Category: Abigail Williams

The Whore-ible Character

Memories from the past can either be excellent or awful. In the younger days, recollections like, playing at parks and eating sugar come to mind. Memories that are unpleasant can have an effect on a person by changing their attitude, the way they act, and can even make a person do enough to the point they regret it. As for Abigail Williams, a character in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, remembering the past is something she wants to forget. Abigail Williams is a victim of a strict Puritan society and witnessing the violent death of her parents, hoping for a life with a man she falsely believes to be in love with her, as well living under the strict leadership of her uncle all contribute into making her a manipulative and angry person.

Abigail Williams witnesses the death of her parents and this leads to severe trauma. She sees Indians smash her parents’ heads on a pillow next to hers. One night when she is angry with her friends, she threatens them and describes that she has “seen some reddish work done at night” (Miller 19) and lets them know that she can make them wish that they “had never seen the sun go down.” (Miller 19). This kind of experience causes someone to act differently than normal. It also makes a person vengeful toward others. While Abigail is talking about her parents’ brutal death, she tries to scare her friends because she drank blood and didn’t want anyone to know about it. “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you” (Miller 19) makes the girls sit and listen silently with fear.

Seeing her parents die right in front of her, makes Abigail become hardened and selfish. She will never recover from this horrible experience. What the Indians do to her parents right in front of her has an impact on her future and creates a lot of anguish in her life.

Abigail Williams hopes for a life with John Proctor and she falsely believes that John is in love with her. This false belief causes Abigail to desire to be with John Proctor and eliminate his wife.

John obviously still has feelings for Abigail because he thinks of her “softly from time to time” (Miller 18) but he does not want to restart the affair. “I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again.” (Miller 18) is a reminder to himself that he will not act on these feelings.

This will be challenging for him but he knows it is the right decision. It is difficult not to hold back on strong feelings. Even though John Proctor says that their relationship must end Abigail still wants to believe John is in love with her. “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!” (Miller 22) is a profession of Abigail’s love for Proctor. She does not want to see the truth. Abigail does not want to see this relationship come to an end. Abigail hopes for a life with John Proctor but that is a false dream that Abigail has to accept.

Abigail Williams lives under the strict leadership of her uncle, Reverend Parris, which influences her because he is power-hungry and selfish. One day when Abigail is dancing in the forest with friends, her uncle catches her and he is upset. “Now look you, child, your punishments will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it.” (Miller 10) is all Abigail needs to hear to know that she is in trouble. Abigail has pressure on her to act a certain way so that Parris can maintain his status in society. Even though Parris sometimes seems proud of her, he tells Abigail about his enemies which indicate that he worries a lot about what people think of him. The girls are dancing in the forest because they are performing a superstitious ritual with a slave. As soon as Parris hears about this incident, he persistently and urgently keeps asking Abigail, “What did you do with her in the forest?” (Miller 9). Reverend Parris reminds Abigail that he “cannot go before the congregation” (Miller 9) when she is not telling him the details.

The feeling of worry and apprehension overcomes Parris making him not think about Abigail, but rather his own reputation. He is, selfishly, more concerned about his name than he is about the community or even his own daughter. Living with an egocentric uncle contributes to making Abigail who she is as a person.

The Crucible symbolically shows how Abigail Williams becomes a paranoid, manipulative, and vengeful person over time because of the John Proctor, Reverend Parris, and the trauma of witnessing her parents’ brutal death. This displays modern problems that still affect our society today, not only the spread of untruthful rumors but also the unfair treatment of others who are different. This writing shows how experiencing trauma as a child can have a major emotional impact on someone. It also shows how people often judge others, like Abigail Williams, when they do not completely understand the lifestyle they grew up with. The character Abigail Williams conveys a message illustrating the harmful effects of an oppressive community and how social status often gets in the way of helping those in need and building relationships.

