Pros And Cons Of Abigail Williams

Abigail Williams protected herself by giving the names all of those she seen with the devil, Reverend Hale just wants to remain the minister of Salem so he tries to shut down the act of witchcraft in his house, and Judge Danforth request respect rom all citizens of Salem and that they know witch hunting is his forte. The reputation in this story was so well demonstrated that it has connected to the reader because she feels each and every characters feeling about their status. Reputation comes with positive and negative effects, it all just depends on what’s best for each and every person, just like in the

Abigail was, of course, the ring leader of the witch craft accusations in Salem. These false accusations were not without cause, however; Abigail made these accusations to try and protect her own reputation. Initially, Abigail is mainly conflicted about her name currently being darkened through the town. She angrily accuses Elizabeth Proctor of spreading lies about her in defense. However, Abigail is seen as a whore, and John Proctor causes the ultimate disrespect to her when he says, “You are pulling down Heaven and raising up a whore.” (Act II) Abigail’s yearn to retain a good name caused the deaths and punishment of many

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.

Throughout the play Abigail tries to show the other characters that she is not to blame for her mistakes. An example of her trying to blame other people is when she tells her uncle that he should go and deny the witchcraft accusations. By not denying the allegations herself and having someone else do it, shows that she has support from other townspeople. Elizabeth Proctor is a strong woman who is blamed for witchcraft because of Abigail's accusations. Abigail claims that Elizabeth is a liar and is bitter, but when the reader meets Elizabeth for the first time they realize it is just Abigail exaggerating.

"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.

“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.

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

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

In the play, “The Crucible”, many people are killed or lie to preserve a good name. They are hung because they tell the truth about not being a witch. Some characters that die because they want to preserve their good name are characters like Giles Corey, or John Proctor. A character that lied because they wanted to preserve their ‘truthful’ name, is Abigail Williams.

Argumentatively, Abigail is an adulterer looking for retribution against her lover’s wife, but underneath that her actions are narcissistic. The abundant need for self-preservation becomes obvious when presented with evidence from the beginning of the play. Abigail depicts these characteristics when asked about Elizabeth Proctor’s departure from church services and Abigail’s own displacement from Elizabeth’s home, “She hates me, uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave. It’s a bitter woman, a lying, cold, sniveling woman, and I will not work for such a woman!” (Miller 12). She refuses to acknowledge that her own actions are wrongful and places blame on others, “My name is good in the

Finally, Abigail Williams felt the same about her reputation. Abigail Williams yells,“My name is good in the village! I will not have it said my name is soiled! Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar!”(1.12, Miller). In the past, Abigail Williams has had an awful reputation for sleeping with John Proctor. Abigail tried lyinig her way through persuading Reverend Parris in believing Abigail’s reputation is actually favorable. In denial, Abigail just says that she has a positive reputation. These reputations show a great deal about the faults in human nature.

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.

Another example that Abigail Williams is an example of dishonor is because of the significance of it towards Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail claimed Elizabeth of witchcraft to try to get Elizabeth out of the picture to be with John Proctor. Abigail complete disregarded the lives of others, as did McCarthy when he claimed those of communism. By doing so, this got many people fired, and some lives ruined do to allegations. Abigail does the same. As stated in the Crucible, “ You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!” (I. 175). This shows that Abigail did indeed attempt to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor and didn't think of cost of this decision. The rashness shown by Abigail is drawn all throughout the play by Miller to explain how influential and manipulative McCarthy was during the Red Scare. Another quote to explain this dishonor was stated by Elizabeth, “I am sure she does--and thinks to kill me, then to take my place.” (II. 197). This explains that Elizabeth already knew her fate and knew what Abigail intended to do. Also, the quote shows that Abigail has such dishonor that she would go through

Parris even asks about Abigail’s reputation when he says, “Your name in the town-it is entirely white is it not?”(Miller 12). Abigail defends her name to a tee and even goes as far as accusing others and staying in the spotlight so she is absolved from partaking in witchcraft herself. In life it’s said that your reputation precedes you, even after death it is what you are remembered by. “ Where she walks the crowd will part like the sea for Israel”, Abigails name is taken to a whole other level when she starts labeling the witches (Miller 53). Elizabeth is another character who knows the importance of a good name and when she is asked whether John cheated she protected him and denied the allegations (Schlueter 113). By the time the trials have been started, there is not much left to hold on to besides family and reputations. John Proctor and Rebecca both are people, “willing to lay down their lives if need be to preserve their dignity” (Schlueter 115). To hold onto something even more than life shows great courage.

Reputation is extremely important in a town where social standing is tied to one’s ability to follow religious rules. Your good name is the only way you can get other people to do business with you or even get a fair hearing. Of course, reputation meant nothing when a witchcraft accusation was staring you in the face. But reputation is what made the Reverend hale begin to doubt whether the accused individuals were actually guilty. And it was for the sake of his reputation and his friends’ reputations that John Proctor refused to sign a false confession. He would, quite literally, rather die. Although John Proctor goes to his death falsely condemned as a witch, he gains his reputation and respect among those who matter, like his wife, because he refuses to falsely identify his friends and neighbours as witches. The loss of Abigail’s reputation toward the end of the play shows that characters in The Crucible eventually earn the reputations they deserve, despite the personal tragedies that might take place along the way. Having a good reputation is very important in The Crucible. It means you can be accepted by society. If you do not have a good name, you will be completely rejected. John Proctor would no longer be thought of a morally straight and righteous person. Reverend Parris would lose all his respect and not be accepted by society. Judge Danforth would be constantly questioned and lose his job. Keeping and maintaining your good name is an overwhelming theme in The