In the beginning of the story Abigail Williams is motivated to kill Elizabeth Proctor to take her place as John Proctor’s wife. In the book Betty says,”you did,you did! You drank the charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor”(miller 13)! This quote gives evidence that proves Abigail Williams is trying to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail Williams takes on witchcraft which is illegal, just to try and get rid of Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail says,” she is blackening my name in the village! She is telling everyone lies about me! She is a cold shriveling woman, and you bend to her”(williams 15). This confirms that Abigail Williams has a reason to hate Elizabeth. It also gives her a motive to kill her. Abigail tells this
Abigail is a selfish and manipulative person which gives her the courage to do the things that she does. In act 3, Abigail says "Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; It's God's work I do" (III.115). Abigail claims that she is doing God’s work, but she is actually doing the devil's work because she is lying and forcing her friends to agree with her and go against Mary. She has the courage to go through with anything that comes to her mind, no matter what harm it could cause. “The girl, the Williams girl, Abigail Williams, sir. She sat to dinner in Reverend Parris's house tonight, and without word nor warning she falls to the floor. Like a struck beast, he says, and screamed a scream that a bull would weep to hear. And he goes to save her, and, stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle out. And demanding of her how she come to be so stabbed, she --- testify it were your wife's familiar spirit pushed it in”(Act II.1282). This explains how Abigail is willing to go through with anything to be with John Proctor. She shows a monstrous amount of intrepidness just to do so. Abigail Williams has the courage to do anything when it comes to John Proctor. She stabs herself with a needle just to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft.
Abigail also wanted to complete the relationship with her old lover John Proctor. In act 1, Abigail and Betty had a little chat that she only wanted to take out John Proctors new lover, Elizabeth. But, Abigail, also, had an affair with John Proctor and she has been all over him since and it doesn’t seem to be affecting the way that John Proctor feel about Abigail nor Elizabeth. So, Abigail plan is to get rid of Elizabeth or kill her, in order to get John Proctor
Although there is no physical glimpse of Abigail Williams in Act II of The Crucibles, Abigail's presence has an influencing role on many of the characters in the play. In Act II, it is comprehensible that Abigail's previous actions have a lasting impact on John and Elizabeth Proctor's marriage. Several months ago, John and Abigail take part in an affair which eventually leads to Abigail falling in love with John. Elizabeth ultimately finds out the truth thus creating tension within the marriage. John Proctor realizes his sin and tries to mend his marriage by refusing to interact with Abigail. Johns decision of no longer seeing Abigail infuriates her hence Abigails despise towards Elizabeth Proctor: “She wants me dead. I knew all week it would
Their differences would also become evident when Abigail William goes on her path of vengeance. This trait becomes evident as Abigail Williams does whatever it takes to get her name cleared, including lie or commit murder. She then accuses Elizabeth of being a witch in an attempt to take her bed from her. Elizabeth, however, becomes the light of reason and sanity as she refuses to judge her husband, even to save his life. She knows that her husband is a good person and refuses to take that away from him. This was a very different view as compared to Abigail. Abigail held on to the notion that John Proctor would choose to run away and be with her instead. Wherein Abigail Williams had a somewhat weak background and character, which fed off of the fears of others, Elizabeth Proctor has a relatively strong character. Elizabeth refused to surrender her beliefs in the face of hardships, whereas Abigail would abandon her beliefs in order to save herself. Although Elizabeth spoke on the side of truth, Abigail would be the one that is believed because of her ability to change her belief to feed off of the fears of the community, a very powerful tool in puritan Salem.
Arthur Miller wrote Abigail Williams in The Crucible, as an manipulative and vindictive person. However, Abigail is a victim of the strict Puritan society, who witnessed the death of her parent’s as a child. Following afterwards, she is thrown into the care of her strictly ruled uncle, and hoping for a life with a man she falsely believes that can fall in love with her, in which contributes to the making of the character she becomes. In the starting transaction of Act I, this begins to reveal Abigail’s true colors to the audience.