Fear plays a major role in The Crucible and is the main reason why the village of Salem dealt with the witchcraft incidents so badly. Throughout the trials of the people living in Salem, no evidence was found to convict anyone of witchcraft. Instead, the word of a group of young girls was taken as the truth because nobody dared question people who had seen and encountered the devil so the idea that the girls were lying was not one that could be easily substantiated. This is because before the events of Salem it was rare for people to lie about issues of such magnitude because they were so scared of the possible repercussions.

This sample is free and public. This meant that when Abigail Williams began the charade and started to lie for the first time that somebody was no longer afraid of the repercussions and considered themselves to be above one of the most fierce rules around. This is the focal point of The Crucible and it is from Abigail Williams’s” inability to tell the truth or respect authority that the fear of others develops. An example of this is the fear of John Proctor who is forced to be forever under the judgment and apprehension that Abigail will tarnish his good name because of his affair with her.

This means that Abigail could ruin the life of a normally good man because of a single indiscretion that he made and that his wife was fully aware of. It is unlike John Proctor to be afraid of anyone in this way because he is usually physically and mentally a pillar of strength and an esteemed member of the community. This makes his fear more powerful as it is so out of character. The reason why he is so afraid of Abigail ruining his name is that he has an immense pride concerning his heritage and is generally a very proud man. If the rest of Salem were to find out about his lechery then he would go down in their estimations.

In the commentary of John Proctor, he is described as “even-tempered” and a man who is “not easily led”. The own high morals of the man are also written in the commentary when is it described how despite his apparent untroubled nature that is far from being the truth. It is also written that he is a sinner “against his vision of decent conduct” showing that he is also very aware of the sin he has committed and that it is something that he cannot easily forget. John Proctor is also one of the only characters in the play who has any reason to be afraid because of the facts against him.

Other people who are afraid only feel that way because they are wary of being made a part of the mass hysteria going on in Salem. Abigail shows that she is not afraid of anything in her conquest to bring unhappiness to anyone that she has ever taken a dislike to. She also emotionally blackmails John Proctor by making it very obvious that the whole, “naming of names” scandal was fictitious and that he cannot do anything about that fact because the moment he does she will make the affair between the two of them common knowledge.

This shows that the motivating force behind the allegations and actions of Abigail Williams is not fear, as she seems to be beyond that. The primary motivating force behind the actions of Abigail was instead those of bitterness and jealousy. Her jealousy stems from John Proctor and the continued rejection she faces from him after the affair. This is apparent in Act 1 when Abigail keeps trying to rekindle the relationship between herself and Proctor but he still refutes her claims that the two are in love. Her ill-feeling towards Elizabeth is obvious when she says to Proctor, ” She (Elizabeth) is a cold, sniveling woman”.

This shows that she is jealous of Elizabeth because she is with Proctor and that is where Abigail wants to be. It is at this point in the play that it seems that Abigail Williams wants to have revenge on anyone who crosses her. In the play whenever a character wants to exact revenge on someone they do so by projecting their guilt and grievances onto the innocent and Abigail Williams is a classic example of this. She feels that Elizabeth standing by her husband despite his sins is a direct insult to her because she thinks that if Elizabeth were forced out of her way then she and Proctor would be re-united. An example of this is when John Proctor tells her that he will, “cut off his hand before I reach for her again” and it is these comments by Proctor that give Abigail the incentive to cause people pain. It is for these reasons that the primary motivating force behind the actions of Abigail Williams is not fear but jealousy and hatred towards others. However, if Abigail Williams could be accused of being afraid of one thing and that would be the fear of punishment. If Abigail were ever found out to be lying she would face certain hanging and therefore must fear death.

An example is when her uncle asks her is she was conjuring spirits the night before and she says, ” Not I, sir-Tituba and Ruth”, this is Abigail once again passing the blame to somebody else whether they be innocent or not, to avoid punishment or responsibility. One character in The Crucible who always seems to be afraid and whom fear and paranoia drive his every action is Revd. Parris. His fear is not the same as the fear of John Proctor who, despite worrying about his pride being bruised also fears for the safety of his family but is instead totally selfish.

