Rebecca Nurse and, eventually, John Proctor, choose to protect their integrity. In another writer’s hands, Abby could have been portrayed in a sympathetic light. Abigail Williams uses her wit and will to get out of many situations. Corey also states that the court is holding his wife Martha by mistake saying he had only said Martha was reading books, but he never accused her of witchcraft. The men still take Elizabeth into custody, and Hale, Corey and Nurse leave. This vicious antagonist will stop at nothing to attain her demented goals. Cheever discovers the poppet that Mary made for Elizabeth, with a needle inside it. Occupation Full Name Manipulating the Puritan court.Sleeping with John Proctor. When Proctor gets stuck on the tenth, Elizabeth reminds him of the commandment forbidding adultery. It does not work, but it is revealed that Abigail and Proctor engaged in a previous affair and that Abigail still has feelings for him. Judge Hathorne enters and angrily asks: "How dare you come roarin' into this court, are you gone daft, Corey?". The deaths of women and men could have been avoided if Abigail had told the truth. Meanwhile, she got to leave Salem behind, completely unpunished for her evil deeds. He questions Abigail, who accuses Tituba of being a witch. The figure of Abigail from The Crucible unites worst of human characteristics, like selfishness, credibility and jealously. Type of Villain Therefore, she ranks low on the Puritan Salem social ladder, and the only people below her are the slaves and social outcasts. Not knowing that he had already confessed, Elizabeth lies and denies any knowledge of the affair. Abigail’s desire for power and her willingness to deceive anyone to get what she wants also foreshadow her actions. Proctor is chained to a jail wall, totally isolated from the outside. Abigail Williams is to blame for the witch trials as a result of accusing others. In the original production of the play, there was an additional scene in the second act. Here she is portrayed by Mylène Demongeot. The townspeople do not know exactly what the girls were up to, but there are rumors of witchcraft. She is clearly the villain of the play, more so than Parris or Danforth: she tells lies, manipulates her friends and the entire town, and eventually sends nineteen innocent people to their deaths. After she had a sexual affair with John, Abigail was discharged by Elizabeth, who cursed her name. Origin Lust is the craving for sexual pleasures. He is a self-proclaimed expert in occult phenomena, and is eager to use his acquired learning. She moves back and forth between the pack of lying girls and the Proctors, drawn by the girls but knowing the Proctors are innocent. Here she is portrayed by Mylène Demongeot. Evil-doer In The Crucible, Miller changed Abigail's age from eleven to seventeen. Several characters in The Crucible face a tough decision: to protect their reputation or their integrity. Goals This Villain was proposed and approved by Villains Wiki's Pure Evil Proposals Thread. To save herself from being accused of witchcraft, Mary tells the court that Proctor was in league with the devil and forced her to testify. Abigail's motivation to do what she did in the story was her jealousy of Elizabeth Proctor, a hunger for power, and a lust for John Proctor. However, she advises that she will be gone every day because of her duties as an official of the court. The authorities send Elizabeth to John, telling her to try to convince Proctor to confess to being a witch. Mary gives Elizabeth a poppet that she made while in court, tells the couple that 39 people are now in jail, and that Goody Osborne [sic] will hang for her failure to confess to witchcraft. Proctor tells Mary that she must testify in court against Abigail. Proctor, Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey are led to the gallows to hang. She appears again in the 1996 remake of the same name as the movie's main antagonist. Additional Notice: This template is meant for admin maintenance only. In Arthur Miller 's 1953 play, The Crucible, a fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials, Abigail Williams is the name of a character whose age in the play is raised a full five or six years, to age 17, and she is motivated by a desire to be in a relationship with John Proctor, a married farmer with whom she had previously had an affair. They mostly have ulterior motives and operate behind a visage of godliness and holiness. She tells him that their housemaid, Mary Warren, has been there all day. The sin that she represented the most is envy. Abigail Williams Character In The Crucible 712 Words | 3 Pages. Tituba, afraid of being hanged and threatened with beating, professes faith in God and accuses Goodwives Sarah Good and Osburn of witchcraft. The Crucible is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller. Users who misuse the template will be blocked for a week minimum. She also states that Abigail saw this because she sat next to her. The witch trials, in which the girls are allowed to act as though they have a direct connection to God, empower the previously powerless Abigail. She bears most of the responsibility for the girls meeting with Tituba in the woods, and once Parris discovers them, she attempts to conceal her behavior because it will reveal her affair with Proctor if she confesses to casting a spell on Elizabeth Proctor. Reverend Parris begins to panic because John was liked by many in the village (as were Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse, who are also to be hanged), and he explains his fears to