“Give me a word, John. A soft word” (Miller 22), says Abigail as she ponders her lustful intentions. In the play, The Crucible, Abigail is an antagonist who causes strife that is not fortuitous. She uses her imagination and the situation she is in to make herself appear superior and to achieve a higher status. There are also many factors that contribute to the trouble Abigail causes, such as, the Puritan society, her past, and her wits. These childish behaviors and deceitful actions cause great upheaval throughout the text. Therefore, Abigail is very much to blame for the turmoil in the play, yet she acts as if she is entitled to be pardoned from her actions. Abigail and the McCarthyism society of Salem are to blame for the anxiety …show more content…
She comes off as anything but innocent, but it could explain the root to her issues. This glimpse into her life is the only shred of sympathy for Abigail given to the reader, which consequently doesn’t balance out for the bad she does. She is scarred on an emotional and mental level which is an explanation for why she can justify her actions. Also, having this information makes it prevalent why she is so attached to John Proctor, “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot” (Miller 24)! She sees him as someone who can give her guidance and someone who can give her the attention her parents weren’t able to. Likewise, Abigail is capable of making everyone believe outside factors are causing her to act against God. She gives no room for anyone to think otherwise with how many lies she tells. “To the ceiling, in a genuine conversation with the “bird,” as though trying to talk it out of attacking her: But God made my face; you cannot want to tear my face. Enby is a deadly sin, Mary” (Miller 115). This evidence is an illustration of how Abigail has tricked everyone into believing she messed with witchcraft, because even though nothing is there,
This is later confirmed when she threatens to “come to [them] in the black of some terrible night and … bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder” (Pg.175) Mary Warren and Betty Parris if they dare to tell the truth. This shows her determination at killing Elizabeth Proctor and securing her own reputation. Unlike many naive villains in other literatures, Abigail sets out a meticulous scheme to frame Elizabeth. First, she witnesses Mary Warren leaving a needle in a doll. Then she “[sticks] two inches [of a needle] in the flesh of her belly”(pg. 203) to frame Elizabeth of performing witchcraft. So mendacious is Abigail that she is willing to injure herself to accomplish her plan. Under her beautiful appearance also lays a manipulative heart. She is capable of manipulating not only the girls into doing things her way, but also the members of the court to her advantage. When questioned by Danforth whether the spirits she has seen are illusion, Abigail steps it up a notch by making the members of the court feel sorry for her and madly refutes, “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, questioned like a—” (Pg.210) This, following by Elizabeth's failure to tell the truth and the girl’s verisimilar acting toward the “yellow bird”, further demonstrates her manipulative power which brings the court in her favor. Altogether, many
Abigail is a highly jealous character, concentrating her jealousy on Elizabeth Proctor. This jealousy is driven by lust and her desire for John Proctor. Abigail served as a servant in the Proctor household and after an affair with her husband John, Elizabeth fired her. She still resents Elizabeth for this as she is still in love with John. She clearly says to John, "You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!" Abigail is still in love with John and she assumes the converse. Her love for John only causes her resentment for Elizabeth to strengthen. She hates John Proctor's wife and in her conniving ways she attempts to inspire the same views of Elizabeth in John's mind. Saying things to him such as, "She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me, She is a cold, sniveling woman." Abigail fabricates stories in attempt to steel John from Elizabeth. She is a manipulative liar that does and says as she pleases in order to get what she wants.
Abigail being a manipulative and selfish person, accuses many innocent people of being witches to save her own skin. Her skills at manipulation are on full display, when she's on the brink of getting busted for dabbling in witchcraft. She skillfully manages to pin the whole thing on several of Salem's other second-class citizens(I.1.1372). As ringleader, she excites the other girls into a frenzy of emotion, which allows them to condemn the people they know and love as witches. Abigail's main skill seems to be finding people's flaws, their weaknesses, and their prejudices and then manipulating
This immature behavior of Abigail is her using her past as an excuse. Persistently, Abigail attempts to make herself the victim in every situation, and she blatantly states her backstory in the quote, “I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine, and I have seen some reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!” (Miller 20). Abigail is able to use this story to convince the town’s officials she is telling the truth. Sympathy is purely what Abigail is searching for at this point, because she knows that is she can get that then everyone will listen. Knowingly, Abigail achieves her goal of not being blamed since she places it on others, and by giving everyone the idea that she can’t help her actions. Correspondingly, this quote makes it prevalent to how she attaches herself to John Proctor, “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot!” (Miller 24). Notably, Abigail exploits John Proctor’s character with her deception. Surely enough, John Proctor is gullible enough to get himself into this situation which is irreversible.
One of the final tests of Abigail’s character was to what degree of evil she really was. Although seeming innocent among the girls in court, Abigail was the source of all evil in the town at this time. Many times throughout the story, Abigail had opportunities to take her evil manipulating personality to a new high, and she always did. A good example of this is when Abigail had a chance to save Marry Warren, and confess to faking their behavior of fainting when a supposedly bewitched person was before them. Instead of taking a step towards goodness, she kept evil on her side and decided to show no remorse for Marry Warren.
