Similarities Between Abigail Williams And Elizabeth Proctor

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

Through the characterization of Abigail’s Machiavellian nature, playing her uncle for a fool and using lies and her deceit to achieve power, Miller enables the reader to draw a direct feministic comparison between her and the powerless woman in The Crucible. The use of adultery and its connection to humiliation and lack of respect allows for a greater representation of Elizabeth’s and Proctor’s relationship with respect to Abigail. Elizabeth is victimised as she finds herself stumbling through her husband’s evident adultery “(Abigail) charge lechery on you, Mr. Proctor! and his reprimands “Enough… Elizabeth! “I’ll whip you”. Submissive to his anger and with her own “She’d dare not call out such a farmer’s wife!” Elizabeth understands that it is Abigail who has driven a wedge between her and Proctor’s marriage. As a result, her situation contrives sympathy, a reaction that is similar to the highly respected Rebecca Nurse who Hale has “heard of your giving great charities”. Nurse, as a direct result of Abigail’s machinations is thrown in jail, labelled a “witch”. The helplessness of these woman is directly attributable Abigail’s lust for influence and recognition and represents the power imbalance between the woman of Salem.

In 1952 a play was written by Arthur Miller, about events that happened in Salem in 1692. The play was about affairs, accusations, and innocent people being accused of witches. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail and Mary Warren are introduced as two separate people. Although people might see Abigail and Mary Warren as two separate people and nothing alike, they are more alike than meet's the eye. Abigail and Mary Warren have three things in common; they are both are deceitful, they both dishonest, and they are both apprehensive.

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.

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.

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.

Firstly, Elizabeth Proctor is a foil to Abigail Williams because they are both women that are in love with John Proctor. However, Elizabeth differs from Abigail because she is kind, merciful, and honest, as opposed to Abigail who is unforgiving, jealous, and a liar. Arthur Miller portrays Elizabeth as a character that never does anything wrong, and that “she has never lied” (Pg. 116).

Abigail was a servant in Proctor´s house. Elizabeth was not a very loving woman. Proctor fell for Abigail created an affair with her. “After he had confessed it to Elizabeth, she dismissed her from her service because she did not want to tell the people in Salem that the reason was the affair between John and Abigail.” (Dulain). Abigail, Tituba and the girls went to the forest in the morning. They danced and murmured words, Abigail drank blood to curse John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth, and she would do anything to have John Proctor. Reverend Paris fond blood, Abigail and the girl’s dancing, and mercy naked. Abigail knew drinking blood is a form of witchcraft, so she tries to cover up on what they actually did in the forest. She threatens the girls to not say a word or she will harm them. "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 pointy reckoning that will shudder you." (Miller)

Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail William both heighten the tension of the witch trials in Salem; they are a contrast of each others character, and brawl for the desire for one mans love. Arthur Millers hysterical play, The Crucible, portrays the personalities of 2 exceptionally diverse women.

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible presents Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams who serve important roles through their unique characteristics and thinking. John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, has two defining characteristics that show throughout this play: she not only lives to please everyone around her and behaves passively, but she lacks the assertiveness to confront what lies directly under her nose. However, Abigail, the girl John Proctor commits the crime of adultery with, manipulates those around her. She is keen to act upon an opportunity when one arises and feels a determination to get her way. While Elizabeth and Abigail are similar in their love for John Proctor, Elizabeth differs from Abigail through her tendency to try to please everyone and keep her own emotions bottled up, while Abigail believes the world revolves around her and works to make things go her own way.

Elizabeth Proctor might be portrayed as only inverse of Abigail. A dependable wife of John Proctor, Elizabeth demonstrated to her group proper methodologies to be more than an observer in life. John thought of her the sweetest, most sure, and legit lady he has ever met. The point when deciding his hanging, John offered Elizabeth to discuss an occurrence that as of late happened on the grounds that he knew she might tell the complete truth, regardless of the possibility that his life was at stake. He said to the judges "Throughout her life sir, she will never lie" (Miller, Act 3). Despite the fact that Proctor submitted infidelity, Elizabeth chipped away at pardoning him due to her kind and religious heart. She never surrendered attempting to get John to concentrate on her again. For instance, she says "You'll tear it free- when you come to realize that I will be your just wife, or no wife whatsoever. She has a shaft in you yet, John Proctor, and you know it well!" (Miller, Act 2).

Throughout the play, The Crucible, we find many characters whose personality and intentions contradict with another character. This contrasting set of characters is an example of the literary term called foil. Abigail William and Elizabeth Proctor, for example, are two different characters whose demeanor and motivations contrast but still have a strong effect on each other.

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

After having an affair with John Proctor, she couldn’t accept not being without him. Abigail also admires “how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife” like Elizabeth be unaware of the affair she had with John Proctor(act1pg#). As a result to the affair, Proctor is trying to rebuild his marriage with his wife. Abigail continues to intervene in John Proctors marriage and attempts to manipulate Proctor so he would confess his love for her. Proctor admits his love for her, but does not continue his affection because Abigail seeps of vengeance for other individuals. He portrays her “as a lump of vanity” who thinks to dance on his “wife’s grave!”(act 3). For her own selfish desires, Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft and tries to intentionally sabotage her. She does this for the purpose of her own selfish and fictitious relationship that she has with Proctor. Abigail believes she has the capability to influence Proctor, but her egoistic actions to win his undefining love makes her appear as the criminal in the

Arthur Miller wrote the play The Crucible in 1953. The Crucible takes place in the late 1600`s around a town called Salem in Massachusetts. Miller went to Salem and acquired historical documents about the Salem witch trials and used the real people's diaries and other writings to gather information on what happened and how it happened. He also used the information to create interesting and real characters that would grab and hold audiences attention. His most memorable characters, Abigail Williams and John Proctor, are really the center pieces of the play. Although Abby and Proctor in The Crucible seem like polar opposites, they are however one in the same as they use different methods to reach an unlikely bet yet common goal proving how in common they really are.