Literary Devices In Abigail Williams

Improved Essays
Gender, age, and status were just a few of the things that played a role in the tough life of Abigail Williams; a life that though unknowingly, fostered a continued growth of hatred and anger inside of her. And it was Abigail 's ascension to power that put her in a position to act on that anger. What may have started as a small lover 's quarrel between her, Proctor, and Elizabeth quickly grew to massive proportions with the witch trials. And Abigail, being as perceptive as she was, did not hesitate to seize the day. Using vivid imagery, religious appeals, repetition, and theatrics; Abigail turns the trials into her stepping stone to begin her onslaught of vengeance and accusation. Attacking everyone, innocent or otherwise as she marvels in …show more content…
Ending the mess with Mary Warren. Putting on yet another show for her audience Abigail starts by pinning evidence on Mary, but this was in real time. By calling out Mary’s spirit in the lines “ why do you come, yellow bird ” (114) setting her tone now to a very fragile, and scared one. Emphasizing her place as the victim in this situation,. And what’s more, she addresses the bird in first person, (why do you come here) as if to personify it. This has the effect of clearly labeling this bird as supernatural (if that wasn 't already clear since Abigail was the only one that could see it). Since a normal bird would have no capability of understanding or responding to Abigail’s question, just the act of her asking one makes it the logical conclusion that this was not infact a real bird but some sort of witchcraft set out upon Abigail. By doing this Abigail brings in the best sort of evidence she can. Since the attack was happening in front of everyone, Mary could not deny that the event had taken place. Equivalent to if a man being tried for murder were to kill the prosecutor on the court floor, for everyone to see. But to lock this one down, the moment Mary attempts to Deny these accusations, Abigail and the girls enter a fit of repetition in a “now staring full front as though hypnotized and mimicking the exact tone of Mary Warren” (115) . By all of them repeating everything Mary says in unison, with what was only three seconds for them to synchronize and no communication between them; It becomes undoubtedly clear that this must be witchcraft. Such a terrifying thing could only be explained by witchcraft. So at this point Abigail had already won, and Mary could do nothing to save

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Quotes In The Crucible

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Why follow someone’s words when you can speak up for yourself. Just going along with what someone says can end up being a very bad thing, you may not even agree with what they say. In the Crucible many people are scared to speak their mind and go against Abigail. They all just follow each other’s leads and it ends up screwing everything up.…

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This comes to show how much of a morally ambiguous person she…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The sheer chaos she was undoubtedly importing into the town in order to engage in a forbidden relationship with Proctor did not only lead to her collapse, but also the town’s. Williams resulted in vanishing from the town without completing her objective, and participating into a much more obscure future. Relating to the human experience, this proves to show that living a deceptive life can further progress a conflict then anticipated. Distortion of an occurrence is a major component to negative consequences. Whether an individual modifies a miniscule event or a whole presence of a force, it is inevitable for an unfavorable outcome confirmed by Abigail…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Despite her fear, Mary eventually goes into town with John. Mary admits to Judge Danforth and the others that all of the supernatural occurrences in the court were actually a hoax to fool the court. Unwilling to believe this story, Judge Danforth calls upon Abigail and the other girls. Obviously siding with Abigail and her coven of fake witches, Danforth questions both Abigail and Mary. When Mary refused to once again take Abigail’s side, she begins to shiver, clasp her arms about herself and lie once again.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The actual events on which The Crucible was based upon started when Abigail Williams and Elizabeth “Betty” Parris experienced violent and strange fits in 1692 in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. According to more recent scientific studies, the cause of these unholy symptoms were most likely caused by the fungus ergot. Due to the widespread worship of Puritanism at the time, this behavior was thought to be caused by devilish witchcraft. Tituba, Reverend Samuel Parris’s slave, was accused of bewitching the girls. The two girls also claimed that Sarah Good and Sarah Osborn were involved.…

    • 1058 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Holocaust Vs Crucible

    • 823 Words
    • 4 Pages

    She is accusing these people for being with the devil and being a witch. It’s just a lie to get herself out of being killed. Once she did, Abigail joined and a lot of other people did too. In the trials, people started to accuse others to try to get the attention off of them. They would even accuse innocent people.…

    • 823 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This act is very believable because the pack cries wolf together. All the girls start doing what Abigail usually does first and they keep it going until they are free of blame or acquitted from one of the many things they have participated in. Abigail is the leader of the girls that help deter her from the radar. No one suspects that Abigail started witchcraft, due to the evidence that shows she is afflicted. Her power to change others minds and opinions show that she started the witchcraft hysteria.…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    By naming off townspeople they had known for years and saying they saw them with the Devil, it saved Abigail, Tituba and Betty from getting in considerable trouble. The most prominent example of this is when Abigail becomes hysteric in court, and accuses Mary Warren for her actions. Abigail and Mary Warren are very good friends, and it was a shock when Abby turned on Mary and accused her of witchcraft. “To the ceiling, in a genuine conversation with the ‘bird’, as though trying to talk it out of attacking her: But God made my face; you cannot want to tear my face. Envy is a deadly sin, Mary”…

    • 1414 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Abigail Williams’ hysterical actions are justified because she experiences traumatic events, is manipulated by John Proctor,…

    • 1047 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    From page 118 in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Abigail and the girls acted like they were being attacked by Mary’s spectre until Mary gives in and sides with the girls again. This change of sides made it so more and more people would think good people, like John Proctor, would be susceptible to witchcraft. If Mary Warren had stayed on the same side, like Abigail, the accusations would have seemed more and more ludicrous and would have eventually died…

    • 1752 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 1018 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    (11). Abigail represented what most women during the time of the “witchcraft” epidemic did; deny, confess, and exaggerate. Once confronted about the idea of practicing witchcraft, Abigail quickly and frantically denied the accusation. “Uncle, we did dance; let you tell them that I confessed it-and I’ll be whipped if I must be. But they’re speakin’ of witchcraft.…

    • 1119 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “I cannot charge murder on Abigail. She’ll kill me for saying that!” (Miller 75). The fear of Abigail is evident in this quote from Mary, who along with the other girls is so afraid of Abigail that she will not say anything against Abby even though Mary knows the lies are causing death. This reveals how much power Abigail has over others and further emphasizes how far she is willing to go to ensure her plan succeeds.…

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Abigail then pretends to shiver and act like Mary presented them with a cold wind by using witchcraft. The rest of the girls also follow. When Abigail is shivering she states " Mary, please don't hurt me!"(Miller 107) This demonstrates hysteria because at this point Abigail…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics