“The Crucible” by Arthur Miller is a play about The Salem Witch Trial;he is comparing it to the McCarthyism. He wrote this play to show that McCarthyism was just as crazy as the Salem Witch Trials. During the time Miller was writing this play, Joseph McCarthy was hunting for communists in America like the Salem judges were hunting for witches. Abigail Williams is the antagonist of the entire play,even though she is not the equivalent of McCarthy. She does have a real-life counterpart who is actually much younger, but just as responsible for the hysteria that took place in Salem.…
The Crucible is a play based on the Salem Witch Trials that occurred around the 1690’s. Throughout the okay people are put to death, innocent or guilty. Accusations are made and fingers are pointed. But, at the end this all boils down to one character, Abigail Williams. What many readers aren’t aware of is that Arthur Miller intended to have another scene in Act 2, but it was later deleted and not published with the play.…
The Crucible written by Arthur Miller is a play about the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts. The story represents the idea of witchcraft in the city, and how it impacts, as well as defies their supposive puritan ideology. In the text, Elizabeth Proctor, wife of John Proctor, is aware of the camouflaged relationship her husband has with Abigail Williams, niece of the town minister Reverend Parris. Abigail Williams is a clever character who is convinced that that John Proctor is her destined lover, and tries to destroy Elizabeth's reputation in order to have John to herself. Elizabeth Proctor wants to prove to court that Abigail is a lier and is not the innocent little girl she is seen as.…
The Salem Witch Trials were a bloody time in colonial America during the 1600’s, depicted in Arthur Miller 's play, The Crucible. The events of the trials in the play are dramatically depicted, although the plot gives an accurate prediction of what would happen during a time of mass hysteria. Many characters have contributed to the mass hysteria, but some are more to blame than others. The character Mary Warren is more to blame than the character Abigail Williams because Mary is easily manipulated, has switched sides during the trials, and was not forthright with evidence.…
In The Crucible, Arthur Miller has many characters who can shoulder the blame for the wickedness that occurred in 1692, during the Salem Witch Trials. The character most to blame is Abigail Williams, whose character flaws are lust, envy, and vengefulness. These flaws are what causes the people of Salem to be accused, and spark the events of the Salem Witch Trials. The flaws that Abigail possess are also three of the main “7 Deadly Sins”. Abigail Williams shows lust as she longs for the love of John Proctor and the affair she had with him.…
There are many characters in The Crucible by Arthur Miller that make the entire plot fall into place like magic. Abigail Williams, the niece of Reverend Parris, started rumors, an army of girls, and made accusations that turned the village of Salem upside-down. Abigail was a 17 year-old orphan whom was described as “strikingly beautiful” but outspoken. Several characters in The Crucible are very dynamic, none like Abigail Williams who changes between each act of the play; she makes sinless hands sinful, controls all of the girls in the village, kills many, and still manages to gets away in the end.…
The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 brings power to characters in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The mass hysteria is taking over the town and people are beginning to accuse each other of being witches. The capability of being eligible to accuse someone of being a witch gives a person a copious amount of power. The character, Mary Warren, gains power when she has the option of turning in Abigail as a fraud for creating the mass hysteria. Mary Warren is the servant in the Procter family’s household and is a friend of Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris’ niece.…
Abigail Williams: the one who was most despised Everyone should be accountable for their own actions. The reason why Abigail can relate to this is because. She never took responsibility for her own actions when she got caught doing things she wasn’t supposed to be doing. Abigail Williams is seemed to be one of the most despicable characters in this play.…
Although she condemns innocent people to most likely death, she does not do it out of spite, but so that she is not punished. As the story progresses, Abigail enjoys her new found authority in a society that previously shunned, ignored and mistreated her. This is a completely natural reaction, as the respect she gains and the power she suddenly acquires gets into her head, and she starts to use it for herself and manipulates the village by accusing Elizabeth Proctor and anyone who disagrees with her or disbelieves her of witchcraft to get what she wants. When Mary Warren lets her conscience get to her, and nearly confesses that the accusatory acts are fraudery, Abigail accuses her of witchcraft and manipulates and bullies Mary into obeying…
She decides to accuse other people so that she can save herself. Abigail is self-centered and does not think about the consequences of her actions. She keeps lying in the court pretending to be afflicted by spirits of the accused thus condemning them to death. After Mary Warren confesses that it has all been a lie Abigail knows that Danforth is doubting her. She then turns against Mary and pretends to see Mary’s spirit in a shadow above her.…
The Crucible is a play/story based on real events of the salem witch trials and is written by Arthur miller. In the beginning, Abigail williams is portrayed as good innocent girl. Through the play we realize she is actually a terrible, vindictive person. “I would never hurt Betty, I love her dearly”(25) makes Abigail sound like a good innocent person. But throughout this play we will realize how bad she really is.…
Just as the Puritans viewed themselves as a “beacon of righteousness”, the Crucible’s Abigail Williams displayed an arrogance throughout the drama that assists this idea. Throughout the drama, Abigail Williams begins to recognize her influence in the town as the dire situation involving witchcraft unfolds. She has great power, which she wields with her words and sharp tongue, that can send anyone to their grave. Her violent intimidation is even shown as she “ smashes [Betty] across the face: Shut it! Now shut it!”…
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams has the horrible qualities often associated with the term villain. There are multiple instances in the story where Abigail is associating herself with some type of evil. The occurrence that sticks out most to readers is her undertaking in the corruption of Elizabeth Proctor. Another incidence that cannot go unnoticed is the constant development of a plan consisting of lies, manipulation, and deception, to not only kill Elizabeth Proctor, but many other people along the way. Lastly, her endless affection toward John Proctor, a married man, is what ultimately fuels her to do her devilish acts.…
These actions clearly prove that she has manipulated all of Salem and has participated in harlotry by initiating an affair with John Proctor, a married man. Abigail gets what she wants, regardless of the cost or damage inflicted, which is why she ruins the lives of Tituba, Marry Warren, Sarah Good, Goody Osborn, Bridget Bishop, as well as a marriage, all in her ruthless, lustful quest for power and sex. While some of her ill behavior can be attributed to her tragic upbringing, ultimately, Abigail Williams is a manipulative harlot because she accuses others of witchcraft for personal gain, aggressively exerts her control over the other citizens in Salem, and purposefully attempts to wreck John Proctor’s…
Just like Rev. Parris, she cares sufficiently about her reputation through the village. “My name is good in the village! … Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar!”(144). As she tries to prove herself as being innocent by telling lies about Goody Proctor, Abigail’s temper takes control of her. “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 night”(148).…