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The crucible character analysis essay
Characters and characterisation in the crucible
Character analysis in the crucible
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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.
In the Crucible there are many heinous characters, but for me the most despicable is Abigail. The two reasons that I find her to be the most despicable is because she somehow got all her friends to perform satanic rituals with her in the forest, and also the fact that she and her friends all lied about it, which put many innocent people in jeopardy. In the beginning of the book, Parris sees a large group of girls dancing in the forest naked. As he was approaching the girls to see what was going on, all the girls ran away screaming, leaving behind a pot with a ladel and a frog in it.
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 Crucible, Abigail accuses more than half the town of witchcraft to cover up her affair with a married man, John Proctor. She lies and accuses people to prevent being charged with attempted murder against Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife, because of jealousy. Abigail who is very similar to Joseph McCarthy, she starts to accuse people who share a glance towards her direction or even people that she dislikes or offended her in some way. The people of the town grow intimidated or fearful of her because she throws false accusations and evidence towards anyone who may have upset her. In the playwright, The Crucible, it is shown that there are accusations thrown at people, but has no supported evidence for why some people of the town
Human beings all have selfish tendencies, we tend to care for ourselves more than we care for others but how far would you go to get what you want?Would you kill? Would you steal? What would you do ? I Arthur Miller's the Crucible Abigail Williams is one of the most important characters but she chooses to be very selfish and chooses to put her own needs first which caused several people to lose their lives.
In the small town of Salem Massachusetts around springtime in 1692, many problems have occurred. But none more potent and dangerous than witchcraft. The buzz of the theory or sorcery happening in the town riled up the people who are ready to go witch hunting. However in a small twist of events, many women were falsely accused of being apart of the sorcerers and were left alone to face the consequences. But who could be responsible for these actions?
The way someone appears, or acts, is not necessarily always correct or truthful. In the book The Crucible, the Forest Girls, Abigail, Susana, Mary and the others, effectively deceive the townsfolk into believing that witchcraft is practiced in Salem. Abigail Williams is not as innocent as she portrays herself. She misrepresents herself as a virtuous young girl who was unjustly affected by witchcraft. During an escapade in Act III, the girls become disillusioned by Mary Warren who attempts to expose the charges of witchcraft as mere acts of vengeance.
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.
“Vengeance is walking Salem.” (John Proctor, Pg. 77) John Proctor was correct when he said that. The people of Salem abused the law forbidding the practice of witch craft. For example, Abigail Williams made an allegation against John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth because she fired her as their servant and John ended their affair.
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.
Whether a citizen wills to gain power or keep their power, accusing citizens of witch craft seemed to be the way to achieve power. Ultimate power and the ability to send anyone to their death becomes the same thing in Salem. Constantly the people in Salem struggle for power. Mr. Danforth, the judge in Salem has the characteristic of being power hungry, He maintains his power by sending people to death row. The Salem Witch trials are the response to power hungry individuals.
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.
The Salem Witch Trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. It was such a massive, bizzare occurance that logically, something or someone should be blamed for the start of it. Although it is one of America’s most showing cases of mass hysteria, there had to have been many other causes for the tragic ending. Salem’s tragic ending in The Crucible was clearly caused by an abundance of factors, but the two most weighty were Abigail Williams and the idea of reputation in Salem. Abigail Williams is very much to blame for the tragic ending in Salem for many reasons.
Nicole Schaefer Mr. Becker American Literature October 29, 2014 Two Women for Two Different Worlds In the novel the crucible, Elizabeth, wife of John Proctor, and Abigail Williams, mistress of John Proctor are two main roles. Elizabeth, a woman who is loyal and true, or manipulative and ruthless liar, Abigail. She pretends to see spirits and commands the other girls to pretend as well.
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.
