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Analysis Of Abigail Williams In The Crucible

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The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions regarding the potential of people practicing “the Devil’s magic”, or witchcraft. Over 200 people were accused of witchcraft, and 20 people were executed. Eventually, the trials were deemed as a mistake, but this was after mass destruction and chaos had occurred. About 300 years after the witch trials, “The Crucible” was written, which is a play inspired by the extreme behavior and inconsistencies from the Salem witch trials. One of the main characters in the play, Abigail Williams, is first accused of having some correlation of witchcraft, but carefully finds a way to get the target off her back. Abigail Williams, a young girl who strives to be with John Proctor, transforms from a naive, pure-hearted girl, into a violent and powerful character, who tries to manipulate and destroy anyone she can, changing the atmosphere of the quaint, peaceful, Puritan village to a chaotic and devilish fury.
Abigail first begins to stir up controversy in the town when she, along with many other girls, were caught dancing in the woods and “summoning the devil.” When the accusations begin, Abigail tells all of the girls the lies they should tell, saying “We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters. And that is all.” (pg.19), while threatening them, saying “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

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