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As we witness the play unfold, we are able to see Abigail’s true character, and though she tries to conceal her true personality, the reader is able to identify it through her actions and most interestingly her beliefs. Abigail Williams varies far from traditional Puritan society. Instead of abiding by the general rules of Puritans, Abigail decides that she is above the laws. This fact becomes evident when she pursues, then successfully seduces John Proctor, and when she
She shifts the tension of the court being on her by falsely accusing their neighbors of witchcraft in 1692 along with Betty Parris. Abigail used her authority as a child to intimidate them into lying and going along with the story she created. She threatened to accuse them of whitch craft if they didn’t obey her. Williams testified that she saw a ritual outside of the Parris house claiming there were forty witches drinking blood as a part of the ritual. She names Elizabeth Proctor as being present in the ritual.
In The Crucible, many of the characters were slightly altered from the original Salem Witch Trials to make the story more interesting. Abigail Williams was one of those characters. She has several changes, some major, some minor, but they affect the story in a big way. While there are many differences, there are also some historically accurate things about her thrown in as well.
Act Three # 8. “I know not. A wind, a cold wind, has come.” (Abigail) Abigail is signaling the girls to make Mary Warren look guilty. The girls start to scream and pretend that the spirit of Mary Warren was attacking them.
Winona Ryder thinks, Abigail Williams is not really a villain but a victum. I disagree, Abigail acts like a villain rather than a victim. For example, she threatens her friends, by saying that she would send her spirit after them. Another example is when she is not kind to Mary, who is one of her friends, and says she had tries to hurt her and calls her a liar. Abigail accusses Mary of sending her spirit to hurt them in the court.
The Puritan background of the play shows a lot about how Puritans lived. The rigid lifestyle of the Puritan society calls for extreme consequences and punishments for those who were accused of witchcraft, or any crime in general. Puritans are based on a theocracy, where Priests and church figures have the ultimate power. The fear of punishment puts many of the townspeople of Salem in the shadows of guilt for their actions. Abigail Williams is one of many characters that was a victim of the Puritan’s harsh code.
Without the vengeful seventeen year old girl, Abigail Williams, the chaos that occurs in the small town of Salem would dissipate. While living in a Puritan society and having to move in with her uncle having fun was definitely not a top priority, but in Abigail's mind it was. In 1692, a small Puritan town known as Salem, Massachusetts youngs girls are about to face the death trial for dabbling in witchcraft. Abigail Williams, along with five other girls and her family’s slave Tituba, were caught dancing in the woods by her “perfect” uncle Reverend Parris. The next day Parris’s daughter who was also in the woods the night before will not wake up.
For instants, in the beginning of the play, when the girls were caught dancing in the forest by Rev. Paris, Abigail announced that none of the girls had participated in witchcraft, "We never conjured spirts," (page 915) she said. This was one of the lies that she told to deceive the people of the town into thinking that the meeting in the forest wasn't devious. Then, Abigail began to tell lie after lie. Once farther questioned by Rev. Hale this time, Abigail started to turn the tables on her friends of the village, "She made me do it!
Abigail Williams affected the trials heavily with her accusations. Abigail Williams and her group of girls that follow her were caught in the woods dancing and performing witchcraft. However, to avoid blame and be killed, the girls especially Abigail Williams began to falsely accuse innocent women or people of Salem that they are witches. In this scene, Abigail and the girls are in court as witnesses against Mary Warren, who has turned and the girls and vice versa.
Abigail Williams will lie about anything to cover up her affair with John Proctor whom she tells, “I know how you clutched by back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I came near” (1.1.548-550). By looking at The Crucible, one can see that Abigail Williams develops the theme of reputation, which is important because people who fear losing their reputation spread hysteria. Reputation motivates Abigail Williams to accuse others of being a witch. Abigail lied to betty and said that she “told [Parris] everything (1.1.442-443); however, she didn’t tell him how she drunk blood to kill Elizabeth. She doesn’t want the other girls to say anything about what happened in the woods.
She not only forces the girls to lie but forces herself too. On the other hand some, more than others, do think that Abigail Williams is nothing but an innocent girl or child. These might have created this opinion based off of her past filled with great trauma and tragedy. She witnessed her parents being murdered with her own two eyes and at such a young age.
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
If Abigail, John, and Elizabeth would have been honest to begin with then many innocent people would not have lost their lives and left the town in despair. Abigail Williams lied to many people a during the entire story. In Act 1, Abigail made Reverend Parris believe that she was dismissed from working for the Proctors was due to the fact that “She (Elizabeth) hates me, uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave. It’s a bitter woman, a lying, cold, sniveling woman, and I will not work for such a woman!” (Miller, 140).
“Choose a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life”-Confucius (Coombs and Arcand). This is something my mom always told me growing up and I have always taken it to heart. This is because if I am enjoying and having a good time then it will not feel like work. This just means I need to find something that would make me happy every day. As a graduating senior, I have taken the interest survey, and I understand why the survey recommends agribusiness as a potential career field because of how I would get to work with my hands and also because it's a well-paying job.
Abigail Williams is not your typical teenage girl. She is a girl that will drink blood to kill someone, accuse people of witchcraft, and have a affair. By looking at The Crucible, one can see that Abigail Williams develops the theme of reputation, which is important because people who fear losing their reputation spread hysteria. Protecting her reputation motivates Abigail Williams to accuse others of being a witch.
