ipl-logo

The Crucible Abigail Williams Deception

577 Words3 Pages

Fabian Hernandez English IV – H 26 Apr 2024 Title The character of Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" is a perfect illustration of a person who purposefully misleads others to benefit themselves. Abigail's motivations for lying are to avoid being held accountable for her deeds, to control people around her, and to satisfy her own love fantasies. Through her deceit, Miller examines themes of power, rage, and the corrupting influence of revenge. Abigail has a variety of reasons for lying. She first turns to lying to get away with being punished for her involvement in witchcraft in the woods. Because she is afraid of the consequences of her behavior and the negative association that society attaches to witchcraft, Abigail manipulates others around her by falsely accusing them of being witches. She intends to deflect blame from herself and …show more content…

She uses lies to remove Elizabeth, Proctor's wife, from the scene because she regards her as an obstacle to their connection. In addition to achieving Abigail's own goals, her false charges of witchcraft against Elizabeth add to the general panic and chaos that descend upon Salem. Abigail's dishonesty plays a major role in the overall meaning of "The Crucible". Miller draws attention to the damaging effects of deception and manipulation in society through her activities. Because of Abigail's dishonesty, a series of unfortunate events lead up in the unjustified persecution of innocent individuals and the loss of collaborative trust. Her deception feeds the panic that embraces Salem, which leads to loss and tragedy in the end. The character John Proctor from "The Crucible" is an ideal example of how "what we value can be determined only by what we sacrifice." Proctor experiences an intense internal conflict during the play as he debates his morals and finally makes decisions that expose his actual

Show More
Related
650 Words | 3 Pages

Selfishness Consumes Human beings are innately driven by self-interest. They pursue goals, careers, achievements and all too often are deceitful and cheat in order to obtain them. The character Abigail in the play the Crucible is no different. The play, the Crucible, depicts the mass hysteria that overtook a town in Massachusetts during the Salem witch trials. In the midst of this fear, this panic, in the eye of the storm, lies the character of Abigail Williams.

Read More
613 Words | 3 Pages

In the play, “The Crucible” many innocent lives are taken because lies and deceit play a very broad role throughout the entire play. Some Salemnites fake to see spirits to cause others to fear the innocent and get their lives taken to please the fakers. A main character in the Crucible, Abigail Williams uses lying to get her way with the whole town, and to get revenge. Abigail has had an affair with John Proctor who is trying to rid all his sins because he is aware of all his wrongdoings. With Abigail and John’s actions Abigail has a strong connection with John and lies to try and get rid of his wife Elizabeth so her selfish self can have John to herself.

Read More
737 Words | 3 Pages

A lesson that can never taught enough is to be careful of what you say about others. Miller demonstrates this with the characters of Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams, they are foil characters, meaning they are polar opposites and bring out the worst in each other. Elizabeth is a strong Christian woman who doesn 't hardly hold a grudge against anyone, always tells the truth, and is selfless. Abigail however is full of hate and revenge, lies to get what she wants, and thinks she runs the town of Salem during the trials. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play set in the 1600’s in the puritan village of Salem, Massachusetts.

Read More
303 Words | 2 Pages

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams and John Proctor are known to have had an adulterous affair with one another. Even though both John Proctor and Abigail are worthy of blame for their actions, Abigail is the most culpable of the two. In The Crucible, Abigail is the most to blame because of her “tempting” Proctor to carrying out the act more. During Act 1, Abigail is shown to keep egging on Proctor although he does not want to have the affair with her anymore.

Read More
552 Words | 3 Pages

Sissela Bok, a Harvard University ethicist says, ‘’Lying is so easy compared to other ways of gaining power.’’ In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams drives the play. She is responsible for most of the deaths in Salem. Abigail is a beautiful, 17 year old orphan, also niece of Reverend Parris. Abigail Williams is a very selfish and manipulative person; she teaches us that lying is only harmful for one’s self.

Read More
433 Words | 2 Pages

The conflict of vengeance illustrates the chaos going around Salem and the lies she tells to fill her obsession. Abigail continues to try and sway john towards in hopes of him leaving Elizabeth behind. Jealousy causes people to think like the devil and corrupt the good things in someone’s life. Abigail Williams pretends to be angry at Elizabeth, she is telling lies about me... She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her!”

