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Abigail Williams In The Crucible

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Within The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, the people of Salem were going through a period of mass hysteria in which innocent people were accused of being witches by a group of girls. John Proctor, a farmer who tries to expose the girls, is to blame for the Salem Witch trials. Not only does he lead Abigail Williams on and makes her think it was acceptable to defy Puritan belief, he also holds a greater value for his reputation since he kept quiet when Abigail confessed to him that the girls were only faking. When John Proctor visits the Salem town,news of Betty Parris spread throughout the town of Salem, as well as news of Ruth Putnam, and the people of Salem turned to witchcraft as the cause. John Proctor met up with Abigail and she believed …show more content…

As a Puritan, lechery is a punishable crime as well as a definite way to destroy someone’s reputation. Since Abigail is young, she fell under the illusion that she was in love and that he loved her, which was not the case. Abigail became furious with John’s wife, Elizabeth, who fired her. Abigail made it known that she believes John shares her feelings, especially when she, “saw your face when she put me out, and you loved me then and you do now!” (Miller, 22). After their one night of love, in Abigail’s eyes, John has and always will have feelings for Abigail. She wants to be loved and when Proctor gave her that, she wanted more, which is why Abigail was infuriated when she was fired by Goody Proctor. Instead of owning up to his mistakes and exposing the girls for what they are really doing, John stayed quiet about Abigail’s confession for fear that his reputation would be damaged because of his act of lechery until it was too late. Although near the end, John tried to stop the accusations, in the beginning before it got out of hand, he refuses to get involved with anything going on with the witch

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