Hathorne, Danforth and Cheever. Danforth orders the girls into the vestry. It's also possible that she suffered from dementia or some sort of severe personality disorder, which explained why she put her own selfish wants in place of where her moral compass should have been. Abigail lies in Act I when Reverend Parris confronts her after finding her and other girls dancing in the woods and practicing witchcraft with Tituba. Although, in the end, Abigail’s persuasive lies do not get her what she really wants, her actions throughout the play influence many events and make her the most compelling character of The Crucible. When Proctor and Elizabeth are alone, she forgives him and reaffirms their love. Hale asks Proctor to testify in court and then questions Elizabeth to find out if she believes in witches. In this version she was portrayed by Academy Award-nominated actress Winona Ryder in her first (and so far only) villainous role. Elizabeth tells of Giles Corey being pressed to death. She wants to abuse her power to make people agitated to not mess with her. This material is available only on Freebooksummary, We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. Cheever tells Proctor and Hale that, after apparently being stabbed with a needle while eating at Parris' house, Abigail accused Elizabeth's spirit of stabbing her. She often uses verbal and sometimes physical threats to get her way. In this quote, Abigail is showing her envy towards Elizabeth Proctor. She accuses or witnesses how innocent after innocent is sentenced to death or to a long time in prison. Abby Character Analysis Abigail Williams Abigail Williams is the vehicle that drives the play. When Abigail calls to God, Proctor accuses her of being a whore and tells the court of their affair. Abigail was in love with John Proctor and she envied his wife Elizabeth Proctor. I will also support my argument with evidence from the play. Abigail uses her history as a weapon towards the other girls. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our, The whole doc is available only for registered users, The Crucible and John Proctor argumentative essay example for high school. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. It was first performed in 1953 on Broadway. Abigail Williams Character Analysis in The Crucible | SparkNotes. The Crucible. She was successful in achieving most of her desired outcomes and while she couldn't get John Proctor to love her in return, her actions ultimately led to his and Elizabeth's deaths in the witch trials. Abigail appears in the 1957 film adaption of The Crucible as John Proctor's maid before she betrays him and left him to die at the witch trials presided over by deputy governor Thomas Danforth. Proctor is arrested for witchcraft, and Reverend Hale storms out of the court, shouting "I denounce these proceedings!". Betty, now awake, claims to have been bewitched and also professes her faith in God. Abigail Williams, a vicious antagonist from Arthur Miller's The Crucible, will stop at nothing to attain her demented goals. Abigail Williams` cruel nature, however, is due partially from past trauma. Unlike the other characters, she is not very complex and is clearly the villain of the play. The character, Abigail has many faults. Ultron (Marvel Cinematic Universe)/Synopsis, Headlined Villain - Erik Killmonger (MCU), https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Abigail_Williams_(The_Crucible)?oldid=4167802. She appears again in the 1996 remake of the same name as the movie's main antagonist. Conversations between Parris, his niece Abigail Williams, and several other girls reveal that the girls, including Abigail and Betty, were engaged in heretical activities in a nearby forest, apparently led by Tituba, Parris's slave from Barbados. Mary states that Elizabeth has also been accused, but, as she herself defended her, the court dismissed the accusation. Abigail Williams the main antagonist of the crucible, and the mastermind behind the witch trials, is a lustful, wicked, defensive girl who is not too low for any disgraceful act. Hale enters, now a broken man who spends all his time with the prisoners, praying with them and advising prisoners to confess to witchcraft so that they can live. When Proctor continues to insist that the affair took place, the girls begin to pretend to see a yellow bird sent by Mary to attack them. Just one word from Abigail is enough to send an innocent person to their death if they are convicted as a … Abigail appears in the 1957 film adaption of The Crucibleas John Proctor's maid before she betrays him and left him to die at the witch trials presided over by deputy governor Thomas Danforth. The Crucible – Character Essay: Abigail Williams In the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is a very manipulative, seductive, and dishonest person. She is constantly caught up in a lie or is in the presence of trying to manipulate a person or a group of people. Danforth soon thereafter takes utter control of the situation, and denies others in the court even a modicum of power. Abigail Williams in "The Crucible" In Arthur Miller's play, "The Crucible," Miller depicts Williams as a 17-year-old servant in the Proctor house who tried to save John Proctor even while denouncing her mistress, Elizabeth. freebooksummary.com © 2016 - 2021 All Rights Reserved. Abigail was raised as an orphan after her parents were killed by Indians. Click to see full answer Hobby Abigail Williams is Reverend Parris's niece who ends up getting caught dancing naked in the forest and reciting charms with