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The Crucible Abigail Williams Research Paper

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Abigail Williams is Responsible for the Salem Tragedy The spring of 1692, the Salem witch trials began after a group of young girls claimed to be possessed by the Devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. The tragic death of many people was caused by just a few young girls just as it was in the play. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the main character responsible for the tragedy in Salem was Abigail Williams. Abigail was the reason for the start of many of the things that happened, such as: being caught in the woods, leading to the idea of witchcraft; pretending to get stabbed by Elizabeth’s spirit, leading to respected people being accused; and threatening people with her authority, leading to the death of many people. Abigail …show more content…

Afterwards, however, Abigail gave many people a reason to look at one another with a curious eye and question them. When the Putnams went to Reverend Parris’s house, they begin to accuse the girls of witchcraft. Reverend Parris says, “Thomas, Thomas, I pray you, leap not to witchcraft” (Miller 141). If Abigail had not been caught out in the woods and caused questionable behavior, then no one in the town would have had a reason to think about witchcraft in the first place. Also, the way Abigail gains authority over other people allows her to stir up more about witchcraft. When Abigail was being questioned as to what happened in the woods, she lied about it and forced the girls to join in. This gave her authority over them because she could decide if they got in trouble and accused or not. When the girls tried to talk about what actually happened in the woods, Abigail threatened them, “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” (Miller 144). She threatens to terribly punish them if they say anything about what actually happened. By Abigail doing

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Changing the Salem Hysteria Arthur Miller writes a play called The Crucible. In the play, there is a mass hysteria about witchcraft, all started by a group of girls lying about dancing in the woods. The people accused questioned and hanged if they did not confess. Two people that could have stopped the hysteria are Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor.

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