Abigail Williams Character Analysis

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an elaborate play that tells the story of the village of Salem and how the community slowly falls apart because of a strategic witch hunt ploy. The fear of witchcraft turns the once peaceful village upside down and accusations destroy the lives and reputations of so many people. Different characters’ actions have different impacts on the community, but one character stands out the most. Abigail Williams from The Crucible is a clear representation of how impactful the power of manipulation and deception is in a vulnerable society to create mass hysteria.

This is later confirmed when she threatens to “come to [them] in the black of some terrible night and … bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder” (Pg.175) Mary Warren and Betty Parris if they dare to tell the truth. This shows her determination at killing Elizabeth Proctor and securing her own reputation. Unlike many naive villains in other literatures, Abigail sets out a meticulous scheme to frame Elizabeth. First, she witnesses Mary Warren leaving a needle in a doll. Then she “[sticks] two inches [of a needle] in the flesh of her belly”(pg. 203) to frame Elizabeth of performing witchcraft. So mendacious is Abigail that she is willing to injure herself to accomplish her plan. Under her beautiful appearance also lays a manipulative heart. She is capable of manipulating not only the girls into doing things her way, but also the members of the court to her advantage. When questioned by Danforth whether the spirits she has seen are illusion, Abigail steps it up a notch by making the members of the court feel sorry for her and madly refutes, “I have been near to murdered every day because I done my duty pointing out the Devil’s people—and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, questioned like a—” (Pg.210) This, following by Elizabeth's failure to tell the truth and the girl’s verisimilar acting toward the “yellow bird”, further demonstrates her manipulative power which brings the court in her favor. Altogether, many

Abigail is a selfish and manipulative person which gives her the courage to do the things that she does. In act 3, Abigail says "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" (III.115). Abigail claims that she is doing God’s work, but she is actually doing the devil's work because she is lying and forcing her friends to agree with her and go against Mary. She has the courage to go through with anything that comes to her mind, no matter what harm it could cause. “The girl, the Williams girl, Abigail Williams, sir. She sat to dinner in Reverend Parris's house tonight, and without word nor warning she falls to the floor. Like a struck beast, he says, and screamed a scream that a bull would weep to hear. And he goes to save her, and, stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle out. And demanding of her how she come to be so stabbed, she --- testify it were your wife's familiar spirit pushed it in”(Act II.1282). This explains how Abigail is willing to go through with anything to be with John Proctor. She shows a monstrous amount of intrepidness just to do so. Abigail Williams has the courage to do anything when it comes to John Proctor. She stabs herself with a needle just to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft.

Within today’s society, an individual’s morals determines how one is scrutinized, judged, and reprimanded. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams is a character with compelling moral principles. Abigail’s disoriented moral constitution allows the theme, the detrimental effects of mass hysteria, to be constantly reassured throughout the play. Through the egotistical, manipulative, and deceitful rhetoric of Abigail Williams, Arthur Miller is successful in conveying how the spread of misinformation can tear apart a small town.

The selfishness of Abigail is shown when Betty says, “ You did, you did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!”(19). Another quote is when Abigail says,” Shut it! Now shut it!”(19). The quotes show that Abigail was trying to keep a secret from John Proctor. As seen in these texts, Abigail was trying to put a charm on Elizabeth Proctor in order to have John Proctor’s love. She really wanted Elizabeth Proctor dead because she wanted to keep John Proctor all to herself. This was very selfish on her part because she wanted John Proctor to be in love with her instead of him being in love with his wife, Elizabeth

In Arthur Miller's play The Crucible Abigail Williams, an unmarried orphan in the Massachusetts town of Salem, incessantly grows more jealous, her desire for vengeance only grows stronger, and her selfishness escalates. She repeatedly lies to save herself by denying her involvement in witchcraft. Abigail's Jealousy of Elizabeth Proctor intensifies in attempt to realize her desire for Elizabeth's husband John Proctor. In order to save herself she accuses the innocent, without any sense of ethical violation. Abigail proves to be a selfish antagonist in The Crucible that shows no sense of right and wrong.

Abigail wants to get rid of Elizabeth, who she describes as John Proctor’s “sniveling envious wife” (Optional scene Pg. 158)! One can infer how Abigail is jealous and is doing anything to steel Elizabeth’s place in Proctor’s bed. It reaches a degree were Abigail is lies so much she starts to believe her lies, and stabs herself in the stomach with a pin to blame Elizabeth for attempting to kill her. She later goes on trying to convince Proctor that “the jab your wife gave me’s not healed yet” (Optional scene Pg. 155). The revenge that Abigail is seeking to find is directly related to the theme of vengeance that is profound throughout the play. Additionally, other people in Salem, such as the Putnam’s, take advantage of the crisis to help achieve their