Tituba and several other women. Deputy Governer Danforth, Cheever, Reverend Parris and Francis Nurse enter the vestry room. Abigail Williams In The Crucible Analysis. Mary tells Hale that she made the doll in court that day and stored the needle inside it. She has an eerie sense of how to manipulate others and gain control over them. In many ways, Abigail ended up getting the last laugh. Her motivation is simple jealousy and her desire to be with John Proctor. Abigail has so many Crimes Her actions drive the plot of the play, and she is the catalyst that stirs the hysteria surrounding the witch trials. Parris, Abigail, and others to protect their reputations. At the age of eleven, it was doubtful that John Proctor and Abigail had a relationship in real life. She cannot be excused from her actions since she is not a victim of society. Several things led to Abigail running away from Salem. Mary Warren Character Analysis in The Crucible | SparkNotes Mary is the Proctors’ servant after Abigail was let go. The Crucible Giles Corey replies that since Hathorne isn't a Boston Judge yet, he has no right to ask him that question. Proctor believes that she is accusing him of resuming his affair with Abigail. Any act of removing this villain from the category without a Removal Proposal shall be considered vandalism (or a futile "heroic" attempt of redemption) and the user will have high chances of being terminated blocked. Immature, violent, and mentally unstable are a few negative qualities that describe Abby as the baddy. It has been removed from most subsequent productions, but is added as an appendix in many written book forms of the play: In the woods, Proctor meets with Abigail. Abigail doesn’t hesitate to blame them of withcraft even if they are on the same side as she is. It is Abigail who first says Tituba has been using supernatural powers to corrupt her and Betty, and it is Abigail who jumps on the (metaphorical) accusation train after Tituba has been coerced into confessing her involvement and naming co-conspirators. High intellectCunningManipulation In the play, jealousy, and self- interest are the two characteristics that are seen constantly throughout the play. Abigail Williams has the most power in The Crucible. Her behavior and actions resulted in the real horror and more than a dozen of lost lives during the Salem Witch Trials. For most of the people in The Crucible, they did not need to necessarily forgive others; but forgive themselves. Of the major characters, Abigail is the least complex. BlackmailAbuse of powerTheftStalkingPsychological torture. She is the most memorable character of the play simply for that reason. Abigail Williams feeds on the fact that no one would dare to expose her if they feared her so terribly. Abigail Williams In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, there is one character who, because of her selfish and evil ways, causes the destruction of many people in the town of Salem. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: … Abigail is described as "seventeen with a remarkable capacity for dissembling" who covets Elizabeth Proctor's husband John Proctor and tries to get Elizabeth killed in the Salem witch trials. Elizabeth asks Proctor to speak to Abigail and tell her that no chance exists of him marrying her if anything happens to his wife. She’s a weak person, prone to hysterics and drawn to drama. She is an unmarried, orphan who watched as her parents were murdered by Indians. The Crucible is a story of mass hysteria in a period of time in which men dominated women. Parris probably did not have). Hale questions Proctor about his poor church attendance and asks him to recite the Ten Commandments. The audience’s first introduction to her true nature is in Act I when she says “…Let either of you breathe a word and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you…” This quote shows Abigail’s desperation and truly violent mind while she tries to control the mistake she has made, but to control this mistake she must control those around her who know of it. Here, she is sixteen, while in the actual events, she was 12 and therefore, obviously did not have a relationship with John Proctor. However, there is a legend that suggests that Abigail became a lower-class prostitute in Boston and died a few years later, likely of a sexually transmitted disease. Abigail is a major character in the crucible who easily gets power just to abuse it. On page 24, Abigail says, “Oh, I marvel how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be-”. Moreover, what is Abigail's role in The Crucible? She is depicted as the “villain” of the town, and plays the role well. The Crucible – Character Essay: Abigail Williams In the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is a very manipulative, seductive, and dishonest person. In The Crucible, Abigail is the obvious villain in the play. IncriminationBlackmailAbuse of powerTheftStalkingPsychological torture In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams has the horrible qualities often associated with the term villain. Judge Hathorne (offstage) is in the midst of questioning Martha Corey on accusations of witchcraft, during which her husband, Giles, interrupts the court proceedings and declares that Thomas Putnam is "reaching out for land!" Reverend Parris is praying over his daughter Betty Parris, who lies as if unconscious in her bed. While a servant in John Proctor 's household, Abigail briefly became John's lover before Elizabeth found out and fired… read analysis of Abigail Williams Get the entire The Crucible …