Abigail Williams abuses her power to seek vengeance on Elizabeth Proctor because of her sexual attraction to John Proctor. Abigail wants Elizabeth dead, she is trying to lure John into believing that his wife is a bad person so she can try to ruin their relationship. Abigail is speaking
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
Elizabeth Proctor is accused of practicing witchcraft by Abigail Williams. Abigail accused Elizabeth as she had an affair with Elizabeth's husband John, who now refuses to continue the affair because he feels guilty towards his wife and God as he has committed the sin adultery. Abigail will seize every opportunity to eliminate Elizabeth from John. That is why Abigail enjoys having a high status in the Salem community as everyone will believe her. The only reason Abigail is accusing Elizabeth as she still has feelings for John, she wants Elizabeth out of the picture and to do this she will do anything like self-destruction to get her way. When Elizabeth is persecuted it confused me until I realised
In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams is the cause of the accusations of witchcraft. Abigail starts the witchcraft when she invites the girls to join her in the woods to have Tituba put spells on them to get the boys in the town to like them. Abigail asks Tituba to put a spell on Goody Proctor to kill her. Abigail is will to do anything to get John Proctor to herself, even accusing people of witchcraft. Many people were hung or put in prison because of her. The decisions made by Abigail Williams were not justifiable because she accused Elizabeth of stabbing her in the stomach and accusing innocent people of being witches and putting spells on the girls in the town.
In the beginning of the story, John Proctor is indirectly involved in the witchcraft hysteria. Abigail, the antagonist and teenage leader of the girls, had drunk a charm to kill Elizabeth, Proctor’s wife. Her reason to commit such act is that she wants Proctor all for herself. As they had an affair in the past, but Proctor would not abandon his wife and children. If he had not had the affair with Abigail Williams, the witchcraft accusation chaos would
Abigail Williams, an ordinary girl who quickly becomes one of the most powerful characters. She is a very strong, manipulative person who likes to cause trouble for others. She was caught with a group of girls dancing in the woods with a group of girl when her uncle, Reverend Parris shows up. Her cousin Betty falls into a trance because she was so frightened. When her uncle questions her about her name in the village she quickly retaliates by saying, “ There is no blush about my name!” He then asks why she was fired from the Proctor’s and why she hasn’t gotten another job in seven months. Abigail responds by saying that Elizabeth Proctor is a gossiping liar who wanted Abigail as a slave. Abigail knew that if her uncle found out that she had an affair with John that it would ruin her.
Abigail Williams’ extremely vile behavior and lack of inconsideration for other people had cost many lives from the women being accused of witchcraft. In the Middle of Act I, Abigail lies about the truth beyond the girls in the woods. This was to conceal herself, so she doesn't expose herself to the fact she had an affair with John Proctor, after attempting to cast a spell on Elizabeth (Informally known as “Goody”) Proctor. She shifts the attention away from herself by making accusations, saying that other women, Goody Sibber, Goody Hawkins, Goody Booth, were the ones involved in the witchcraft. This was a straight lie, to enhance her public image positively. “I am only wondering how I may prove what she told me, Elizabeth. If the girl’s a
Some of the kindest hearts can live the worse lifestyles, and one of those beings is Elizabeth Proctor. Mrs. Proctor was a sweet soul who did not want to cause harm to any human or creature, but in the eyes of Abigail Williams she is “condemned of Witchcraft.”The conviction from Abigail to Elizabeth was strictly out of jealousy. Abigail was betrayed when John no longer lusted after Abigail that she decided to take
The main accuser, Abigail Williams, had an ulterior motive to destroy Elizabeth Proctor. Beforehand, Abigail had an affair with Elizabeth's husband, John Proctor, and Abigail believed if she removed Elizabeth, she would have John to herself. Most of Abigail's allegations were based on false claims, believing the relationship between her and John Proctor to be true love.
Abigail was the Proctor’s maid, and she became obsessed with John. She quickly devolved until she and her friends were having a Barbados maid cast a spell to get the men they wanted. Abigail then decided that Elizabeth, John Proctor’s wife, needed to die so she could be with John, whom Abigail felt wanted a relationship with her. When John rejected her and said he wanted nothing to do with her ever again is when she started the witch hunt. “She thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly.