...Abigail Williams V. Elizabeth Proctor Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor from the 1953 play The Crucible could not be more different. Elizabeth is an honest, caring, religious woman, who cares deeply about her husband and sons. Abigail is a lying, mean, revenge-driven woman, who only has her own self interests at heart. Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible takes place in 1692, in the village of Salem. It is about a well-respected farmer, John Proctor, who had an affair with a seventeen-year girl, Abigail Williams. Abigail then goes on to accuse Elizabeth, John’s wife, of witchcraft, to have her imprisoned and hanged. From their personality, to their values, to their feelings, Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor are polar opposites. In a village of sinners, Elizabeth Proctor is a true saint. According to her husband, she has never told a lie. “There are them that cannot sing, and them that cannot weep—my wife cannot lie.” (Miller 520). She is also so kind-hearted and caring, that she refuses to be angry at her husband, despite that fact that he had an affair with another woman. (Miller 489) “with a smile to keep her dignity”. Lastly, she only believes in doing what is right. She refuses to...
Words: 598 - Pages: 3
...Research Analysis over Abigail Williams Arthur Miller said in an interview once, “ I took creative license with her character to make the connection between sexuality and politics more dramatic,” (Shmoop). This is one of the reasons Arthur Miller made Abigail Williams in The Crucible so different compared to the real Abigail. Abigail Williams was an 11-year -old girl who lived in Salem and worked for the Proctor family, John and Elizabeth, before the time of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Before the trails even started, Abigail and her cousin, Betty Parris, got into fortune telling their future like who they would marry and what their social status would be. After a while they got the other girls in town to start playing their fortune telling...
Words: 326 - Pages: 2
...Being the main source of drama, Abigail Williams was altered The Crucible, a historic play, by Arthur Miller to provoke the witch trials, to develop the protagonist, John Proctor, and to draw parallelism McCarthyism. Abigail, at the age of 17, who is 5 years older than the historical Abigail, was the main accuser in the witch trials. According to the Shmoop Editorial Team, “Abigail is vengeful, selfish, manipulative, and a magnificent liar...She has an eerie sense of how to manipulate others and gain control over them”(n.p). In regards to their remark towards Abigail, we can infer that her personality caused the entire witch trials in the play. Arthur Miller also had to alter Abigail’s real age in order to match her nasty personality and to make her...
Words: 641 - Pages: 3
...7 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...
Words: 563 - Pages: 3
...In the Crucible by Arthur Miller identity is influenced by social and cultural mores in a variety of different ways. John Proctor and Abigail Williams and examples how social and cultural mores of the time affect the characters within the crucible. John Proctor one of the major characters in the play is a good guy who is honest with one thing that will haunt him that was a big mistake. He had an afar with abigail Williams. John realizes that the only way he can stop abigail’s crazy rampage through there towns to confesses that he had and affair with his wife. John proctor is affected by his time period/society because he hates hypocrisy witch it from that time period. John Proctor might have been affected during the 21st century because there...
Words: 392 - Pages: 2
...John Proctor, one of the main characters in The Crucible, has a crucible moment after having an affair with Abigail. Although John and Elizabeth are married, he cheats on her with Abigail. Proctor’s crucible moment within the play happens when he has to make a decision to either tell his wife about the affair, or keep it a secret, and feel guilty for the rest of his life. Because John can not forgive himself after the affair, he decides to tell Elizabeth about what happened. John Proctor passes the crucible test because he did the right thing even though his relationship with his wife will never be the same. Now that Elizabeth knows the truth, John now feels guilty about what he has done because his wife is upset with him. The wrong thing John...
Words: 574 - Pages: 3
...N’dea Williams Hayes 11/12/13 B4 How does Arthur Miller use a specific character to portray how people solve or fail to solve moral problems? A crucible refers to a container made of a substance that can resist great heat, for melting. In “The Crucible” the author uses characters that have moral problems that they either solve or fail to solve. John Proctor, Abigail, and Reverend Hale are considered the main characters in “The Crucible”. Abigail’s moral problem is lying. Abigail failed to solve her moral problem by choosing to lie to get out of various situations. Abigail did not like that Goody Proctor is the reason for her and Proctor’s failed relationship. Abigail chose to use Tituba’s voodoo skills to kill Proctor’s wife, Goody Proctor. Abigail is jealous of Goody Proctor because she has feelings for her husband John Proctor, after their affair. In the text Abigail stated to Proctor, “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!” In this piece of text Abigail confesses her love to Proctor and she spoke of the affair between them. Abigail said if Elizabeth was no longer in the picture Proctor would be hers. (Include evidence from where Abigail...
