...that when revenge determines justice, havoc ensues; this theme is displayed through the allegations that Abigail Williams makes against John and Elizabeth Proctor, and their servant Mary Warren, as well as through the Putnams’ willingness to implicate their neighbors. Abigail Williams is a narcissistic and manipulative character that is driven by her obsession with John Proctor. Henceforth, she tries to get...
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...During the late 1600s, Abigail Williams caused irreparable harm and chaos in Salem, Massachusetts. Abigail is a malicious individual, doing whatever she can to get the things she wants. Abigail takes whatever action is needed to protect herself, even if it harms others. In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, Abigail Williams was the true cause of the Salem Witch Trials because she falsely accused other women of being witches, had an affair with John Proctor, and forced others to do what she wanted them to. Abigail Williams ignites turmoil in Salem when she begins to accuse innocent women in Salem of witchcraft. Abigail’s main reason for doing so is to deflect the blame off of herself so that her name is not tarnished; and she does not get in any trouble. Abigail shows her true colors in the climax of Act 1 when Abigail and the girls begin to yell out the names of the women in the town, claiming they are witches. For example, when Abigail yells out to the town, “I saw Sarah Good with the devil, I saw Goody Osburn with the devil” (Miller 1.45). It is understood that Abigail did...
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...is tested by how he utilizes his power. As demonstrated in William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, and The Time Magazine article Adolf Hitler, one can see how the abuse of power creates chaos in society. By analyzing the actions of the characters Macbeth, Abigail Williams, and the character Adolf Hitler, it is evident how the misuse of power will lead to the loss of structure in society. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” A statement by Lord Acton which illustrates that those who gain power ultimately become corrupted by it - thus leading one to abuse their power. This statement is well demonstrated in the actions of the character Macbeth, from William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, in his rise to power from Thane of Glamis to the King of Scotland. Within the first scene of the play, Macbeth is given the gift of knowledge of the future, by the three witches, which he ultimately uses to gain more power. “All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Glamis ... All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” (I.iii. 48-50). When given this prophecy from the three witches, Macbeth utilizes this information, once he becomes Thane of Cawdor, to plan the death of King Duncan. The power of knowledge is not the only power that he possesses, “ He’s here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman....against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself”. In this quote Macbeth demonstrates that he is trusted by Duncan for two reasons...
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...trust someone, to transform someone’s life into reality? The influence and power of the mind can ultimately, exceed all human limitations. In Salem, Massachusetts around 1692, the suspicion of witchcraft arises throughout the town, creating problems and chaos. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, the effect of hysteria led to disorder and complete mayhem in Salem from the sudden spread of witchcraft, exemplified by Abigail Williams, Tituba and Danforth. Once the accusations and stories arose in the plot, it was almost impossible to restore order and peace in Salem. The beginning of the hysteria influence in Salem began with Abigail Williams and her attempt of witchcraft. Abigail worked as...
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...This quote explains how manipulative people can be very selfish and always blame others, and readers of The Crucible feel this way about Abigail Williams from the beginning. Arthur Miller influences the readers to think that Abigail is manipulative by using stage directions, quotes from other characters in the play, and quotes from Abigail. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses a variety of stage directions to formulate the opinion that Abigail in manipulative in the reader’s minds. For example, when Abigail is having her statements questioned for legitimacy, she shifts the court proceedings’ attention to Mary Warren by staring at Mary. Arthur Miller makes Abigail flawlessly throw the attention onto Mary when Miller narrates. The stage directions...
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...witch trials, at the peak of the witch hysteria. The hysteria, which sent the village into a frenzy was set into motion by the niece of Reverend Samuel Parris. His niece, Abigail Williams, is portrayed as a person who lies to get out of her own punishments, or to avoid trouble. The point is Abigail Williams and Reverend Samuel Parris could have stopped the hysteria in Salem. Abigail Williams could have stopped the hysteria by admitting to dancing and charming in the woods, instead of lying. At the beginning of the play, Reverend Parris confronts his niece for seeing her and a group of girls dancing in the woods, which includes his daughter who lies motionless and unresponsive. His daughter is the reason witchcraft is considered. Then goes on to confront her about conjuring spirits. Abigail could have just admitted to trying to charm with the group, which the punishment for that is a whipping. So, if she would have admitted that, witchcraft would have no longer been considered. As Abigail says...
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...Then the wicked Abigail starts claiming she saw townsfolk consorting with the devil. One of the people she denounces Elizabeth Proctor wife of John Proctor who once had sexual relations with Abigail. Throughout the play Mary Warren appears to be the weak one and at first wants to confess to the activities in the woods, but in Act 2 Mary Warren is believed to be helping Abigail...
