Abigail Williams In The Crucible

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play based on a true story of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. In the Crucible, Abigail Williams, age seventeen, drives the Puritan town of Salem into insanity. She, along with a few other town girls, were caught dancing naked in the woods. To cover up their actions, the girls accuse innocent people of witchcraft and of carrying out the Devil’s work. Reverend Hale is summoned to find and destroy Salem Witches. Eager to find a witch, he believes every accusation without any solid proof, and continuously asks the accused who they saw with the Devil, giving them the chance to pass the charge onto someone else. The townspeople go as far as blaming others to save their own lives, the lives of others, or

Proctor is a grown man in his middle thirties. When he sensed his relationship with Elizabeth going south, he took an interest with Abigail, his servant at the time. Immediately after the affair, the relationship worsened with Elizabeth and he felt terrible for committing adultery. Furthermore, Abigail fell in love with Proctor, and set her on the path to get him back. When Abigail accuses Elizabeth for pushing a needle in her stomach, Proctor was enraged and rips the warrant for Elizabeth’s arrest, ordering everyone out of his house. Elizabeth decides it is best to go with the Deputy Governor. Proctor brings Mary Warren to court with him to prove the innocence of his wife and is true to his word when he told Elizabeth, “I will fall like an ocean on that court” (78)! He does everything in his power to prove Elizabeth innocent. Proctor brings Mary Warren to court with him and instructs her to admit that everything was pretense. His plan backfires as Mary is attacked by Abigail and the other young women. Judge Danforth offered Proctor an agreement, Elizabeth would not be tried for a year, then she would hang after going into labor, if she was found pregnant. Proctor refused the agreement because he is not only fighting for his wife’s innocence, but also for the innocence of his friends’ wives. As the court case proceeded, Proctor has no choice but to admit that he committed adultery with Abigail if he wants to prove Abigail a fraud. Proctor claims Elizabeth never lies and therefore Judge Danforth has Elizabeth brought out and questioned for Proctor’s lechery. Ironically, when Elizabeth is questioned, she denies the act of lechery to protect Proctor’s name, but causes more harm than good by doing so. Proctor’s motivation changed completely when he is sentenced to be hung. His new motivation is to die with the little dignity he has left. He refuses to sign his