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The Crucible Abigail Williams Essay

698 Words3 Pages

“We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!” A quote from john Proctor in Act II stating how the accusations and hysteria of witchcraft has taken over the town. The accusations set on citizens from the girls have caused an uproar in the society and many citizens were either afraid of the devil or that the people themselves would have accusations set upon them. Suspicions of witchcraft were being used as evidence of whether or not the accused was hanged. The central theme throughout the entire play of The Crucible is that fear and suspicion can destroy a society. Abigail Williams was the main character held responsible for being the …show more content…

“Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam's dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. 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.” (Abigail Williams pg. 1223) Abigail Williams also shows her fear of being without John Proctor. Proctor rejects Abigail when she pleads for him to come back to her. In hopes of getting rid of Elizabeth Proctor, John’s Wife, Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft and attempted murder. Abigail’s fear of being alone results in Elizabeth proctor’s arrest. The village as a whole begins to fear being accused by Abigail because if accused they are limited to either staying honest and being hanged or falsely admitting to witchcraft and being released from prison. Mary Warren in Act IV is scared to testify against the group of girls because she believes that abigail will accuse her of working with the devil. Her fear becomes rightfully so, as Abby does accuse her of conspiring with the devil. The fear of death is displayed by the entire town. The accused are limited to either falsely admitting to witchcraft and living or honestly denying their

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Cameron Oldfield Mrs. Brincks English III 15 November, 2015 The Crucible and Red Scare Imagine being thrown in jail, blamed for something that you didn't do .The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a story about how certain propaganda and false accusations can ruin lives, just like in the case of the Red Scare. Although 1692 the Salem witch trials and the Red Scare were over 200 years apart, The similarities are striking. both trials used intimidation, fear, hatred, and false accusations to ruin innocent lives. Both trials resulted in terrible outcomes, with both ending with innocent people being put to death and shunned from society.

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I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil! (Miller.1.1050). With Abigail's careless act, the town is in despair, every time she would create a lie it would turn people against each other. Even when these group of people have been living with each other years, with one action from Abigail they are automatically believing each person is associated with the Devil.

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Abigail Williams: The Conniving Woman of the Crucible The Salem Witch Trials began in Salem Massachusetts in 1629. Many people were accused of being a witch and many lives were lost. In Author Miller’s The Crucible, Abigail Williams is the most to blame for the events of the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail is one of the main characters in the play.

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465 Words | 2 Pages

In The Crucible, there could be many suspects to blame for the innocent deaths that happened in Salem. Proctor could be blamed for the innocent deaths because he lied about his affair with Abigail. Speaking of Abigail... in my opinion Abigail Williams is the one to blame for the innocent deaths because of the lies she told, the accusations she made, and the affair she had with John Proctor. Abigail Williams told many, many lies in The Crucible. The reason the witch trials began in the first place was because of the lie she told about being in the woods.

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529 Words | 3 Pages

Abigail Williams proclaims “Let either of you breathe a word...and I will come to you...and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you” (pg. 1137). She says this to all the girls, so that she won’t have to face the consequences, that she knows could end her. This quotes sets off Abigail Williams’ character as a selfish villain. Towards the end of The Crucible, Proctor shames himself and confesses of having affair with Abigail. Abigail denies John’s words and says “If I must answer that, I will leave and I will not come back again” (pg. 1207) because she knows that if she confesses now all the work she has put on the line will be done all for nothing, and will make her look more like a fool than she ever was.

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756 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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1608 Words | 7 Pages

(I.465-472). Seeing Abigail cry, it suggests that Abigail’s affair with John Proctor has influenced her behavior in jealousy and lust as she strives for nothing more than her love for John Proctor. By only being heartbroken, Abigail is not to be fully blamed for the hysteria within the town as her actions are only based on desperate attempts to win John Proctor over, and no intentional harm whatsoever. However, on the other hand, Abigail cannot be excused with outside forces making her the way she is due to the fact that she has clearly had a choice in most of her decisions and actions throughout the witchcraft crisis. When Mary Warren, another girl involved in the forest incident, enters the court, she explains to Danforth, the judge, that the girls are lying and are only pretending to see spirits.

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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.

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825 Words | 4 Pages

In the play, the Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Salem, Massachusetts was a place of constant hysteria in the 1600s because of what would come to be commonly known as the Salem Witch Trials. This was a full-blown witch hunt for people found to display signs of witchcraft. Abigail Williams was the main person to blame for this pursuit of witches in Salem because, first off, she was the one who caused hysteria about witchcraft just to cover up the fact that

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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.

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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

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799 Words | 4 Pages

In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail William’s flaws: lust, vengeance, and jealously that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch hunts in Salem. Abigail Williams started the entire suspicion of there being active member of witchcraft throughout Salem, Massachusetts. She did this for her own benefits and used trickery to get what she wanted. Abigail was corrupt and only cared for her own desires. There are many reasons that these flaws are crucial to the outcome of the play.

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842 Words | 4 Pages

And mark this. 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” (317). Abigail is trying to convince herself that this is all she did with the girls even though, in reality, she knows they did much more. She does this in order to make herself feel less guilt towards the situation. She knows the trouble she will get into so she chooses to

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429 Words | 2 Pages

Abigail and a group of girls went to court and blame 200 people. Abigail went to court, and told them that Elizabeth Proctor was practicing witchcraft, and got her arrested. When John Proctor went to court, the girls pretended that he was the devil. Giles tries to explain to the court how Abigail is pure evil, and trying to get revenge: “Aye, how she is solemn and goes to hang people!” (3.1.875).

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The Greek religion is not an independent sphere of life but interweaved in the fabric of society. It touches every aspect of Greek life like agriculture, social interaction, politics, art and architecture and entertainment. The sanctuaries are a place where these elements manifest in the form of various cult practices held to worship and connect with the divine through life sacrifice, dedication of objects, libation, prayer, consultation of oracles, art, drama, festivals and games. The existence of the sanctuary clearly shows that worship was just not a private experience but a social celebration of the divine. Sanctuaries created a sense of unity among people as they were places where people got together and in the process created an identity

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