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...11 December 2015 “The Crucible” Argument Essay Does accusing the people around you to be arrested and hanged to get whatever you want be considered as selfish and wicked? In “The Crucible” by Author Miller, Abigail Williams is a vicious and vindictive person who used the witchcraft hysteria around the town of Salem in 1692. Abigail Williams is a 17 year old orphan who is strikingly beautiful but she is a liar and a fake. She saw an opportunity to seek vengeance upon John’s wife for kicking her out of their house and wanting to take her place in John’s bed. Although some may say otherwise and beg to differ on that because she was young, taken advantage of, immature, and also confused. Although in “The Crucible”, Abigail’s words, actions, and decision making legitimately shows that she does not care about who she hurts in the process to get what she wants. According to Abigail she says”… I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you…” (1244). This quote here has explains that, if any of the girls betrays her on what she has said and reveals that they had been dancing in the woods and also she drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor, she would kill them like the Indians had killed both of her parents. Abigail is a manipulative person. She is a manipulative person she tried to frame Goody Proctor for sending her spirit and stabbing a needle in her stomach two inches deep. In The Crucible, Mary Warren was sewing a poppet...
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...Crazy Abigail Williams is crazy. There are a lot of examples throughout the book of her doing outright crazy things such as her accusing John Proctors wife, Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft hoping that Elizabeth will be executed or drinking blood to kill Elizabeth etc.. . Abigail accuses Tituba because she thinks people will believe witchcraft is something Tituba would most likely be involved in. "Crazy" people don't have empathy. Abigail Williams doesn't show any signs of empathy. The author says at the beginning of the play that Abigail has “an endless capacity for dissembling” with means she fakes and pretends and bluffs. You can see clear examples of this in act 3, when she is in court and Abigail changes her story from “we were just dancing”...
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...The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play where the town of Salem conducts witch trials and exhibits extreme behavior resulting from dark desires. One notable character, Abigail Williams, was the cause of the mishaps within Salem and displayed an erratic behavior to the townspeople. Her distinct personality and persona have stood out within the plot and ruined John Proctor’s reputation. Abigail Williams actions and dialogue portray her, not only as manipulative but bossy and selfish. Abigail’s physical description ties into her manipulative nature. For instance, she is described as “a strikingly beautiful girl, an orphan, with an endless capacity for dissembling” (Miller 8) This suggests that she is powerful in regards to her lies and is tactical...
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...Abigail is a jealous and manipulative girl with guile to spare. She has a lascivious affair with John Proctor and wants to get rid of his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail wants to keep the blame off of her by falsely accusing innocent people that she does not like. She is asked if Elizabeth Proctor has ever kept poppets in her house and answers with, “ Goody Proctor always kept poppets” (Miller 99). This quote supports the fact that Abigail is a jealous liar whose only concern is herself. Abigail Williams is one of the main perpetuators behind the hysteria that occurs in The...
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...hysteria and there are consequences for that. Rod Sterling’s quote and The Crucible are very similar in the way that suspicion ruined many lives and reputations in each story. The Cold War was a war of words, a war of suspicion, of hatred and power. Arthur Miller and Rod Serling both connect to the war in the 1950s in an allegorical way. In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller expresses similar views about suspicion through the characterization of his characters. Abigail Williams represents the idea that words can destroy and cause suspicion. “I never called him! Tituba, Tituba! (42)” Abigail is denying calling the Devil with the girls in the woods and accusing Tituba of doing so. Abigail accusing Tituba makes the other girls start to...
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...entire village suspects witchcraft. Even though Betty’s cousin, Abigail Williams, recognizes that the illness is the result of fear and not black magic, she begins blaming innocent people of collaborating with the devil. This quote by Joseph Conrad expresses his thought that a supernatural source of evil is not necessary and that humankind is entirely capable of the depravity in...
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...but the power of religion has the power to destroy good things and cause havoc amongst firm believers. Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, takes place in the late seventeenth century a horrific event occurred known as the Salem Witch Trials in the town of Salem. Abigail and Elizabeth are perhaps two of his most important main characters in the play. These two represent the "good" and "evil" in the society of the town. Although these two characters were very distinct they shared something very big in common, which was the love for the man John Proctor. Perhaps the love for the same man led one of the two females to be of a greater evil than ever imagined. Elizabeth Proctor was a very more understand and good character in the play. Although she is understand and compassionate she is unforgiving and cold. In Arthur Miller's play, John Proctor says "Oh Elizabeth, your justice would freeze beer!" This quote clearly shows how John feels that Elizabeth is unforgiving and cold. For the past months John has been trying to please Elizabeth after his affair with Abigail. John shows his frustration after Elizabeth does not forget about the affair John had. Although Elizabeth is understand she does not forgive or forget easily. Abigail Williams is the "evil" character in the play. Her actions throughout the play caused a lot of tragic events to occur and her actions led to the deaths of many innocent people. According to Arthur Miller she says this "Now look you. All of you. We danced...
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...self-preservation when he reported Abigail Williams and the girls performing witchcraft. This led to Abigail having to use self-preservation to protect herself from the consequences of witchcraft which later on led Elizabeth Proctor to protect herself and her...
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