The True Antagonist of Salem

People believe that actions happen for many different reasons and tend to blame others before themselves. Some believe that the devil is doing the work in the body of someone else, and some believe that the devil does not, and some even believe in witchcraft. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, nineteen innocent people are hung for accusations of performing witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. A group of young girls go out into the woods which is forbidden in Salem. They are sent into a frenzy when the town’s reverend, Parris, spots them dancing in the woods. The girls are led by Abigail Williams, a young teenage girl who lives with her uncle, reverend Parris. Abigail is not the most truthful girl, which ends up causing 19 innocent people their lives. Previous to these events, Abigail was a servant in the Proctor household, but was sent off after Elizabeth Proctor found out about the affair between Abigail and her husband, John Proctor. In Abigail’s case the more lies she told, the more lives she ended.

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.

Abigail Williams, a seventeen year old girl is the antagonist of this play because she tells lies and wrongfully accuses innocent people to hide her affair and to ultimately get John Proctor back. The Crucible by Arthur Miller, is a play about the Salem Witch Trials based off of the historic event in 1692, where many people fall victim to Abigail’s accusations. Her motivation to accuse is driven by her feelings for John Proctor and her determination to go to great lengths to steal Elizabeth's place as his wife. However, her plan to have John Proctor fails because of her careless actions. Abigail is considered as the evil villain of this play, because of her deceiving lies, her selfishness and her manipulativeness to satisfy her desires.

In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail William's flaws-Immaturity, Lust, and Spitefulness- that led her to be most responsible for the tragedy of the witch-hunt in Salem.

After all of the witch trials in 1692 concluded a total of 20 people were hanged all because of people craving attention and personal gain. There are three people depicted in Arthur Miller's The Crucible that are most responsible for this and they are, Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Thomas Putnam. Abigail Williams is mostly responsible for the Salem witch trials because she was the first person to start accusing innocent people of witchcraft. Judge Danforth is responsible because he is not concerned about justice, all he cares about is being correct about the witch trials. Lastly Thomas Putnam is guilty of causing the witch trials because he was able to have people accuse other people

Have you ever thought about how one small decision, can have such big consequences? Not just for an individual, but for a whole society. In the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, conflicts arise when Abigail, a young teen in Salem, Massachusetts, is found worshipping the devil along with two other main characters, Betty and Tituba, and many other girls. After being discovered, Betty faints and does not wake up. Accusations of witchcraft quickly spread throughout Salem and Reverend Parris questions Abigail about the discovery. From here, Abigail begins her lies and manipulations for her own benefit. Abigail​ ​is​ ​guilty​ ​with​ ​corrupting​ ​her​ ​society​ ​with​ ​wrongdoing​ ​because​ ​she​ ​is manipulative,​ ​selfish,​ ​and​ ​vindictive.

To begin, Abigail williams is to be blamed for the injustice in Salem because she is dishonest. Abigail is dishonest because she lied that Tituba is responsible for the witchcraft in

The sins of deceit and lust have plagued the human race since the dawn of time. These feelings and wishes can make people do some of the worst things known man. In Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, these two sins are applied to many characters one of which is Abigail Williams. The play revolves around the Abigail and her friends attempting to cover up their past transgressions against the Salem community while Abigail attempts to get together with John Proctor. Abigail suffers from the sins of lust and deceit most chronically which she uses to fulfill her agenda throughout the play. Due to Abigail's lust for John and her constant utility of untruths lead the people to fear for their lives leading them to hurt innocent people making Abigail the main transgressor of the Salem condition.

. .”). The declaration of him having what would be monumental information caused his national popularity and recognition to soar faster than ever seen by any other politician before and helped to begin the period in the US known as McCarthyism. Mirroring this is the plan of Abigail to more or less overthrow and jail the wife of the man she committed an affair with, John Proctor. Elizabeth Proctor, the wife in question, expresses this concern to John by saying “Spoke or silent, a promise is surely made. And she [Abigail] may dote on it -- I am sure she does -- and thinks to kill me, then to take my place.”(Miller 58). She is quite obviously not alleging crimes against people she actually saw committing witchery in the woods but rather has ulterior motives. In this case, she believes that eliminating her competition is the best way to get to John. Abigail has a clear and concise precision in which she charges crimes against members of the community of Salem who she dislikes. Additionally, placing the blame on other members of Salem helps to remove Abigail from being accused of working with the devil. These accusations help to separate her from the situation allowing her to appear as the victim. The two people who were the main impetus behind the crazes in both cases possess much deeper motives than it may appear at first.

Responsible for nineteen overall deaths by the end of Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams is accountable for the Salem Witch Trials and surrounding hysteria. She makes false accusations against many others, and constantly manipulates others to benefit her throughout the play. Although the outside influences from her community pressures her into making the accusations she does, the main reasoning behind her actions and reactions is her own personal agenda which is obvious throughout the play. She should be held responsible for her actions and given the appropriate punishment as a result.

Abigail Williams did not want to stop the witch trials because if they found out she was lying about most of the things she said she would have been hanged. Blaming other people, getting them killed because of her ignorance. She only was loyal to the girls. One wrong move for abigail then her life would have been over with. Abigail was full of herself in the play she was selfish, ignorant, and a back-stabbing liar, it was her way or no way she did not let nothing stop her from getting rid of who was in the way.She even told lies on Tituba, but she had the courage and was brave enough to stand up and confess about it only because she was a slave and she thought they were going to kill her. The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the author of the book put everything in play because Abigail Uses the town’s fear and Witchcraft to her own advantages. She stole Reverend Parris money and lied about it and, acts the whole shouting and screaming in court and puts the town in fear. Being so vindictive as she is, she scares herself at times because she’s afraid if anyone would find out about her lien about the witchcraft.

One reason why Abigail is responsible for the death of innocent Salemites is because she makes up lies and stories about the people involved in the witchcraft. “Sometimes I wake and find myself standing in the open doorway and not a stich on my body. I always hear her laughing in my sleep. I hear her singing her Barbados songs and tempting me with-” (Miller, 156). In this quote Abigail is talking about Tituba, the slave of Mr. and Mrs. Proctor, to Mr. Danforth. She made up a story about Tituba putting her under a spell and doing things to her at night. Abigail is also the first person to accuse someone of

While many characters in the Crucible harm or help the community, two stand out as especially influential to the fate of Salem. These two are John Proctor and Abigail Williams. Both, perhaps, do not have the community at the forefront of their minds, but in the process of pursuing their goals they affect Salem for better or for worse. Where John inspires other Salemites to rebel against the trials, Abigail tears apart the community with hysteria and paranoia.

Who's to Blame in The Crucible? Many innocent people died in the great witch blame, the youngest was a four years old. In the novel The Crucible written by Arthur Miller the character Abigail Williams is the most blame for all the horrific events in the novel. Abigail displayed three main characteristics in this novel, the characteristics of lust, spitefulness, and jealousy are major factors in how this terrible situation turns out.

There are many factors that play a role in cause of the Salem witch trials, but there are three characters that are most responsible for the Salem witch trials in The Crucible; Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Reverend Hale. Abigail Williams starts the whole thing wanting John Proctor. John Proctor knows what Abigail did but refuses to speak up. Reverend Hale uses his respected authority to accuse the innocent people of Salem.