The Power Of Abigail In The Crucible

Abigail is major character who demonstrated the plays theme of revenge. Abigail is the niece of Reverend Parris, who is in charge in Salem. In the play, we found out the Abigail had an affair John Proctor. John Proctor is married to Elizabeth Proctor, Elizabeth is later accused of witch craft from Abigail. Abigail accuses Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft because Abigail feels that she should be with John Proctor and Elizabeth was the only person standing in the way of that situation. By accusing Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft, she would no longer be in the picture, then Abigail could come in and marry John Proctor. Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft out of spite and jealousy because Abigail wants to be with John Proctor. As you can see through the course of Abigail's actions,

To begin, Abigail’s background story must be explained for anybody to truly understand her character. Abigail is an orphan who witnessed her parents’ brutal murder as a young child and was taken in by her uncle Reverend Parris (148). Abigail has grown up without a proper mother and father figure to guide her through the trials of life. When Abigail is first introduced into the scene, the narrator uses an intriguing choice of words to describe her. Some literary analysts may argue that Abigail’s childhood living situation is the reason that she behaves the way she does; however this is not the case. Abigail has a tendency to victimize herself to gain and receive attention whenever she pleases. Throughout acts I and II, Abigail has made herself the victim in a multitude of different ways. For example, Reverend Parris accuses Abigail of having a blemished reputation around the town of Salem. She denies this statement; however, when Parris calls her bluff, she blames the

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.

Abigail's characteristics are a factor in her actions and reactions during the play. She is an extremely manipulative, power hungry and controlling person. In

Also, being a young woman of no money or family, she has no power at all. Abigail lives in a town where dancing, theater, and reading are forbidden, so she creates dramatics that make everyone pay attention to her, that gives her power she has never had, and gives her some measure of fun that she has never had before. Growing up with nothing Abigail has had no sort of power in her society, but when she finally does something that goes her way, and the girls follow every move she does, Abigail starts to like the feeling of power and it becomes fun and exciting for her. Her society has left her with thinking these sort of actions are considered fun because they never let her have any real

During this essay I will introduce the main points involved in answering the proposed question. I will explore the certain aspects of Abigail’s personality and how it is an important role in portraying her reasons for her actions. I will also analyse the ways in which Abigail’s personality changes through the progression of the play. I will sum up which points have a bigger effect on her intentions and motivations and the effect she has on the characters of the play. I will support my reasons with quotations to justify its relevance.

The first being when she accuses Tituba on page 40. While she is being accused of calling the Devil she puts the blame on Tituba saying that Tituba made her do it. From this action things spiral out of control as the events of the night before become a little more transparent. At the end of act one on page 45-46 Abigail is accusing in a hysterical frenzy along with Betty who has just awoken. “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!”

Abigail is easily one of the most vindictive and selfish characters in the book through her lack of remorse for the people she accuses, how she caused mass hysteria throughout the town and even blames one of the others. For instance throughout the book barely any sympathy is shown by Abigail towards those she has accused of witchcraft. She constantly accuses people and never once feels sorry for them, she evens makes up elaborate stories about how the accused made her do all these crazy actions in order to make it sound more convincing to the magistrates.

In The Crucible, Arthur Miller develops the character Abigail Williams to portray the theme of vengeance and uncontrolled power. She is the powerhouse and control center of Salem. She uses empowerment to gain retaliation. From the beginning, Abigail’s main purpose for her power and destruction is

All of the deceit throughout the book centers on Abigail. Abigail is the ringleader of the group of girls in the town. She is the cause for all of the lying and manipulation that goes on.

Abigail interferes with the courts’ divine ability to accuse witches because her lustful intentions which allows her to put on masterful acts to convince the audience that she is telling the truth. During the second act of The Crucible, Abigail’s relationship with John Proctor is revealed. Whenever

Abigail is clearly a victim in her society. She has lied to Parris, Danforth and may other people in the salem town. She has blamed so many innocent people of witchcraft. She has committed adultery with Mr John Proctor and she is very jealous of Mr John Proctor's wife, Elizabeth Proctor. Everyone thought of Abigail as the sweet innocent little girl so no one wanted to jump to conclusions and think or say it was her. So she got away with a lot of things in salem.

In Arthur Miller’s famous play “The Crucible”, there were many characters that you felt sorry for. For example, Mary Warren, Tituba, or even Elizabeth Proctor. Though I can honestly say, if I were an actress I would want to portray Abigail as an awful character. I would want my audience to hate her just as much as I did. However, I would not want to make her seem like the self-centered, hated, corrupted character she is without a reason.

Throughout the play, it is clear Abigail holds a lot of power, and is very manipulative. She uses the power she possesses wrong. She is the ringleader of the group of girls, the group listens to her and follows her lead. Abigail is able to manipulate the girls do to whatever she wants. For example, she manipulates the girls to lie about what happened in the woods, she tells them “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word about the other things, I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you”(20). This shows that Abigail holds the power, and that she is actually threatening the girls if they say something wrong. She also encourages the girls to accuse others of witchcraft