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Imagine growing up in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts and suddenly one day, and the whole place is in chaos, farm animals everywhere, people have gone missing, and children wildly running around. Some are found in jail, others in the gallows. All of this because of the accusations that Abigail Williams had made on the people of Salem. This is the story of The Crucible, painted for us by Arthur Miller about the Salem Witch Trials. It depicts Abigail accusing the innocent, lying to the masses, and threatening her closest friends, to keep her name clean.
One of the main antagonists, Abigail Williams, In The Crucible is seen as an evil character, because of her selfishness and carelessness for others.
One way in which she showed her selfishness was that she wanted to kill Elizabeth Proctor just to be with John Proctor. An example of this is at the beginning of the book when she drank a charm of blood to kill Elizebeth, so she could be with John.
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The reason that this is such an evil action is she wanted to kill a loyal wife and mother of three children who was also pregnant, so she could be with John Proctor.
Another reason that she is selfish, is that instead of taking the blame for her actions she would often accuse other people of witchcraft so she would seem innocent. At the beginning of the novel, she accused Goody Sivver, Goody Hawkens, and Goody Booth just to keep herself looking innocent of all wrongdoing.
These were innocent townsfolk, who had been living their lives with their families before being accused and ripped away from their families and taken to the gallows or sent to prison. Then they were sent to hang, just because Abigail wrongly accused them and still wanted to look innocent.
Another evil trait Abigail used throughout the book was her ability to manipulate others to her benefit. There are many examples that show us how truly evil and manipulative Abigail is; from the beginning, Abigail used people to her advantage, she threatened the lives of a few girls that had tried to help Abigail kill Elizabeth. So to swear them secrecy she told them that she would slit their throats if one of them said a word to anyone. This is one of the first, and best examples of what Abigail will do to keep her name clean and in the clear. She also shows how little disregard she has for anyone other than herself. When the heat was finally getting to Abigail, and she was accused of lying about the whole thing. She managed to manipulate a courtroom of the most respected men in all of Salem, and got them to bend to her whim. She acted as she was being attacked by Mary Warren’s spirit in the form of a yellow bird that wanted to cut her face off and eat it. This example alone of her power alone, shows us how Abigail turned this town on its head with little effort. Also, how she made everyone believe her make-believe so easily with little proof that it actually happened.
All of this tragedy and sorrow because of actuations that Abigail Williams made in Salem.
Abigail Williams From The Crucible By Arthur Miller. (2024, Feb 26). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/abigail-williams-from-the-crucible-by-arthur-miller-essay
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