Abigail Williams Witchery

The Witch trials would not have happened if it was not for the corruption of power Abigail had power over the other girls who were dancing in the woods and she maintained this power by threatening them

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the audience introduced to a chaotic 1692 Salem, Massachusetts. Throughout the play we see a series of unreasonable events including the hanging of 19 people due to false accusations of witchcraft. These witch trials killed many people and jailed hundreds for no reason at all. There is many people to blame for the Salem Witch Trials but, Abigail Williams is most culpable.

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.

Mary Warren, a young woman living in Massachusetts during the Salem witch trials, shows no exception to differing viewpoints. Throughout The Crucible, in which Mary Warren is a character, the very children whom the town considers holy, appear also to perpetrate the vicious crime of murder through false allegations of witchcraft. Unable to recognize the children’s crime because of their innocent appearance, citizens of Salem conduct dozens of

Due to her fear of punishment, selfishness, and envy, hundreds of innocent villagers were accused, several were killed, and an entire society was left traumatized and afraid in the late Seventeenth Century New England. Her actions resulted in absolute tumult and chaos. You may be wondering, “Who?”, or, “How could one person possibly have such a huge affect on an entire community?” The infamous Abigail Williams, who lied and took advantage of the fearful, suspicious society in which she lived purely for her own benefit.

Miller argues that to be greedy means you care about your own needs before anyone else. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller through his character Abigail Williams, who symbolizes greediness, to argue that there are greedy people in the world who will do anything to get what they want turning her into a person that feels heartless. Abigail Williams demonstrates greediness because she is needy, selfish, and determined.

The way people reacted when someone tried to be good and tell the truth wasn't expected. Marry Warren knew the girls were lying and wanted them to tell the truth. She told Abigail, "Abby, we've got to tell. Witchery's a hangin' error, a hangin' like they done in Boston two years ago! We must tell the truth, Abby! You'll only be whipped for dancin', and the other things" (18). Even though she wanted to tell the truth, she couldn't. Abigail won't let her confess. Later in the book, she finds out that they're using the poppet she gave to Elizabeth against her. Marry never wanted Elizabeth to be accused of trying to kill Abigail. Proctor wanted Marry to tell the truth to the court. But Mary is afraid of what Abigail might do to her and Proctor. Mary is also afraid of the court. "I cannot, they'll turn on me" (80), she said. You would expect that the court would want you to tell the truth. In this case, if she told the truth the court members' reputation will be ruined. It shows that they react in a way that it will be beneficial to them.

Abigail Williams has coercive power, because she threatened and manipulated others for her own benefit. For example, she once promised to physically attack her friends if they went against her wishes. “Now look you. All of you. We danced… 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 black of some terrible night, and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it.” (Miller 20). She also had no qualms about accusing anyone of witchcraft for selfish reasons. This is why she pointed her finger at Elizabeth Proctor and Mary Warren. In Abigail’s opinion, Elizabeth was the only obstacle preventing John from being with her, and Mary Warren

“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.

"Some are not who they say they are, and some are not who they seem to be." The author Ellen Raskin wrote. The reader can easily see this in Arthur Miller drama The Crucible, which is set in Salem Massachusetts in 1692 and 1693 during the Puritan era. In the play The Crucible was about a village who thinks they are under siege by witches. During the first few acts the people of Salem are beginning to be suspicious of how the young girls are acting. Later on in drama the girl begin accusing people in the village of with craft. So then the accused were put on trial. if they confessed to being a witch they lived but, if they did not the accused were sentenced to death. Miller shows us with the character Abigail Williams, as she is nothing like the perfect Puritan woman she was supposed to be.

In a puritan society, children do not often get to play around or have fun like a child would in a more modern American society. Often times the young girls live with close relative's to learn how to be a midwife; one of the only acceptable professions for a female to have. Abigail Williams was an example of a young girl doing just that. She lived with her Uncle, a local Reverend named Samuel Parris. Reverend Parris also had a daughter of his own named Betty. Abigail (11) and her younger cousin Betty (9) started to show illness sometime during January, 1692. The young girls started having hallucinations of spirits pinching them and attempting to cause bodily harm. The girls, later joined by Anne Putnam Jr, also screamed out in pain over seemingly

The devastating Salem witch trials occurred between February 1692 and May 1693. By the end of the trials many people were accused, nineteen were executed and several more died in prison. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, captures the hysteria that developed during the Salem witch trials. Crucible character, Abigail Williams, represents the repressed desires that many of the Puritans possess. Abigail’s readiness to abandon Puritan social restrictions sets her apart from the other characters, and eventually leads to her downfall. Abigail Williams uses manipulation and cruelty to create an atmosphere of terror and intimidation in her town. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams leads the hysteria in Salem by taking extreme measures to succeed in attaining John Proctor's love.

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

Parasites are disgusting, twisted and demonic like beings that can take over your body and destroy you from the inside out. In a the story The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, there is a character named Abigail Williams and she is the perfect representation of a parasite in the Puritan society. The things she does eats the Puritan society from the inside out. She has committed adultery, she is a filthy liar, and she disobeys her guardians. Because of her filthy ways she has caused some people of Salem, a town in the story, to be hanged to save herself. In this paper, I will provide reasons why I think Abigail Williams is not a pure puritan woman.

So as you can see she was the most responsible because one she had drank blood