How Is Abigail Williams Selfish

Abigail Williams was a manipulative, vindictive, and somewhat crazy young girl. She lost her parents when she was a child and then lived with her uncle Reverend Parris and his family. At one point, she worked for John and Elizabeth Proctor but was later thrown out for having an affair with John. John was the only person that Abigail had real feelings for. She truly loved her and believed he loved her too even after he said he would never touch her again. Her deep love for John is what started the whole thing. She was in the woods trying to do a spell to kill his wife!

Abigail is one of the many reasons that Salem undergo so many witch trials. However, is she really the one to blame? I believe that John Proctor had something to do with the witch hunt as well because of his affair with abigail, he knew the truth, and his guilt overpowering his being.

In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams and Mrs. Putnam are are the sources of the witchcraft mysteries because they are able to use their manipulating witchcraft skills to throw the blame onto their enemies. Abigail Williams hates Elizabeth Proctor, for she had an affair with her husband,John, and still has lustful feelings towards him. Abigail used to work for the Proctor family, but was immediately thrown out because of her relationship with John, of which Elizabeth has no idea existed. Abigail believes Elizabeth hates her and calls her a “bitter woman, a lying, cold, sniveling woman” (12). This of course shows tensions between Elizabeth and Abigail. Abigail even admits she would do ANYTHING to get of Elizabeth, perhaps

Before the town fled with stories of witch-craft, there once was a young women who worked for a family but fell in love with the wife's husband. That husband turned out to be John Proctor and that lovely young lady, of course turned out to be Abigail Williams. For some say it was really the start of it all. In the eyes of Abigail, she is destined to be with John Proctor. She would do anything to make him hers, even if that required killing his wife Elizabeth Proctor to do so.John Proctor is not such a bad guy, but his only problem was the fact he fell into temptation of lust. Which causes Abigail to believe he loves her. Once Mr. Proctor denies her love for him multiple times, she turns into the eyes of witch-craft. That ladies and gentlemen is what catches our attention on her blaming Tituba. Abigail builds up her lies on the people of Salem until she finds the right moment to be able to claim Elizabeth Proctor as a

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.

A tragic hero must have tragic flaws as well, which John Proctor does not have a lack of. It is arguable that his affair with Abigail Williams is the root of the witch trials. He tries to fix it by attempting to silence her. “Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby” (Miller 15.) This affair he has with Abigail is an extremely deadly flaw. Abigail starts all of the witch paranoia because of her desire to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor because she falls in love with John. When John discharges her from his home and his life, she goes on a blood buzz for Elizabeth and the rest of Salem, causing the entire tragedy of the witch trials. A broader point that Miller depicts through the effect the affair has is all of the damage that lying and unfaithfulness causes.

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.

However, for a period of his life, John cheated on her with Abigail Williams. John ended the affair, and Abigail was not happy about it. She was hoping that John would leave Elizabeth, and marry her. When John ended the relationship, Abigail became extremely jealous of Elizabeth. She wanted her dead. So since John made her upset, Abigail accused Elizabeth of being a witch so that she would be hanged, and her and John could finally be together. After John was hanged for his “crimes” people started to be skeptical of the witch trials. Abigail suspected this would happen, and she knew that people would come after her to avenge the innocent people who

Adultery. Abigail Williams is the young niece of Salem's Minister, Reverend Parris, she also was once John Proctor's housemaid until his wife, Elizabeth, put her out because of the affair. Abigial was just a young girl, she felt as if her feelings for John Proctor were ‘true love’, this drove her to do some of the most unspeakable things. She was seeking vengeance on Elizabeth since she put her out on the street, “blackened her name throughout the town” and she had the man she loved. Abigail's best way of getting things done was through manipulation, which she was best at. She voluntarily used witchcraft to ‘curse’ Elizabeth and yet turned witchcraft accusations against everyone of Salem. “I will come to you in the black of the night and will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you”(19), is one threat Abigail used to keep the girls mouth shut. She was a power hungry girl who did anything to keep the power for her own selfish gains. When she realized she was losing her power she claims “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, question like a -”(100) this was her way out of the truth. This shows Abigail's true

The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is based in Salem Massachusetts in the 1692 Puritan era.

Abigail Williams is a manipulative character that broke apart the town through lies, accusations, and trying to get what she wanted. Abigail, the niece of a reverend, should be a good girl but instead is considered a whore and a liar. She is motivated by wanting to marry John Proctor, be a mom, and be considered a “saint”. By wanting these things she goes out of her way to get a potion created to kill John’s wife, and get others to agree with her. By doing these things it creates death and terror throughout the town and causes manys to be hanged and killed brutally. Abigail goes to court and accuses many people of witchcraft and sending her soul on

She manipulated the courts into doing her bidding, no matter what she had to sacrifice to get it done. She wanted Elizabeth Proctor out of the way so that she could have John, but when she was close to being discovered, fled town. Hester Prynne accepted the ‘bad’ thing she had done, and wore the scarlet “A” on her chest and proudly as she could. “She hath good skill at her needle, that’s certain.” remarked one of her female spectators; “but did ever a woman, before this brazen hussy, contrive such a way of showing it!” (Hawthorne, 7). She tried hard to give her daughter Pearl a good life, and to not feel the after affects of her decisions. She helps the poor, and influences the other women in her village by her good works. “They said it meant Able, so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (Hawthorne, 113). Abigail and Hester had completely different natures.

Abigail Williams the main reason why the witch hunts even commenced some may claim, however, Abigail acted the way she did because of fear of having a bad reputation in the town, fear of losing John Proctor and a fear of being caught guilty of making up accusations. When the word got out about the girls being in the woods Abigail made sure none of the girls would say anything “And mark this. Let you deserve 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”, Abigail was afraid if the townspeople found out she would

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

As we continue to read throughout the book, we notice the true colors of certain characters such as Abigail Williams. Abigail is a very intelligent, persuasive, malicious young woman. She is one of the main characters in the novel and is the main reason witch craft started in Salem. At first Abigail portrayed a young, innocent girl, but once you found out what she was doing with John Proctor, you started to think otherwise. She betrayed her own friends just to protect herself. She stole from her uncle; therefore she can escape from the entire catastrophe she had created. The first reason Abigail Williams is to blame for the deaths of those during the