This is because Parris is constant vigilant as what he most fears is being usurped as the most powerful man in Salem. This is evident when he first finds out about the incident of the girls dancing in the woods. He tells Abigail, “I have fought three long years to bend these stiff-necked people towards me”, this shows that when Parris first arrived in the village of Salem that he was not able to command instant respect. Living in a theocracy this seems to indicate that he possesses a very unreasonable temperament.

At the time it was believed that people of the clergy were appointed so by God which shows that people would have the utmost respect for people of the church but this was not the case with Parris. One of his enemies was Thomas Putnam who according to the plays commentaries had a brother that challenged Parris for the title of the reverend and achieved “two-thirds of the vote” but still did has his acceptance stopped for “reasons that are not known”. This shows that many people held grievances against Parris so it is not surprising that he was so paranoid about is position.

As the play progresses Parris” state of mind continues to decline. An example is when in Act 3 when Mr. Parris is “hardly able to contain his fear” as he is trying to get his point across to avoid being made out as a fool by Danforth who holds greater authority over Parris because he is deputy governor of the state. By that time in the play Danforth is far more respected and feared than Parris ever was and those are the reasons why Parris fears so much for his job. Danforth also represents the theocracy and cannot allow people to be found innocent as this goes against the theocracy and is thus greatly feared.

Parris is also always looking after his interests and never else seems to be bothered about the affairs of anyone else and comes across as a very self-obsessed individual. An example of this is when he and his niece Abigail Williams argue over the girls dancing in the woods. Parris is very quick to argue that the news of their activities would tarnish his name despite having his daughter unconscious as a result of the incident in the woods. This shows that he values his career over the life of his daughter. The primary motivating force behind Revd. Parris” actions are fear as he makes it obvious that he is scared that there are conspiracies in Salem to have him removed from the church and he always tries to manipulate situations to make himself come out looking good much like his niece, Abigail Williams. The commentary on Revd. Paris even states that he felt “he was being persecuted where ever he went” and the commentary also shows that Parris has an evident inferiority complex as it describes how “he would feel offended is someone rose to shut the door without first asking his permission”.

Both of these examples lead to the impression that Mr. Parris is a megalomaniac who does not possess the necessary personal skills to do the job he does. He is a very paranoid man who fears that people are out to get him which shows that it does not trust anyone then it must be hard for people to trust or like him. One of the only characters in The Crucible whose fears are entirely selfless is Revd. Hale of Beverley. Mr. Hale visits Salem to rid the village of the fictional witchcraft mayhem that has engulfed the village.

He deduces that the girls who were caught dancing in the village have a psychosomatic problem in that they believe that they are possessed by the devil. Mr. Hale believes that it is merely a problem inside the head of the girls which results in a public outcry of witchery and a court of law to be set up in Salem to investigate anyone accused by the girls of being a witch or wizard. When Mr. Hale first arrives in Salem he is greeted by the “delighted” Parris and other villagers such as Proctor go out of their way to speak with him.

As the play draws to a close the respect and hopes that people had in Mr. Hale seems to have diminished as the court from Boston seems to have put everyone on guard so that no-one can be trusted. It is at this point in the play that the situation in Salem is chaotic as everyone seems to be being accused and by this time Hale realizes that the girls are simply passing on their acts of vengeance by incriminating other people. Mr. Hale is a character who sees the good in people and is very afraid that innocent people will meet untimely deaths because of the fabricated stories of a group of spiteful jealous girls.

An example of Mr. Hale’s fear for people’s lives is at the end of Act3 when he says, “I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court” because he has become disillusioned with the court and brings it upon himself to make the other villagers what is going on in Salem. This is an excellent example of one of the only characters in the play whose fear is concerned with other people and not just himself as Mr. Hale even resigns his job in a bid for justice. By this time Hale also fears his conscience and the effect it is having on him.

