Examples Of Abigail Williams Struggles In The Crucible

Since the beginning of modern society, the world has focused on one characteristic to define society: power. There has been a power struggle over who has it, how they obtained it, and how they execute it. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the struggle for power is evident in the hysteria which overwhelmed Salem, Massachusetts during the 17th century witch hunt. Abigail Williams is an orphaned, ruthless teenager struggling for an identity and control in the religious, child-oppressing society existing in these times.
Abigail’s hunger for power began when she witnessed her parents’ attack and murder as a small girl. She lost her identity being raised without parental guidance. She stays with her uncle Reverend Parris but he is unstable and power hungry as well. She is the girl without any true family. Children in Puritan society were meant to be seen but not heard. She has to try to find her place in this society without any stability in her life. She …show more content…
She further loses sight of whom she is and who she wants to be when she believes she is in love. Abigail’s focus becomes finding a way to make John Proctor leave Elizabeth and love her and want her. She will do anything to get to this point even indirectly commit murder. She is truly ruthless in her quest for authority. In the beginning, she attempts committing witchcraft to try to kill off Elizabeth; a crime in their society which ends in death and eternal damnation. It then escalates to a fabricated story of witchcraft in the town about her and the other young girls in this society being attacked by witches, deliberately including Elizabeth Proctor. She risks everything she has in this life and her eternal salvation to seek approval from John. John Proctor also abandoned Abigail after Elizabeth caught them further adding to her insecurities and vulnerability brought on from the loss of her parents at a young