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Character analysis of Abigail Williams, "The Crucible" written by Arthur Miller sample essay
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In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Abigail Williams, a young, headstrong woman , is the main villain of this story. Most people will say Abigail is the victim but the only thing she is a victim of is a broken heart. The reasons of her being the fellon are she started the witch hoax and tried to rid of Goody Proctor. Abigail commenced the whole witch hoax in order to save herself from getting into trouble for ‘dancing’ in the woods.
Abigail Williams' character is far from being innocent. She started the main problem in The Crucible and blamed whoever she could to keep herself out of trouble. This character
Abigail is to blame for most of the events that have took place in this play. She is the one who caused the witchcraft to be brought back up because she was dancing in the woods doing witchcraft with other girls. Abigail is a victim of her society in “The Crucible”. She is the one who made a lot of the bad things to happen.
I have come to the conclusion that Abigail, from The Crucible, was the villain of the stage drama. First, she wrongly accused innocent people of the heinous crime, witchcraft. For instance, in Act 2, Abigail accuses Elizabeth in court, which causes the town to question the Procter family’s christianity. In other words, this town held religion to the highest accord. Therefore when someone caused questioning around the subject, everyone turned their back on the accused.
Through harsh rejection and preposterous delusions, Abigail Williams abused her good name and became the fault for the bitter ends of many for something they were not guilty of. I have reread significant sections of The Crucible several times and have read and analyzed it to the best of my ability on multiple occasions. Once reading this book in my Honors English Course at the number one high school in the state of California, we carefully analyzed the characters, going as far as even making character charts, to understand them and their intentions much better. Abigail WIlliams, who is at fault for the Salem Witch Trials, held verbal power and influence over the girls which led to the sentenced hanging of many, and acted unwisely on the galling
In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail and her friends participate in activities that, in their society, are associated with devil worship and aren’t looked upon favorably, such as singing, dancing and being naked. In an attempt to avoid punishment, the girls cruelly tell the townspeople that other residents of the town, people that the girls didn’t particularly like, were possessed and forced the girls to dance for the devil. After his wife is accused, John Proctor is faced with the decision to tell the truth in order to free his wife from persecution or keep quiet for Abigail who he had an affair with. The author of this play, Arthur Miller, displays cruelty through Abigail’s accusations of innocent people During the Salem Witch
Abigail is a manipulative liar. Famous author Arthur Miller points out in The Crucible that hysteria broke out over the perceived threat of witchcraft, which served as an analogy for the communists during the Red Scare. During the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, many Americans believed a war would break out and thus caused hysteria among society. Miller writes a play about a couple who has an affair in a religious small town. Abigail, the cleaning lady for the Proctor family, commits adultery with Mr. John Proctor is soon caught by Mrs. Elizabeth Proctor.
In the beginning of the story Abigail Williams was in love with John Proctor and was willing to do anything to be with him. She was caught dancing in the woods and was accused of witchcraft. She started to blame everyone in town she didn’t like for being a witch. She told all the girls in town that she would come in the night and kill them if they tell anyone about what they were doing in the woods. She had accused Goody Proctor of witch craft so she could have John to herself.
Abigail Williams’ Influence Is it okay for a person to lie and hurt other people just to keep him or herself safe? In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, Abigail Williams lies, a lot, to keep herself safe. Throughout the story, many people are accused of witchcraft. When a person is accused of witchcraft, it is very easy for them to get out of the accusation if they lie. The lies that are told shifts the belief of who knows witchcraft, and Abigail Williams uses those lies to gain influence over other people.
After being wronged, it is human nature to want to get even. No matter how many times someone tells someone else to do unto others as you would have them do unto you, it never sticks. Human nature is, was, and always will be to make sure that whoever made the pain receives the same. This was shown in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible.
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.
In the beginning of The Crucible, Abigail Williams was all over John Proctor. She was very noticed in the town because the town heard rumors about her and John Proctor. Abigail was on the verge of being charged for witchcraft and she did not want anyone to think she was a witch. Then, she decided to go to John proctor to tell him how they should be together and that he wanted to be with her. She did not like that fact for John did not want to be with her.
Abigail Williams was historically quite different from how she was depicted in The Crucible and yet her character remained faithful to the original. The real Abigail Williams was only a child of eleven years old at the time of the Salem Witch Trials, not a teenage girl seeking revenge in order to be with the man that she loves (“About Abigail Williams”). Williams was likely an orphan as she lived with her uncle. Not much is known about her parents or how she came to live with Reverend Parris (“The “Afflicted””). Her lack of a stable two parent home may have contributed to her psychological need for attention and her role as the foremost of the “targeted” and “harassed” accusing girls.
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
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.