The Crucible Character Analysis

Abigail Williams seems to be a despicable character in the story The Crucible. She causes do much trouble throughout the story starting from when the girls were in the woods dancing naked with Tituba. Abby says “She sends her spirit on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer” (Miller,1154). Abigail uses Tituba to take the blame for all the girls speaking spirits and being in the woods. She manipulates people into believing and seeing what she wants them to see she is a very decisive

Abigail abuses the power she is given and causes devastation in the community because she tries to protect herself from the laws of the time. This young lady tends to have a gift at spreading rumors that result in terrible consequences. She has a way of manipulating others and gaining control over them. Act 1 displays her manipulative personality, when she somehow manages to flip the blame from her to several other townspeople. The girl in the town are caught dancing, at Tituba’s spell castings, in the woods. Abigail lies in order to protect herself and her friends because this could be associated with witchcraft. Betty accuses her:

It’s important to note why and how Abigail inherited her selfish behavior in the first place, and what caused her to act a certain way. Abigail claims that she is in love with John Proctor, and the two characters were discovered to have an affair with each other. John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth Proctor, finds out about the affair and

In Arthur Miller 's The Crucible, the main character Abigail Williams is to blame for the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, Abigail Williams remained a static character throughout the book. Abigail is a mean, deceitful and manipulative person who always wants her way; she has no remorse about who she hurts along her journey to get her want she wants.

Abigail Williams is to be considered a strikingly beautiful young woman. She was the cause of the whole madness of witch-craft by her immaturity because Abigail and with the rest of her friends went out into the woods while having Tituba conjure spirits so the girls could get guys to fall in love with them. Once they were caught by Reverend Parris (which is Abigail's uncle) instead of confessing the truth on what they were doing and owning up to it, Abigail decides to blame Tituba. She blames her for making the girls go into the woods to conjure spirits and help the devil. When John Proctor hears about this though, she quickly tells him in private that its nothing but lie. She wants John Proctor to see her as a women but when she cannot even own

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

In Arthur Miller's play The Crucible Abigail Williams, an unmarried orphan in the Massachusetts town of Salem, incessantly grows more jealous, her desire for vengeance only grows stronger, and her selfishness escalates. She repeatedly lies to save herself by denying her involvement in witchcraft. Abigail's Jealousy of Elizabeth Proctor intensifies in attempt to realize her desire for Elizabeth's husband John Proctor. In order to save herself she accuses the innocent, without any sense of ethical violation. Abigail proves to be a selfish antagonist in The Crucible that shows no sense of right and wrong.

The last and most significant test Abigail experienced was how far she would go to save her reputation, and get revenge on Elizabeth forever daring to wrecking it. This test is also one that proves the kind of diabolical things she would do to pretend she was saintly. The first stage of Abigail’s test was when she was discovered in the woods. She and the other girls decided to be deceitful about this event, and to remain godly in the eyes of the town, even though they were disappointing God in doing so. Abigail and the other girls were soonly accused of witchcraft, which she immediately turned the blame around of Tituba, in hopes of keeping any goodness to her name. Then, when she had the chance to accuse others of witchcraft,

Abigail's deception toward the people is driven by her lust for power. Abigail begins to accuse others of being witches, so she can build up her power and reliability. She carefully selects defenseless targets at first to accuse, only those that would be believable when in court. Each of the innocent people that Abigail condemns to hang gives her more credibility, gaining her more power over the court and the people. Abigail continues to grow closer to the big picture every time she gains power. Abigail is viewed as a threat; since her lust for power made her into a ruthless person. Abigail in the manner of a leader convinces the other girls to follow her; those who are frightened by her are the ones who join her. She needs more people on her

People are very impressionable, especially children. Abigail used destructive power to cause chaos in Salem. In the Crucible she is viewed as strong-willed and independent. She manipulated and used people against each other as a stepping stone to hysteria.

Conflict within a story does not only affect a single character yet rather affects them all. Abigail Williams, niece to Samuel Parris and cousin of Betty Parris, is most responsible for the conflicts within The Crucible. Abigail Williams consistently caused conflicts between many characters in the story as a revenge towards Elizabeth Procter following the conclusion of an affair with John Procter, Elizabeth’s husband. Initially, this conflict was kept between Abigail and John however soon after Abigail grew bitter towards John Procter’s wife, Elizabeth Procter as well as John himself. This bitterness resulted in a deadly accusation of alleged witchcraft as well as a cruel dispute within the small village of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. People will go to great lengths in order to protect the ones they cherish the most, even if it means destruction.

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.

The devastating Salem witch trials occurred between February 1692 and May 1693. By the end of the trials many people were accused, nineteen were executed and several more died in prison. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, captures the hysteria that developed during the Salem witch trials. Crucible character, Abigail Williams, represents the repressed desires that many of the Puritans possess. Abigail’s readiness to abandon Puritan social restrictions sets her apart from the other characters, and eventually leads to her downfall. Abigail Williams uses manipulation and cruelty to create an atmosphere of terror and intimidation in her town. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams leads the hysteria in Salem by taking extreme measures to succeed in attaining John Proctor's love.

Abigail, indeed, is a devilish character and should be kept away from people. On the other hand, she is an admirable person. The fact that she knew right then

Patty Jenkins, an American film director and screenwriter wrote,“Every villain has their belief system that makes perfect sense to them.” This quote is reminiscent of Abigail Williams, a character in The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller. In Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, four girls were caught doing witchcraft. The girls accused other innocents of witchcraft, so they would not be framed for it. Due to the girl's actions, many of them, accused were hanged to death. Abigail Williams was a villain in The Crucible.