Words: 636 - Pages: 3
...Miller's The Crucible, Self-Preservation is very common in the town of Salem. Self-Preservation is when a person protects themselves or someone else, whether it be by telling the truth or a lie. In the town of Salem many people use Self-Preservation to protect themselves from the consequences of performing witchcraft. However, others may use Self-Preservation to protect their reputation or image in society, such as Reverend Parris. He himself started, what is called a chain of 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...
Words: 1167 - Pages: 5
...Character Analysis of Abigail Williams Author Miller’s drama The Crucible takes place in the seventeenth-century in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem suffers from witch-hunts, trials, and false accusations. In effect, the town is full of worry and suspicion; and when young girls falsely accuse self-righteous neighbors in Salem of witchcraft, the town goes against itself, which ultimately causes a conflict between power and aggression. The personality of Abigail Williams, the understood leader of all the young girls, ultimately causes the whole play to go into effect. Abigail displays that she is sinful, envious, and manipulative. Abigail Williams’ characteristic of sinfulness causes her to be the antagonist of the whole play. Abigail commits...
Words: 906 - Pages: 4
...believe or think that we are one or the other- vice or virtue. But why is that? Do you come to think to question yourself that you’re either a good or bad person for possibly the littlest thing? Think about it. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is the most despicable character because she obtains a power by starting to accuse innocent people of witchcraft, was involved in lechery with John Proctor, and ran away with her uncle’s money that she stole from a safe. To begin with, Abigail Williams may just be a young woman, but she is capable of many things. For instance, her and Mercy Lewis ran away with Reverend Parris’s money. They ran away, because they wanted to avoid getting accused for any sort of witchcraft, especially after what happened in the forest. In act four, Parris states to Danforth,”...my strongbox is broken into” (4.207*208), the only person who knew where his strongbox was Abigail, since she lived with him. This shows one of the many things that Abigail is capable of. In addition, Parris knew what Abigail was capable of and what she had on the...
Words: 698 - Pages: 3
...has confessed. The assumption of the practice of witchcraft came about when Abigail’s Uncle Parris, caught her friends and her dancing around a fire in the woods conjuring spirits. As the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller goes on, some of the characters are found to be honest, jealous and full of pride. Honesty is said to be the best policy, however in The Crucible, the characters...
Words: 868 - Pages: 4
...Lindsey Sibille Ms. Gonzales AP English III, 1 16 October 2015 The Crucible Book Card Assignment Authorial Background Arthur Miller is the award-winning playwright of The Crucible along with many other famous plays such as Death Of a Salesman and All My Sons. Born in Manhattan in 1915, Miller experienced the pressing and devastating times of the Great Depression and both World Wars. His first two plays were The Man Who Had All the Luck and All My Sons, with the latter being performed on Broadway in 1949. His next play, Death of A Salesman, received a Tony award, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and the Pulitzer prize. These awards allowed him to rise to fame and helped his career skyrocket. Despite his successful playwriting...
Words: 1345 - Pages: 6
...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...
Words: 637 - Pages: 3
...The Crucible Essay “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does no feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear” (Nelson Mandela). In simpler terms, courage is when something that a person believes in, is more important than the fear that comes with the consequences of that belief. The Crucible has many key themes, but the theme that has the broadest effect on the reader is courage. John Proctor is a great example of the courage shown. While, Abigail Williams shows immense cowardice. Throughout the Crucible many characters have to face the horrendous decision of whether to confess to have ‘been with the devil’ and lose their ‘good name’ or bee executed for that of which they did not do. John Proctor is a great example of a character with extraordinary courage. John although pressured to confess and knowing that he’ll hang, refuses to ruin his ‘good name’ and he does not fully confess to the crime. When Judge Danforth would not give up the argument with John to sign the confession, he asked, “Then explain to me, Mr. Proctor, why will you not let me have it?” (pg.1231). Proctor answered, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (pg.1232). These quotes show how strong willed John is in not having a bad reputation and how John has great courage and doesn’t lie just to live. However that John may express great courage...
Words: 508 - Pages: 3
...those considered blasphemous as witches. Through The Crucible, Arthur Miller describes the irrational behaviour of people in “all classes”(Miller 7) from Salem, Massachusetts during this time of misdemeanor. Many characters throughout the play incriminate others due to bitterness and jealousy. For instance, Abigail indicted her former lover, John Proctor’s, wife. Ultimately the corrupted men and women of Salem reached their goal of hanging the pure, which leads to hysteria amongst the townsfolk. Although John Proctor begins the play as an ambivalent and uncertain man, who is paralyzed...
Words: 1325 - Pages: 6