Abigail was a servant in Proctor´s house. Elizabeth was not a very loving woman. Proctor fell for Abigail created an affair with her. “After he had confessed it to Elizabeth, she dismissed her from her service because she did not want to tell the people in Salem that the reason was the affair between John and Abigail.” (Dulain). Abigail, Tituba and the girls went to the forest in the morning. They danced and murmured words, Abigail drank blood to curse John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth, and she would do anything to have John Proctor. Reverend Paris fond blood, Abigail and the girl’s dancing, and mercy naked. Abigail knew drinking blood is a form of witchcraft, so she tries to cover up on what they actually did in the forest. She threatens the girls to not say a word or she will harm 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." (Miller)

Abigail William is the biggest villain in the play tried to kill Elizabeth who was John’s wife. Also because she kept lying and getting many people kill. Abigail tried to kill John’s wife by drinking blood to get John Proctor. In Act 1, page 13 it state, “BETTY – You drank blood, Abby! You didn’t tell him that!... ABIGAIL- Betty you never say that again! You will never-… BETTY- You did, you did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!... ABIGAIL, Smashes her across the face: Shut it! Now shut it!” When Betty

“The most memorable characters in fiction are not people most of us would choose as our friends” (Allen 1). Readers find it intriguing to learn about a character that lacks predictability: they could do no wrong in one scene, then turn around and become a backstabbing liar in the next. The same characteristics that would not make the best of friends. Irregularity makes a character and the story, for that matter, interesting. Abigail Williams from The Crucible develops into a character that readers love to hate. Her anger, her cunning, her passion, every twist and turn she brings throughout the play brings fascination with it. She would not be an especially remarkable candidate for a best friend, however, but it perusers find it extremely easy to remember her. Abigail exhibits memorability not because of the qualities that prove a good friend, but because of her intransigence, her passion, her accusatory behavior, and her manipulation.

Adultery. Abigail Williams is the young niece of Salem's Minister, Reverend Parris, she also was once John Proctor's housemaid until his wife, Elizabeth, put her out because of the affair. Abigial was just a young girl, she felt as if her feelings for John Proctor were ‘true love’, this drove her to do some of the most unspeakable things. She was seeking vengeance on Elizabeth since she put her out on the street, “blackened her name throughout the town” and she had the man she loved. Abigail's best way of getting things done was through manipulation, which she was best at. She voluntarily used witchcraft to ‘curse’ Elizabeth and yet turned witchcraft accusations against everyone of Salem. “I will come to you in the black of the night and will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you”(19), is one threat Abigail used to keep the girls mouth shut. She was a power hungry girl who did anything to keep the power for her own selfish gains. When she realized she was losing her power she claims “I have been near to murdered every day because I done my duty pointing out the Devil’s people- and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, question like a -”(100) this was her way out of the truth. This shows Abigail's true

Abigail Williams is a manipulative character that broke apart the town through lies, accusations, and trying to get what she wanted. Abigail, the niece of a reverend, should be a good girl but instead is considered a whore and a liar. She is motivated by wanting to marry John Proctor, be a mom, and be considered a “saint”. By wanting these things she goes out of her way to get a potion created to kill John’s wife, and get others to agree with her. By doing these things it creates death and terror throughout the town and causes manys to be hanged and killed brutally. Abigail goes to court and accuses many people of witchcraft and sending her soul on

Abigail Williams, while on the journey of adultery, seems to of already carefully positioned her name in the devil’s book of self-conceited, merciless, and vindictive individuals that roams this Earth. No one's back holds an off limits sign when it comes to her grabbing a knife. Some may say that Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is dictated by a whore’s vengeance. While there’s some truth to this argument, I would counter that Abigail, the main antagonist, motives are beyond this. Maintaining her position of a victim to entrap anyone who dares cross her path is the premise upon which I build this counterargument. Abigail, not only abandons her hopeless relationship with John Proctor in the end, but continues the travesties against the people of Salem before and after John’s imprisonment.

      Abigail Williams’ main cause for her wild accusations is a selfish one. It is to be with John Proctor, a married man with whom she has an affair. She is sent away but all she thinks of is being reunited with him. Abigail drinks blood, wishing to be with John Proctor, which could happen only if his wife Elizabeth died. She then, after committing adultery and contributing to the breaking of a marriage, is not through. Abigail pursues John and does not recognize that the affair is over. She conveys this in saying “I have something better than hope, I think!” (22). Abigail does not just miss her love, she becomes ruthless to get him back.

Abigail Williams wanted what was best for her. She did not care of others. Due to Abigail’s actions a whole conflict outbursts in Salem, Massachusetts. The girls have been caught in the woods dancing and even naked. They have been caught and accused of doing witchcraft. Betty is then “very ill” and they believe she is going to die. Betty awakes. Abigail threatens the girls to stay quiet. “You did. You did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!” (Miller 18). This shows that Abigail Williams was a villain because she was hoping for the death of a person in order to get what she desired. Abigail and the girls were caught doing witchcraft. Abigail comes up with a different story to tell. “Now look you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. 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 back of shudder