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Abigail Williams Character

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Character Analysis of Abigail Williams “Everybody has the ability to be manipulative, to be hateful and deceitful” (Neil LaBute). This quote in itself speaks volumes when it comes to Abigail Williams and the people in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Abigail Williams is a main character in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Abigail is a dynamic character. In the beginning she was an innocent girl that turns into revengeful girl who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. Through Abigail’s characterization as manipulative, dishonest, and vindictive, Miller shows how one girl can create so much fear in one town. Abigail knows how to get what she wants, when she wants it. She is a magnificent manipulator. There are many instances where …show more content…

All the anger builds up and she becomes very vindictive. Abigail wants to get revenge on Elizabeth, which is ironic because it looks like it would be the other way around. When Abigail and the girls are in the woods with Tituba, Abigail drinks blood to try and kill Elizabeth so she can then marry John (Miller ). This does not kill Elizabeth Proctor. Later on one day Abby sees Mary Warren, who now works for the Proctors, sewing a Poppet for Elizabeth. Mary sticks a needles in the stomach for safe keeping and Abigail sees her do this. Later that day at dinner Abigail stabs herself at the table. She tells everyone that Elizabeth sent her spirit to stab her and that she has a poppet with a needle in it (Miller 35 and 36). There is now a warrant for the arrest of Elizabeth, but she is not killed. None of Abigail’s plans for revenge worked. Abigail caused a lot of problems in Salem in 1692. Her awful childhood and her wanting to be John so badly turned her into this manipulative, dishonest, and vindictive girl. Abigail seemed to be so innocent to everyone in the town, but all the other girls knew she was not. Abigail wanted to be treated like woman, but she had to do so many childish things to get what she wanted that no one would treat her like a woman. Abigail Williams leaves town in the end and steals money from Parris, no one knows where she went or what she went to

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Miller best depicts the evils in people through the main prosecutor in the the play Abigail Williams. Abigail is undeniably the most destructive and corrupt individual in The Crucible. Through her vengefulness, threatening her peers, carelessness at others’ expense, and complete disregard for human life, she ensues a tumultuous event to Salem. Abigail’s initial accusation against the town beggar was solely to defend herself from punishment for dancing in the woods.

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Ever wonder what was so interesting about the witch trails and how many lives were lost due to people getting falsely accused and getting hung. In the book, The Crucible, the author was Arthur Miller and his book was based on the Salem witchcraft  trials during the modern times. Some  of the many flaws that Abigail showed throughout the book was spitefulness, jealousy, and lust.     Abigail shows the flaw of spitefulness when it comes to the point of her trying to be a part of John’s life or to try to get what she wants in life. “Elizabeth: She wants me dead.

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During the play Abigail's bad decisions leads to a lot of commotion. She tries to fix her mistakes but ends up getting into more of a mess than she started with. “I want to open myself…I want the light of god, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced with Devil; I saw him i wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss his hand. I saw sarah Good with the devil, I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil!

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Abigail defies all judgements against innocence as she is the driven evil force in The Crucible. Arthur Miller shows Abigail Williams to instinctively defend herself, as it is the humane reaction when accused of wrongdoing. It is common to tell a lie but, the intention of sabotage is a different story. Abigail had many tricks up her sleeve to manipulate the court. Her purpose to convince the town of her innocence was one of many.

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1229 Words | 5 Pages

This all leads to Elizabeth still playing along with the pretense of witchcraft and finally accusing Elizabeth herself in a devious plan. She stabs herself and blames Elizabeth in order to get her arrested and Proctor to herself. The idea stemmed when Mary Warren was making her poppet, “Abby sat beside [her] when [she] made it.” (Miller 76). This shows that Abigail’s idea was conjured up at this moment and she is later found stabbed in the same spot as the needle was on the doll.

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Abby also stabs herself in the stomach with a needle and lies that Elizabeth used her witchcraft to stab Abby. The community believes Abby’s story because there is a poppet in Elizabeth’s house with a needle in its stomach. Since Abby already has credibility and has proof that Elizabeth is a witch, she is able to get Elizabeth arrested. With Elizabeth out of the way, Abby believes that she can get back together with John. The second reason why Abigail has great influence over Elizabeth is so Abby can prevent Elizabeth from spreading the truth.

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Abigail seems like an innocent girl to everybody however it is later found out that she is one of the people who puts herself before others and makes things worse to get herself out of trouble. In act one Reverend Hale was questioning Tituba, a slave from Barbados. Tituba was explaining what the dancing and the disturbance in the woods and Abigail says she “wasn’t conjuring spirits”(Miller ??)

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One of the most powerful human emotions is desire. Everyone is constantly trying to fulfill their own desires. A desire or passion may be so strong it can conflict with morality. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams, is driven to go against her moral duty and pursue John Proctor. She will stop at nothing to see her plan through.

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In Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, the character Abigail Williams is to blame for the 1692 witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Abigail is a selfish and manipulative person who strives to get what she desires, no matter the repercussions it may have on others. Throughout the play her accusations and lies caused many people pain and suffering, Although Abigail did not accuse all of those arrested and tried on witchcraft charges, she was the first character to "cry witch." Though Abigail may seem heartless on a quick observation, she shares a deep feeling of emotional connection toward the character John Proctor. Several months before the exposition of the play, Abigail was employed by the Proctors to work around the house as a housekeeper

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Since Abigail only seems to care about John Proctor after the affair she had with him, she seeks to hurt his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. When out in the woods with Tituba and the girls she conjured a spell that would kill Elizabeth, in spite of her bitterness.

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Abigail and the society itself are to blame for the events in Salem causing murder and outrage in this town. Abigail is the character mainly to blame for the outrage in Salem. She is a liar, double faced hypocrite that will stop at nothing to get herself out of the mess that she created. Making her one of the main killers of these innocent puritan people.

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She is the most to blame for the actions made and the deaths that took place in Salem. The affair John and Abigail had caused her to fall hard for him. She has it set in her mind that she will go to unbelievable measures to try and get Elizabeth Proctor out of the picture so she can be with John. Abigail is found dancing in the woods with the other girls at night.

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A dynamic character like Abigail has lied before in the past and now has experiences something more sinister which is unique for a character in the story and makes the plot better with Abigail’s wickedness. Through the Trials of the Salem, the story will always have a person that will stand out when it is mentioned, and Abigail Williams takes the cake of being the most horrific, yet a great character in the story because it isn’t The Crucible without Abigail as being the antagonist and the tension builder. The Village will never forgive of what she did to all the innocent women she has killed. Abigail has shown that she is a very Dynamic character from her emotions, to her actions, and to her experiences she has made in

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818 Words | 4 Pages

Abigail 's heartless attitude is shown in act two when she frames and accuses Elizabeth Proctor for witchcraft. She desired and longed for this revenge on poor Proctors innocent wife, aiming for her through out the play. Later on in Act Three she seems to lose her last attachment of society by destroying John Proctor, who she claims to love with all her heart. When John attempts and threatens to expose Abigail’s wrong doings, she skillfully manages to turn the whole problem around on him, sending him off

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In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail William’s flaws: lust, vengeance, and jealously that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch hunts in Salem. Abigail Williams started the entire suspicion of there being active member of witchcraft throughout Salem, Massachusetts. She did this for her own benefits and used trickery to get what she wanted. Abigail was corrupt and only cared for her own desires. There are many reasons that these flaws are crucial to the outcome of the play.

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