Read More
570 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the play Abigal countless times has shown has se only cares about herself and almost wanting the aition because she thrives for it. Fr example Abigail demonstrates selfishness in The Crucible by prioritizing her own needs and wants over the wellbeing of others. She fabricates stories of witchcraft to avoid being punished for dancing naked with John Proctor, and then accuses innocent people of false evidence to protect herself from repercussions. Abigail also shows a disregard for other people's feelings; she manipulates them into believing her lies, including by playing off their superstitions and fears. In addition, despite having feelings for John Proctor, she is willing to sacrifice his wife's life if it means saving her own skin.

Read More
745 Words | 3 Pages

The people of Salem see Abigail as a perfect person, but we know that she is far from it. She truly outsmarts the town with her witty lies, persuasion of everyone, and she gets power and money by any means necessary. Abigail lies her way through all the problems she faces. It starts with a simple lie of defending herself of the accusations of witchcraft, but will spiral out of control as the novel and her lies progress.

Read More
758 Words | 4 Pages

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Miller introduces the idea, apparent in today’s world, that sometimes people blame others to save themselves from punishment through the characters’ actions and the asides from Miller. The most prominent character that displays this theme is Abigail Williams. Several times Abigail pushes the blame on others when she senses trouble. When Parris finds the girls dancing in the forest, Abigail knows she has to do something to avoid punishment.

Read More
985 Words | 4 Pages

People commonly say cliches like "good will always win" and "the truth will always prevail"; however, when led by a controlling governing power and manipulated by religion these statements can be proven untrue. In The Crucible, Abigail causes problems throughout the town by lying about witchcraft. She is seen as a reliable source and uses this to her advantage to manipulate people and accuse women of witchcraft. Abigail continuously lies with the intentions to pursue her past relationship with John, despite his many attempts to reveal the truth and get the town to see through her lies. Many people end up being hanged due to Abigail's deceit.

Read More
652 Words | 3 Pages

Abigail only thinks about herself throughout the play and she doesn’t care who it hurts. By looking at The Crucible, one can see that Abigail Williams develops the theme of reputation, which is important because people who fear of losing their reputation spread hysteria. Abigail Williams is a evil person and cares more about her reputation than anything. She does not care about anyone but herself.

Read More
959 Words | 4 Pages

That is until Mary caves under the pressure and accuses John Proctor of being the Devil 's man, so nothing bad occurs due to Abigail. In addition, Abigail tells lies, manipulates her friends and the entire town, and eventually sends nineteen innocent people to their deaths. Throughout all of the hysteria, Abigail’s motivations are based off of a simple jealousy and a desire to have revenge on Elizabeth Proctor. There are a few background

Read More
673 Words | 3 Pages

One common question about The Crucible is how Abigail Williams is the most evil force in the play. It is shocking when a girl talks back to authority out of disagreement, but few go as far as Abigail Williams. While she may only be 11 years old, her manipulative and vengeful personality allows her fool her Uncle and later turns a whole town against each other. She is really a master of manipulation and trickery, and she gets herself into affairs without punishment and has threaten all who oppose here. Abigail really is the devil in human form.

Read More
961 Words | 4 Pages

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play which contains a multitude of complex characters . In the play, the characters’ motivations and inner processes are explored. Because of the historical setting, the characters live in a society of judgement and extreme religious devotion. This is a factor that places any of the characters’ choices and morals in a public balance to be judged by others. Abigail Williams is the main character of the play and acts with an utter selfishness and obsession.

Read More
566 Words | 3 Pages

In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”, Abigail is most to blame in the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials is based on a period of time where the devil’s work has found its way into the Christian city of Salem, causing everybody accused of witchcraft to confess, or be hanged. Abigail, a teenage girl at the time, has fell madly in love with a man by the name of John Proctor. John is a married man, but in his past he has had an affair with Abigail which nobody knew of. Abigail’s immaturity shows throughout the story, along with major jealousy over Elizabeth Proctor, John’s wife.

Read More

More about The Crucible Abigail Williams Deception

Open Document