preview

Abigail Williams Character Analysis

Decent Essays

Abigail Williams was the initial instigator of the witch hunt in Salem in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible. She lied and accused others of witchcraft in order to save herself. During the Salem Witch Trials over 200 people were accused of witchcraft and 20 were executed (Blumberg). Abigail Williams is a member of a strict Puritan society. Witnessing her parents being murdered right in front of her, being forced to live with her selfish, inconsiderate uncle, and having a love for a man she knows she cannot be with contributed to making her into the psychotic and distraught character she is. Throughout Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, Abigail Williams shows many signs of psychotic behavior. She became so immersed with accusing other …show more content…

Abigail is in love with John Proctor, but the feeling's not mutual and this causes Abigail to get angry and accuse John’s wife and eventually John himself. We see that if she accuse her own love of witchcraft that she cares nothing about anyone except for herself. As time goes on, more and more people are being accused of witchcraft and many good hearted people are being hung for no reason, yet Abigail shows no remorse what so ever. After John Proctor is declared a participant of witchcraft and is set to hang, Abigail tries to get him to leave with her, but denies her offer and leaves alone rather than staying and facing her mistakes and confessing to the fact that everything she has said was a lie. During this we see a small sense of guilt and remorse towards the people she has accused, otherwise, why would she come back and try to save John from being hung?
Abigail Williams had a number of peculiar relationships with other people within the play, she never had anyone that she was really close with. Did this play a role in how she treated people throughout the play? One person Abigail truly despised was Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife, because of the simple fact that Elizabeth had John’s love rather than her. “It's a bitter woman, a lying, cold, sniveling woman, and I will not work for such a woman!” (1264). Abigail felt that Elizabeth was the only obstacle keeping her from being with John

Get Access