Abigail To Blame In The Crucible Essay

Abigail Williams in “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, personifies an innocent young girl who lives with her Uncle Parris because her parents were killed by Indians. The Puritan society in Salem was religious and believed in the bad that existed in the world such as, the devil and hell. An event called Salem Witch Trials occurred in 1692, it presented conflicts such as the belief of witchcraft occurring. Many suffered prosecution and experienced false accusations for committing these acts, creating more hysteria within the community. Vengeance seeks within the mind of many individuals to get revenge against others, one of them being Abigail whose influence is powerful enough to destroy.

Concerned that word about her affair will spread throughout the village, Abigail begins to lie and point fingers at people for witchcraft, hoping it can draw the people’s focus away from her. After she and the girls were discovered in the forest by Reverend Parris, she lies or purposely forgets to mention to that she had drank a potion that would kill John Proctor’s wife. The only thing she said to him was: “We did dance, uncle, and when you leaped out of the bush so suddenly, Betty was frightened and then she fainted. And there's the whole of it.” (Miller 9). In another situation where Abigail's lying is shown again, Parris is asking why she was fired from her previous job as Elizabeth Proctor’s servant, and her excuse is: “She hates me, uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave. It's a bitter woman, a lying, cold, sniveling woman, and I will not work for such woman!” (Miller 11). Clearly this is false because Elizabeth didn't fire Abigail just out of coldness, though that was part of it, she fired her because she found that Abigail was having an affair with her husband, John. These lies led to unnecessary problems and prove Abigail is a self centered person because she only wants what's best for herself.

Elizabeth Proctor knew Abigail was after her, that is because while in court, the Proctors new Servant, Mary Warren, heard that someone sent his or her spirit to try and harm Elizabeth. Elizabeth is very frightened now so she tells John to go to Abigail to plead with her not to kill Elizabeth. Elizabeth believe Abigail may “dote on it now..”,but she then will think “to kill” Elizabeth, and take her place (61). It is quite evident that Elizabeth is hated by Abigail, but I really believe that besides the fact Abigail loves John Proctor, she really is a witch deep down inside. Eziekel Cheever, sent by court to gather those accused of witchcraft comes for Elizabeth proctor. According to him something has happened to Abigail and that something is the fault of Elizabeth, a so called “witch”. Cheever describes to John Proctor about Elizabeth and how she was accused of “stabbing Abigail” He explains how Abigail “ fell to the floor” and Reverend Parris, her Uncle, “draw a needle out,” and then he says “testify it were your wife familiar spirit that pushed it in” (74). Mary Warren, before this mishap, gave Elizabeth a poppet that she made in court. She gave it to her as an apology gift for her behavior. So when Cheever came, Elizabeth had the doll,which had a needle stuck in it! Coincidence Mary gave it to Elizabeth right before this incident…perhaps, but most

Abigail is a highly jealous character, concentrating her jealousy on Elizabeth Proctor. This jealousy is driven by lust and her desire for John Proctor. Abigail served as a servant in the Proctor household and after an affair with her husband John, Elizabeth fired her. She still resents Elizabeth for this as she is still in love with John. She clearly says to John, "You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!" Abigail is still in love with John and she assumes the converse. Her love for John only causes her resentment for Elizabeth to strengthen. She hates John Proctor's wife and in her conniving ways she attempts to inspire the same views of Elizabeth in John's mind. Saying things to him such as, "She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me, She is a cold, sniveling woman." Abigail fabricates stories in attempt to steel John from Elizabeth. She is a manipulative liar that does and says as she pleases in order to get what she wants.

Is Abigail really to blame for the Crucible? What did she do to become the staple for who to blame? When people think of the Crucible, they blame Abigail for causing it and leading everyone else who seemed to be a major role.

Her actions killed the man she once loved. She contradicted love for herself and love for another. Threatening the lives of others for her benefit. This manipulative girl that has an affair with a respectable and honest man. The deceptive girl, Abigail is the cause of a major incident in salem. “The Crucible” written by Arthur Miller tells the story of how theocracy in courts failed the innocent people. Abigails true nature is shown in the play, while trying to show her love proctor.

