Abigail Williams And Hysteria In Arthur Miller's The Crucible

Throughout the tragic play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, one person’s want for something or someone can cause a peaceful town to turn into a town of accusations and death. In The Crucible, a sleepy village of Salem, Massachusetts, sits calmly next to the Atlantic Ocean until one night the people who seemed to be normal cried witchcraft. Abigail Williams, Reverend Paris’ niece, leads the group of people who are crying witchcraft. Her relationship to Reverend Paris hits close to Salem which causes hysteria throughout the town. Throughout the tragic play a demonstration of an individual flaunting her power in order to create hysteria that doesn’t just occur in a group of people but throughout Salem and many towns and villages throughout Massachusetts. Along with creating the hysteria The Crucible also shows the willingness of others to follow, thus creating a mob mentality. Abigail’s motivations contribute to the hysteria in Salem because that is what is driving her to make her actions in order to get what she wants. Individuals have the great power to create hysteria, based off of one’s wants and …show more content…
Throughout The Crucible, Abigail was driven by the want for John Proctor which shows the reasoning behind her actions. Along with her driving force she has many people who follow her because they just want to be accepted by others and this is their opportunity to have that. Furthermore, the power that she holds within Salem authenticates her accusations because the people of Salem are more afraid of the Devil than the truth. Opportunity for someone who has these powers can make this once peaceful and calm village go hysteric and angry. All of these events combining cause the condemnation of many and the execution of twenty innocent