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Should Abigail Williams be held responsible for the rise of Hysteria in Salem? She accused others of witchcraft, while trying to avoid being accused herself. She lied, and blamed it on so many people, the town had no choice but to take notice. if she hadn’t, the hysteria might have never gotten so bad. So, Should Abigail Williams be held responsible for the rise of Hysteria in Salem?
Out of all the characters in the book, there are many that contributed to the hysteria of the witch trials, however, of these characters Abigail Williams contributed the most. In the beginning of the play, we see Abigail and a collection of other girls dancing and making a charm in the woods. Abigail made this charm in order to kill Mr.Proctor 's wife. If Abigail wasn 't so crazy in love with John this scene in the woods probably wouldn 't have taken place. Therefor, Parris would have never caught the girls and there wouldn’t be rumours of witchcraft.
As a twelve year old girl Abigail Williams played one of the most dominant roles in the Salem Witch Trials along with her cousin, nine year old, Elizabeth “Betty” Parris. Together these two girls, along with more, would indirectly murder many based off the accusations made by those accused (these girls being the initial accusers). Abigail was born on July twelfth in the year sixteen eighty in the town of Salem located in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Her parents died when she was very young due to an indian raid targeted at the town she lived in. Due to this happening, she later moved in to live with her uncle (who happened to be the reverend of the town) and her younger cousin Elizabeth “Betty” Parris who prefers to go by Betty.
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.
In The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays Abigail Williams as one of the main characters who so happens to be the evil villain of the story. The reason as to why she was the villain was because she is driven by power and jealousy throughout the story. “She sends her spirit on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer!” (1.113-132).
Abigail Williams in The Crucible by Arthur Miller and Joseph McCarthy in Good Night and Good Luck have similar in behaviors, beliefs, and motives by how they both blamed and accused many people. Abigail Williams and Joseph McCarthy both believed they were doing the right thing, accusing innocent people. Joseph McCarthy was against communism, as well as Abigail Williams “was” against witchcraft. They both strongly disagreed with the theme. Joseph McCarthy thought he was serving justice for the United States just like, Abigail Williams tried to clear her name, within the name of god; thinking it would get her out of trouble.
During the late 17th century a total of 200 people were accused of participating in witchcraft, while 19 people lost their lives to the mass hysteria. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a group of girls start a huge uproar in Salem, Massachusetts when they start screeching about Salemites being associated with the Devil. Throughout the play write, it shows the consequences of mass hysteria and how it puts people's lives in danger. Abigail Williams causes a wave of mass hysteria and because of her trickery, innocent people have died by her and the other girl’s actions, for this Abigail is the most unforgivable character in The Crucible.
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.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment.
The Salem Witch Trials, as portrayed by The Crucible, were a terrifying and confusing time. It’s hard to say who caused this whole debacle, but it was most likely Abigail Williams. Because of her lies about her involvement with the girls in the forest, or her blatant manipulation of others to pull blame off of herself and onto other. Because of this, and her treachery, the Salem Witch Trials spiralled into the chaos that it is known for today. Without her, the Salem Witch Trials may have been less horrifying than it is known for today, and the town better off.
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
Abigail Williams was the goody two shoes that kept her reputation high, until she turned on many with a single lie. In The Crucible By Arthur Miller, is set in the year of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts where a witch outbreak has jailed many of the women from a fault of one girl named Abigail. It causes havoc in Salem that will lead to death in the village. Abigail has shown many transformations and showed that she is very dynamic from her emotions, to her actions, and to her experiences throughout the story of The Crucible. Abigail has shown that she has grown mentally and emotionally.
Fueled by fear, McCarthy’s false accusations affected Arthur Miller and had him blacklisted along with several artists like his friend Elia Kazan. Miller obtained plot ideas for the book from the Salem Witch trials and the era of Mccarthyism. Miller used Mccarthyism when Abigail and her friends were able to name people guilty just with their sole distorted statement. In the Crucible the character Abigail Williams a
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.
Abigail Williams is not your typical teenage girl. She is a girl that will drink blood to kill someone, accuse people of witchcraft, and have a affair. By looking at The Crucible, one can see that Abigail Williams develops the theme of reputation, which is important because people who fear losing their reputation spread hysteria. Protecting her reputation motivates Abigail Williams to accuse others of being a witch.