Abigail Williams Character Analysis

Abigail Williams struggles to show that she has a good reputation throughout The Crucible. On Pg 111, Danforth asks Abigail did you ever have a sexual relationship with John Proctor? “If I must answer that, I will leave and I will not come back again” (pg 111 Abigail). Everybody in Salem is starting to find out about Abigail and John, but when she is asked if it is true, she lies. It tarnishes her reputation because she is seen as a whore now. She doesn't want her name to be blackened in Salem. Once you have had sexual relationships with someone and your not married, it will be hard for Abigail to find someone else to love her because she has already been with someone else, so who would want to be with her? “ Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sister’s. And that is all. And do not speak of the other things” (pg 20 Abigail). Abigail and the other girls, were dancing in the woods, getting naked and making charms. The girls knew it was wrong but they blamed it on witchcraft rather than taking a punishment for it. This destroyed Abigail's reputation because she did not tell the full truth on what happened in the forest, but instead, she blamed it on witchcraft. She also threatened the other girls to go along with her to not make her look bad. Abigail does not take ownership of her downfalls and like to place the blame elsewhere.

Abigail was being accused repeatedly of lying and making up all of the accusations which were of false nature. The many people who were hung because of her testimony was what would now hang over her head. When she was brought before Mary Warren her false tears and outcries of pain were all an act, but in her mind she was the only one who was correct in her dealings. Abigail was for unfathomable reasons a port of knowledge through which the judges and lawyers convicted and sent to death those who were accused. The awful girl was but of one mind. She wanted revenge and to be back to her “love”, John Proctor. Abigail tried and tried repeatedly to get her hands on John, she tried to get his wife hanged, and when she couldn’t have him she decided that no one else could. Abigail soon began to accuse John Proctor of the precise thing she was known for, witchcraft. Abigail had been in the woods when the young Mary Warren went mute from the shock of seeing Abigail drink chickens blood and curse Goody Proctor, all of these happenings had to do with Abigail Williams, and now she would have to suffer through her own crucible, to figure out how she was going to get out. And though Abigail did narrowly escape the major shackles of her crimes, the guilt and foreboding of being a treacherous liar found her rumored to be a young prostitute in Boston. Forever to be alone and used. That was Abigail’s crucible and punishment for all the problems and

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 Williams is a character in the tragedy, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, who exhibits deceiving and dishonest traits throughout the play. Abigail Williams portrays to be a 17 year old female in Salem, and the niece of the minister of the Salem church, Reverend Parris. Abigail was once the servant of the Proctor household until Elizabeth Proctor, the wife of John Proctor, head of house and local farmer, discovered that her husband John was having an affair with young Abigail Williams. When Abigail gets fired she then brings a group of local girls with her to the woods with Tituba, Reverend Parris’ slave from the Barbados, to wish death upon Elizabeth Proctor because of what she had done to her and John Proctor’s ‘relationship’. This event that happens in the play is the main event that carries on the play because if it hadn’t happened, the rest of the events in the play wouldn’t have happened.

“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

. .”). The declaration of him having what would be monumental information caused his national popularity and recognition to soar faster than ever seen by any other politician before and helped to begin the period in the US known as McCarthyism. Mirroring this is the plan of Abigail to more or less overthrow and jail the wife of the man she committed an affair with, John Proctor. Elizabeth Proctor, the wife in question, expresses this concern to John by saying “Spoke or silent, a promise is surely made. And she [Abigail] may dote on it -- I am sure she does -- and thinks to kill me, then to take my place.”(Miller 58). She is quite obviously not alleging crimes against people she actually saw committing witchery in the woods but rather has ulterior motives. In this case, she believes that eliminating her competition is the best way to get to John. Abigail has a clear and concise precision in which she charges crimes against members of the community of Salem who she dislikes. Additionally, placing the blame on other members of Salem helps to remove Abigail from being accused of working with the devil. These accusations help to separate her from the situation allowing her to appear as the victim. The two people who were the main impetus behind the crazes in both cases possess much deeper motives than it may appear at first.

Abigail Williams is an evil, lying witch responsible for the deaths of innocent citizens in Salem, Massachusetts. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible the young, beautiful Abigail has an affair with married John Proctor. She will stop at nothing to get what she wants, including practicing witchcraft. Abigail is an obsessive, selfish, manipulative liar, who brings destruction wherever she goes.

In 1680 Salem, Massachusetts Abigail Williams was born, her uncle is Reverend Samuel Parris and her cousin Elizabeth “Betty” Parris. Around 1697 at the age of 17 Abigail has made herself known as a mistress and someone who has supposedly been working with the “Devil” and interacting with witchcraft. Abigail was accused of being in an affair with john Proctor, because of their affair John’s wife Elizabeth Proctor hates Abigail with a passion. Abigail’s motives were evil and disturbing, she was accused by her uncle that she may have been dealing with witchcraft while she was with her friends. When rumors were going around Salem that women and men are working with the Devil, Abigail knew that she must do anything to make sure no one found out about her dark secret. Not only was Abigail working with the “Devil” she worked with her friends Mercy Lewis, Mary Warren, Tituba, and Betty. While Abigail and Betty not wanting their family and the town to find out about them they accused innocent men and women who were witches. As Abigail’s and John Proctors relationship ending badly, Abigail’s motive was to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor for good. Elizabeth knew

The death of John Proctor wasn’t caused by just one person. John Proctor was the victim of three. The three were: Mary Warren, Abigail Williams, and the Puritan town of Salem. First, Mary Warren is responsible for John Proctor's death.

Abigail Williams the main reason why the witch hunts even commenced some may claim, however, Abigail acted the way she did because of fear of having a bad reputation in the town, fear of losing John Proctor and a fear of being caught guilty of making up accusations. When the word got out about the girls being in the woods Abigail made sure none of the girls would say anything “And mark this. Let you deserve 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. And you know I can do it”, Abigail was afraid if the townspeople found out she would

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

Abigail Williams had many chances to take back, apologize, and reverse everything she did to Salem. As a result of this behavior, Abigail is not a victim of her society. She had an extravagant amount of opportunities to not be punished for her actions and spare many innocent lives. Abigail Williams in The Crucible was a truly evil human being.

As we continue to read throughout the book, we notice the true colors of certain characters such as Abigail Williams. Abigail is a very intelligent, persuasive, malicious young woman. She is one of the main characters in the novel and is the main reason witch craft started in Salem. At first Abigail portrayed a young, innocent girl, but once you found out what she was doing with John Proctor, you started to think otherwise. She betrayed her own friends just to protect herself. She stole from her uncle; therefore she can escape from the entire catastrophe she had created. The first reason Abigail Williams is to blame for the deaths of those during the