In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams, one of the main characters in the play, plays a crucial part in the plot as any main character should. Abigail, better known as Abby, is the one who starts the conflict and if it wasn’t for her this play would not have a point.
Early on in the play, Abby is identified as a liar, manipulative, and most importantly a very determined young lady. Abigail is found in the woods, practicing witchcraft, by her uncle Parris at the beginning of act one. Later on in the scene when Abby is questioned about what she was in the woods for she says “We did dance, uncle, and when you leaped out of the bush so suddenly, Betty was frightened and then she fainted. And there’s the whole of it. .... but we never conjured spirits” (Miller, 1954, p.1219). Abigail assures her uncle that the other salem girls and herself were only having innocent fun in the woods. At this point in the play, Abby has fooled both her uncle and the readers. It isn’t until Abby goes to the town's girls and says “ Now
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Abigail’s motivation is what caused the conflict to arise. Her determination to get John Proctor for herself, caused Tituba, the salem girls, and Abby to be in the woods. Abby is the one who made Tituba attempt to put a spell on Goody Proctor to kill her. Since it was said that they were practicing witchcraft, the townspeople believed that Betty was witched since she would not wake up. This is what sparked the light of all the other minor conflicts that arose throughout salem. It is Abby who blamed Tituba for making her practice witchcraft, and then Tituba begins to blame other innocent people for working with the devil. Later on many townspeople are blamed and nearly hung because they are suspected of working with the devil, which in salem, is seen as a horrible sin that is to be punished by hanging those people. If it wasn’t for Abby none of these conflicts would have