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The salem witch trials a social effect
The salem witch trials a social effect
Abigail Williams analyse
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More handpicked essays just for you.
The salem witch trials a social effect
The salem witch trials a social effect
Abigail Williams analyse
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Also, throughout the play Abigail accuses many people of witchcraft in order to save herself. An example of this is when Hale questions Abigail in act 1, and Abigail accuses several girls of
When people started speculating that Abigail was a witch, she quickly came up with a lie in order to have the whole town turn against her friends. This was extremely thoughtless of Abigail, especially because 19 people had to face her consequences and die. If Abigail
Some people think that Abigail is not guilty of witchcraft but i do think she is guilty of witchcraft because she lies alot to a bunch of people. Usually some think that you are innocent until proven guilty but you can tell that she is but all the lies she tells. There is no doubt that Abigail is guilty because she lied about seeing the witches because she did not want to get in trouble by Mr. John Proctor. She danced with the witches in the woods and she was the lier of the whole entire town
She allows her threats to get to them if they disobey her orders. Dialogue shows the main point of how Abigail uses her selfishness, and how much she controls the girls within the story. Secondly, the author uses Character actions to portray Abigail’s fear of the people who happen to be afraid of witchcraft to gain more power for herself. Abigail once again uses her manipulation in situations to gain her own power. After her falling and stabbing at reverend Parris's house she uses her jealousy towards Elizabeth and applies that Elizabeth Procter used witchcraft against Abigail during her stabbing, Abigail proceeds to stick herself with needles that Mary Warren gave to Elizabeth to make it look more believable that she is taking the place of witchcraft, these accusations do eventually leave Elizabeth being charged.
She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her!” Abigail said about Elizabeth to John because, in the past, Abigail used to work for the Proctor’s, until Elizabeth dismissed her from their service because she walked in on John and Abigail committing adultery. After Abigail went back to living with her uncle, John realized that he made a terrible mistake and wanted nothing to do with Abigail, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer. When John had finally told her how he truly felt, this was the starting point of Abigail 's selfish ways. She didn’t care about anyone else in the town or how they would be affected if they were accused of witchcraft, she only cared about her feelings and how she was going to get John all to
Abigail uses the fact that every person shes accused has been a witch to secure her position as a trust worth witness in court. As seen when the suspension is raised to her, Abigail says, “I have been hurt, Mr. Danforth; I see my blood running out! I have been near to murdered every day because I have done my duty pointing out the Devil’s people -- and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, questioned like a --” (113). She uses the fact that there is a perceived danger in callout witches as one can try to kill her because they feel threated or that she 's been hurt by witchcraft when it was just self-inflicted wounds.
She starts accusing people of witch craft and makes herself look like the victim of everything. In my opinion, Abigail is not the victim she is just a young teenage girl who is obsessed with a married man and is willing to do anything to keep him to her. Abigail is partially responsible for the things that occurred in Salem.
This constant lust for John and then her being denied plays a large role in her accusing others of being witches. She thought that if she could get certain people out of the way then she could be with John. Abigail has a very forceful personality. She is a stubborn and independent young woman that knows what she wants and will do anything in her power to get
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 ??)
Abigail believed that Proctor actually loved her and she waited every night for him. She was brainwashed to think he would leave his wife for her. The witchcraft accusation came from the beginning of the story when Abigail and the girls were dancing naked in the woods and chanting. She made false accusations that people in the village were worshipping the devil to cover what she had done. Many lives were taken but Abigail had no empathy for anyone who was hanged.
To top it off when people begin to doubt and turn on her she robs someone and leaves. Without a doubt Abigail is an evil force. The reasons the entire Salem witch trials starts is because Abigail and some other girls try to perform witchcraft. Abigail drinks blood in an attempt to kill
Abigail is the young girl who leads the charge against the supposed witches of Salem. She uses her position as one of the accusers to manipulate and control the people around her. She is able to convince the court officials that the accused are guilty, and is able to turn the community against those who oppose her. Abigail's power over the other girls is demonstrated when she threatens them with physical harm saying “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it; I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine, and l have seen some reddish work done at night, and l can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down” (575).
An what I mean by that is she seizes any opportunity she has to divert blame from herself and Betty (her sister) by accusing others. Such as when she’s being accused of dancing in the forest she goes out of her way and blames Tituba of making them do the bad things they did (Act 1). Then once Abigail has the town all sympathetic for her she makes herself seen as an “afflicted child”, she then seizes the chance to accuse Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft and get her out of the picture. (Act 2). Now, the reason that this makes her so despicable is because she accuses John Proctors wife of witchcraft just to get her out of the way so she can have Mr. Proctor all to herself, but what’s even worse is she already slept with him before, so now that she can’t ruin their marriage by having sleeping/having an affair with Mr. Proctor she’s just going to accuse Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft and have her killed.
In a small village called Salem, witchcraft and sorcery exist, however everyone is pointing fingers but not a single soul knows who is actually to blame for this nonsense. During this time period of hysteria, there are multiple scenes that are very questionable due to one person and one person only. Abigail is the one most responsible for the hysteria and witchcraft in Salem. She threatens the group of girls that accompanied her in the woods while they all danced. She has also lied about many things on multiple occasions in which causes an extreme amount of suspicion.
Abigail is extremely concerned with her well-being and reputation. In Act One, Reverend Parris confronts Abigail about dancing in the forest, and, instead of confessing, she begins denouncing others. This illustrates how she is willing to allow others to be harmed because of her extreme fear. One example of this is when Abigail states, “Not I sir—Tituba and Ruth” (Miller 15). The character of the residents of Salem is not exceptional.