Abigail Williams In The Crucible

In The Crucible, Arthur Miller utilizes the main antagonist, Abigail Williams, to further emphasize the physiological theme that one will go to great measures to preserve the way others perceive them. He writes her into the story as a crazy teenage girl who is hungry for trouble, which allows him to eventually display how even though the village did not show it in the beginning, the people were just as corrupt. Miller begins to uncover this truth when Abigail is caught dancing in the woods by her uncle, Parris. Instead of confessing that she was dancing for the devil she instead tells her uncle that “[they] did dance,” (Miller.1.1.12) but she informs him that “[they] never conjured spirits'' (1.1.21). Abigail's quick and cunning reply to her uncle allows Miller to reveal how easy it was for her to protect herself from facing the

The villagers are scared and put on edge, causing them to deem anyone who is not perfect, a witch. Not only is this unfair to those who are innocent, but it unveils the villagers willingness to blame their family and friends for the sake of their reputation. Miller uses Abigail’s hoax to show how her behavior influences Salem. When Abigail accuses John Proctor’s wife of witchcraft, Cheever, a clerk for the court, is immediately sent to Proctor’s house to tell him that “Abigail Williams [charged] her '' (2.1.5). Even though Abigail only accused John Proctor’s wife of witchcraft so that she could take the place of her, the other villagers were too desperate to protect themselves to notice. Miller takes advantage of this situation to show how self centered the villagers were because they had not noticed that Abigail was only dancing in the woods in an attempt to put a spell on Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth. The people are willing to put anyone’s life at stake in order to flourish in their