He feels immense guilt after the mistake of signing the death warrant of the innocent and wants to rectify the situation by saving people’s lives. To conclude I think that fears play an important role in The Crucible but to say that it was the single primary motivating force behind that actions of the characters would be wrong. This is because even though different types of fear are all displayed that other feelings such as pride and jealousy also play a crucial role because it seems to be that Proctor is more proud than afraid and that Abigail Williams feels nothing except hate and jealousy.

The climax of the play is John Proctor refusing to sign a confession to witchery and in turn signing his death warrant. This is a part of the play were all pretense and fear have left the body of John Proctor and the only thing he has is courage and pride as he dies a martyr. This shows that other feelings, not just fear can play an important or even a more important role as a motivating force behind the actions of a character.

Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible” is a fundamental example of social injustice when the citizens of Salem, Massachusetts. Citizens didn’t speak up for their neighbor for fear of being accused of being a witches themselves so, the kept their mouths shut. “The Crucible” identifies the reason the Salem witch trials of 1692 came into existence. Salem was settled by people who wanted to worship their own way without outside interference. The people of Salem’s had very strong religion beliefs, had no personal freedom outside their church, and feared the devil most of all. A group of girls were caught dancing around a fire in the woods. The girls knew their punishment would be severe for participating in such a horrendous act. Abigail decided the only a way to take the suspicion off of them was to say the saw others of the church with the devil. The other girls had no choice, but to go along with what she said. Abigail cries out, “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (1.1. 45). Citizens of Salem were sent to their deaths by a corrupt system that had lost sight of what a punishable crime really was. Guilty until proven innocent became the mindset of the people and courts of Salem which sent innocent townsmen to the unjust deaths.

The righteous people of Salem, Massachusetts spread hysteria, fear, and injustice in their small community by accepting an evil selfish person accuse innocent people of being witches without any proof. Abigail Williams, a selfish evil person could tell lie after lie and have a powerful group of men commit acts of evil without asking for any proof except her word. These men were considered to be holy and honest. This group of powerful men wrongly accuse and kill innocent people out of fear and ignorance. However, the righteous men did not know they were just being used by Abigail Williams to have the married man she loved.

Two characters in Miller’s play, “The Crucible,” spoke out about the social injustices of their wives being charged as witches without proof. Corey and Proctor find themselves the targets of the girls making these accusation. Corey made an accusation about his wife to others about her reading books. Corey didn’t know his words would be used against her in the near future. Corey cried out, “I never said my wife was a witch, Mr. Hale, I said she were reading books! (2.1. 68). Corey couldn’t accept the fact that his own accusation condemned his wife to death. So, he stated that he knew it was his neighbor Walcott who accused her. “That bloody mongrel Walcott charge her. Y’see, he buy a pig of my wife four or five year ago and the pig die soon after.” (2.1. 68). Proctor ask who had accused his wife of being a witch. Mr. Cheever stated, “Why, Abigail Williams charge her.” (2.1. 69). Proctor was so surprise when he heard who had accused his wife. At first, Mr. Hale a preacher from another town first took the side of the courts and the girls. Later, he saw the social injustice and tried to convince all of them to say they were witches to save their lives.

Giles Corey is an old man who owns a farms with his wife Martha. Corey is an elderly man who is not considered to be very smart. Corey had just converted to Christianity. Corey and his wife are courageous throughout the play. However, Corey and his wife are very out-spoken and both are sentenced to death. Martha was sentenced to death for being a witch. Corey was sentenced to death for contempt of court when he was trying to tell the court that his wife was not a witch. One could say a simple question to a learned man would condemn both Corey and his wife to their death.

Corey has witnessed his wife reading from strange books more than once. Corey had never learned many prayers in his youth or as an adult. Whenever his wife would read from her books, he could not say his prayers for some reason. Corey often stumbled over his prayers anyway, but felt that his wife reading these strange books somehow affected his ability to say his prays. Corey continued and told how he could say his prayer when his wife quit reading her book and left the room. Corey wanted to know what books she was reading, and why she hid them from him. Corey told the Reverend Hale about his wife reading the strange books, and how he could not say his prayers when she was reading them. The Reverend Hale told him to let him think on it, and they would talk later.

