The French Enlightenment writer Voltaire said, “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.” This quote can be applied to Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Abigail Williams is the true crucible of Salem, violently testing the Puritan beliefs that the town holds dear. She is dishonest and lustful, behaves selfishly, and gets off scot free in the end. Almost every aspect of Abby Williams’s personality goes against Puritan beliefs and leads to her very presence testing the fabric of Salem. The Crucible truly refers to this seventeen year old siren with a taste for drama and tragedy. Abigail Williams’s wild dishonesty is an element of the story from the start. When she is questioned about the activity in the woods with Tituba, Abby wastes no time in telling an outright lie
…show more content…
Thirty-nine people are accused. Nineteen innocent people are hanged. Abby Williams can be considered one of the, if not the only, guilty parties. The entire scandal was set in motion by her actions. Instead of staying in Salem and “facing the music”, so to speak, Abby and her friend, Mercy Lewis, skip town (126). The Puritans believed that if an individual sinned, the individual deserved to be punished. Abby lied about her neighbors being witches, thus violating the commandment “Thou shalt not bear false witness”. However, Abby Williams runs away before her lie can be found out and her sin punished. She faces no consequences for the devastating tragedy that she caused. Because Abby faces no punishment, she once again defies Puritan beliefs. Her disappearance is chalked up to fear of continuing to be tormented by the supposed witches in the town. In reality, Abby runs away because she fears getting caught in her lie. Having grown up in Puritan society, Abby clearly knows she will be punished severely for her lie and she chooses to avoid ever being found
Thirty-nine people are accused. Nineteen innocent people are hanged. Abby Williams can be considered one of the, if not the only, guilty parties. The entire scandal was set in motion by her actions. Instead of staying in Salem and “facing the music”, so to speak, Abby and her friend, Mercy Lewis, skip town (126). The Puritans believed that if an individual sinned, the individual deserved to be punished. Abby lied about her neighbors being witches, thus violating the commandment “Thou shalt not bear false witness”. However, Abby Williams runs away before her lie can be found out and her sin punished. She faces no consequences for the devastating tragedy that she caused. Because Abby faces no punishment, she once again defies Puritan beliefs. Her disappearance is chalked up to fear of continuing to be tormented by the supposed witches in the town. In reality, Abby runs away because she fears getting caught in her lie. Having grown up in Puritan society, Abby clearly knows she will be punished severely for her lie and she chooses to avoid ever being found