Her actions killed the man she once loved. She contradicted love for herself and love for another. Threatening the lives of others for her benefit. This manipulative girl that has an affair with a respectable and honest man. The deceptive girl, Abigail is the cause of a major incident in salem. “The Crucible” written by Arthur Miller tells the story of how theocracy in courts failed the innocent people. Abigails true nature is shown in the play, while trying to show her love proctor.
To begin, Abigail’s background story must be explained for anybody to truly understand her character. Abigail is an orphan who witnessed her parents’ brutal murder as a young child and was taken in by her uncle Reverend Parris (148). Abigail has grown up without a proper mother and father figure to guide her through the trials of life. When Abigail is first introduced into the scene, the narrator uses an intriguing choice of words to describe her. Some literary analysts may argue that Abigail’s childhood living situation is the reason that she behaves the way she does; however this is not the case. Abigail has a tendency to victimize herself to gain and receive attention whenever she pleases. Throughout acts I and II, Abigail has made herself the victim in a multitude of different ways. For example, Reverend Parris accuses Abigail of having a blemished reputation around the town of Salem. She denies this statement; however, when Parris calls her bluff, she blames the
Since Abigail is the Reverends niece and grew up with a pastor in the household it seems as if she should be very humble and a good person but her human nature took a toll making her greedy therefore making her dishonest and deceptive. She is afraid that people won’t agree with her, that motivates her to get people on her side. She then falsely accuses others of witchcraft and her being the victim. Witchcraft was taken very seriously back then and it ended up ripping apart the town and caused non stop fighting by almost everyone. Abigail’s main motive is John Proctor so she tries to lie to John about his wife to get him to fall for her “She is blackening my name in the village she is telling lies about me she’s a cold swiveling
Abigail Williams is a very complex character. She may not be as evil as everyone thinks she is. Abigail Williams is a victim in her own society because of outside forces upon her. Abigail can be pardoned because she just wants to be loved, society fails to help her recover from her parents death, and her society has left no room for her to have fun or be creative One reason Abigail is a victim in her society is because she just wants to be loved.
The character of Abigail is the reason behind many of the influential and devastating events, which occur during the play of “The Crucible”. Abigail is a character that has a longing for power and is determined to acquire it. She also has a frightening self-belief that she can achieve any objective even if it involves carrying out morally corrupt and selfish plans. I also believe that Abigail has a longing to become recognised as an adult. During the first act, Abigail is depicted as a victim since she appears more naive and therefore vulnerable, one example of this is when she is seen in the company of John Proctor and although the audience still receives inklings to her darker personality she seems to be depicted as an inferior.
One reason why Abigail is responsible for the death of innocent Salemites is because she makes up lies and stories about the people involved in the witchcraft. “Sometimes I wake and find myself standing in the open doorway and not a stich on my body. I always hear her laughing in my sleep. I hear her singing her Barbados songs and tempting me with-” (Miller, 156). In this quote Abigail is talking about Tituba, the slave of Mr. and Mrs. Proctor, to Mr. Danforth. She made up a story about Tituba putting her under a spell and doing things to her at night. Abigail is also the first person to accuse someone of
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail’s flaws- lust, jealousy, and mendacity- that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch-hunt in Salem. The Crucible focuses of the finding of young girls and a slave messing around in the woods, trying to conjure spirits from the dead. Rather than admit to their actions and face the consequences, the girls accuse everyone else of the crimes they were guilty of. Abigail Williams is the person who caused much of the drama in this story. She bears much responsibility for everyone meeting with Tituba in the woods. Once Parris discovers this meeting, Abigail attempts to keep her actions a secret because it would possibly reveal her affair with Proctor. Abigail lies to cover up her affair with proctor, and to stop the charges of witchcraft in order to prevent the terrible punishments that go along with the accusations.
Abigail plays the role of the victim rather persuasively. To some readers, she may seem as though she is the one who all of this witchcraft and conspiracy is harming. That act of innocence is prevalent when she is talking to John Proctor. Proctor tells Abigail that his wife Elizabeth is a good woman. Abigail then cries out, “She’s blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bent to her!” (22-23). The statement makes the reader believe that Abigail has done nothing wrong, when in all actuality, she is the one who is lying in her attempt to cover up previous acts and crimes she committed.The jealous girl inside Abigail is revealed early in the story. Once Betty awakes from her nap, she and Abigail get into a heated discussion about the extent of what Mr. Paris is aware of. Betty is frightened and outraged when she yells, “You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife” (19). When Betty states this, it becomes evident what Abigail’s motives are for her actions and words. Abigail also told Proctor, “John -- I am waitin’ for you every night” (22). Abigail is so blinded by her love for John that she does not care nor realize all of the tragedies she is causing and all of the innocent lives being taken because of her own greedy motives. Elizabeth Proctor knew once she was accused of witchcraft that Abigail was
Abigail is one of the main characters in the book, The Crucible. She is an evil character who is rather selfish and is inconsiderate of other people. And because of her personality, she has conflicts with many characters in the book. Best example, she has conflicts with John and Elizabeth Proctor. She is a wicked child who would do anything to get what she wants and knows how to manipulate people and the situation to get to where she wants to be. Her conflicts began with a little desire to take John Proctor away from his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, and own him to herself and only herself.
think and do. As an audience, at this stage we have a mixed opinion of