Corey was often accused by his neighbors for any wrong doings going on in the town. If a cow was missing they would look for it at the Corey’s. Corey was asked in court about an incident with a pig of his acting strangely and said the pig must have the devil in its shape. When asked what had frightened him about the pig, Corey said. “He had never used the word frightened in his life. “I do not know that I ever spoke that word in my life. (1.1. 38).

Corey feels terrible about tell Hale about his wife reading books, because this was the reason she was charged as a witch. Corey knew his wife was innocent and recognized that his own actions have led to her incarceration and impending death. Corey attempted to defend his wife by going to the court and telling them his wife was not a witch. This backfires and Corey is held contempt of court and is jailed himself. Corey is one of a very few that spoke out about the injustice of the magistrates and the court for holding trials without any proof of wrong doings. The court was taking the word of young girls as their only proof that those accused were witches.

Corey’s incredible strength of character is shown in the end when he neither confesses to, nor denies, the charges of witchcraft. By doing so, he ensures that his sons can legally inherit his property. Even though he is brutally tortured by having crushingly heavy stones place on his chest, the only thing Corey says is ‘More weight’ (4.1. 186). Heavy stones were laid upon Corey’s chest asking him to confess to being a witch. Corey never would confess to being a witch. Corey kept requesting more stones until he died.

John Proctor, a country-man speaks his mind and is well respected by his peers. Proctor is really a good man. Proctor has one flaw and that is his lust for the maiden Abigail Williams. Abigail that is the center of all the hysteria and speaks out against her neighbors and accuses them of being witches. Abigail believes if she can get rid of Proctor’s wife Elizabeth; she can have Proctor for herself. Abigail believes her love for Proctor is true love and not just lust.

John Proctor speaks out about the injustice of the court and the magistrates. Abigail Williams accused Proctor’s wife of being a witch because she wanted Proctor for her own. When Elizabeth Proctor found out that her husband had bedded Abigail, she made her leave her home as a servant never to return. However, when Proctor tried to save his wife he was condemned to the same fate Elizabeth.

Proctor is a proud man and values his reputation and works hard to defend his wife. Proctor was asked to sign a statement with a false confession. If Proctor signed the confession, he would be released. Proctor considered signing a false statement. Proctor could admit the lie of being a witch, but he could not sign a false confession to display for the entire town of Salem to see. Proctor refused to give up his integrity refusing to give the courts what they wanted. ‘Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!’

John Hale, a trained witch hunter, who is the voice of authority and serves on the court. Hale is has staunch religious beliefs and is committed to the truth. Hale has a strong belief in witchcraft. Hale is summons to the Parris house to see if the Parris’s daughter’s sickness is the result of witchcraft. Hale believes that witchcraft is the cause of her illness by believe the lies of the slave Tituba. Hale does not see the truth of the situation is based on lies. The truth to Hale is what he believe to be truth. Hale take things on faith until he sees them undeniably for himself. Truth to Hale is what he believes, but not necessarily what is the real truth.

When the false truth is shattered, Hale looks for a new truth and a way to rectify his wrong doings. Hale realizes that the court has accepted what they thought to be the truth was based on lies. Hale set out to free the falsely accused that was being destroyed by the chaos and hysteria of the false witch hunt. When John Proctor is convicted, Hale’s confidence is shattered and he storms out quitting the court.

After some soul searching, Hale comes back to town hoping to save some lives. Hale councils the convicted witches. Hale is telling the accused to lie and say they are witches to save their lives. Hales has lost all faith in the law. Hale’s last effort is to save lives, but he is not able to convince anyone to lie.

Social injustice has been around since the beginning of time. A person’s innocent or guilty should not be based on one source of the evidence. Whenever someone is accused of a crime, they have the right to present evidence in their innocence and question the accuser. People who knows of a person’s innocence should speak out. Everyone is entitled to justice and should be granted to all. A person should always be innocent until proven guilty, not guilty until proven innocent.