “I have been hurt, Mr. Danforth; I see my blood running out! I have been near to murdered every day because I have done my duty pointing out the Devil’s people -- and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, questioned like a --” (113). She uses the fact that there is a perceived danger in callout witches as one can try to kill her because they feel threated or that she 's been hurt by witchcraft when it was just self-inflicted wounds.
She’s unmarried, which during this time period and within the religion that she identified, being married as a woman was an important and honorable role, so the fact that she wasn’t married said a lot about her. Abigail was also avoided by the whole town because of her affair with John Proctor. Causing a married man to sin against God and his wife didn’t look good on her reputation. Abigail takes full advantage of her supposed power during the trials because she could accuse any of the other women whom she didn’t like, which made it very easy to get her revenge on Elizabeth because all she had to do was accuse her in court. She now had the opportunity to get her revenge on not only Elizabeth but also the people of Salem, because although they accused her of adultery, she could accuse them of something
Abigail believed that Proctor actually loved her and she waited every night for him. She was brainwashed to think he would leave his wife for her. The witchcraft accusation came from the beginning of the story when Abigail and the girls were dancing naked in the woods and chanting. She made false accusations that people in the village were worshipping the devil to cover what she had done. Many lives were taken but Abigail had no empathy for anyone who was hanged.
Abigail forces the girls of Salem to dance in the woods with her to help conjure spirits and make the charm to kill Goody Proctor. Abigail threatens the girls right after Betty took fright by saying, “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, 144). Later on as the trials prolong Mary Warren turns on Abby and is telling the court that she lied. When Abigail then accuses Mary of witchcraft she turns back to Abby and obeys her once again.
During the Salem Witch Trials a lot of people were accused of using witchcraft. As a result many people died for other people’s lies, rumors, and selfishness. There is one person that really caused and is most to blame for all the chaos, her name is Abigail. Abigail is to blame for all that has happened in the Witch Trials, the reason for that is because of all the accusing and lying she has done. In addition, it all leads up to her for instance, she used a doll to accuse people of witchcraft.
She’s the woman who holds grudges, is selfish, and a great liar. Abigail seems to be especially gifted at spreading destruction and chaos wherever she goes. She is able to manipulate others, for example, all her friends and the whole town. In addition, she obtains control over all of them and sends nineteen uninvolved people to their deaths. All these things add up.