When something goes wrong it’s not just easy to point the blame at someone other than yourself in fact it’s common. Most people don’t want to take responsibility for their actions especially when they hurt others they . In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, it would seem that the easiest solution is just to blame Abigail for the outcome of the play. However, the blame actually should be on all the people who participated in the Salem witch trials. Many people in the play directly and indirectly fueled the trials, not just Abigail alone.

Abigail Williams did not want to stop the witch trials because if they found out she was lying about most of the things she said she would have been hanged. Blaming other people, getting them killed because of her ignorance. She only was loyal to the girls. One wrong move for abigail then her life would have been over with. Abigail was full of herself in the play she was selfish, ignorant, and a back-stabbing liar, it was her way or no way she did not let nothing stop her from getting rid of who was in the way.She even told lies on Tituba, but she had the courage and was brave enough to stand up and confess about it only because she was a slave and she thought they were going to kill her. The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the author of the book put everything in play because Abigail Uses the town’s fear and Witchcraft to her own advantages. She stole Reverend Parris money and lied about it and, acts the whole shouting and screaming in court and puts the town in fear. Being so vindictive as she is, she scares herself at times because she’s afraid if anyone would find out about her lien about the witchcraft.

Abigail is to blame for everything because she had an affair with the farmer john proctor. She was an person who danced around the fire. The girls all became accused of witchcraft and were under a investigation. They will see if they have been overcome by witchcraft.

The complication that initiated Abigail to start the Salem Witch Trials was her affair with John Proctor. Abigail worked as a maid for the Proctors, John and his wife, Elizabeth; it came to be known by Elizabeth that John and Abigail had an affair. As said by Elizabeth in act III on page 113 of The Crucible, “I came to think he fancied her. And so one night I lost my wits, I think, and put her out on the highroad.” Elizabeth decided to discharge her from the house. Abigail went to live with her uncle, Parris, in Salem. After this event in the novel, Abigail despises Elizabeth, and wants revenge on her. John went to Salem after he heard about the witch findings; Abigail caught up to him in private and

In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail’s flaws- lust, jealousy, and mendacity- that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch-hunt in Salem. The Crucible focuses of the finding of young girls and a slave messing around in the woods, trying to conjure spirits from the dead. Rather than admit to their actions and face the consequences, the girls accuse everyone else of the crimes they were guilty of. Abigail Williams is the person who caused much of the drama in this story. She bears much responsibility for everyone meeting with Tituba in the woods. Once Parris discovers this meeting, Abigail attempts to keep her actions a secret because it would possibly reveal her affair with Proctor. Abigail lies to cover up her affair with proctor, and to stop the charges of witchcraft in order to prevent the terrible punishments that go along with the accusations.

The tragic events in The Crucible can be linked to several different characters in the play. Whether it is lust, greed, vengeance, or pride, almost all the characters give their fair share to the madness. The play does include characters that add to the disarray of the town more than others. Abigail Williams is the character that is most responsible for the chaotic happenings in The Crucible.

“I think it’s the kind of events that replays itself throughout history when cultures come under stress. When societies come under stress these kinds of things happen. People start looking around for essentially human sacrifices. They start looking around for somebody they can blame…” (Margaret Atwood). Throughout time people have engaged in actions that they later regret and instead of taking it upon themselves they have simply given someone else the responsibility of the blame.

In the Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is to blame for what happened in Salem, Massachusetts in 1962. There are many reason to blame not only her but also her friends for helping her to accuse innocent people. Abigail convinced the other girls to begin lying about what they did in the woods and why they were in the woods. She convinced them to blame others in Salem for what was going on, saying that they ‘‘saw people with the devil’’ and the girls were so fearful that they were forced to go along with her. Abigail tried to saved herself from being punished for witchcraft and adultery by not telling Paris that she drank blood and cast a spell in order to kill Elizabeth Proctor who was John’s wife, the man she had an affair with when she was working in his house. Her love for John Proctor was so strong that the death of many innocent people did not faze her at all. She fed the court lies and

Lust, mendacity, and jealousy are three things that can change how a person feels and acts. Sometimes we can't help it and it causes lots of problems. These problems then accumulate and cause something we did not intend to happen and this is something that happen in the town of salem. Abigail had these 3 characteristics which made her do things and blame witchcraft on many people causing several deaths.