Abigail and the girls pretend Mary is bewitching them again which make Mary breakdown and accuse john of being a witch. After being tried as a witch and told he was going to get hanged he has a chance to confess and live but he chooses to die and keep his name. As a result of the lies and the affair between john and Abigail there were a lot of innocent people killed and hurt even those who they claimed they loved. Abigail and Elizabeth are two very different characters but have some similarities. Both Abigail and Elizabeth show determination in order to get what they want, and they are both strong
She is responsible for the deaths of those innocent puritans who died during the witch-hunt because of three reasons: First she is jealous. Second She is a malicious, vengeful girl. Third she is an unabashed liar who charges witchcraft against those who oppose her. Abigail Williams was a jealousy person. John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth used to employ Abigail, until Elizabeth found out the affair and threw Abigail out.
When Abigail was talking to Proctor she says “She is telling lies to about me! She is a cold sniveling woman, and you bend to her!”(Page 15, act one) she is basically showing her jealousy towards his wife. This stirred up the witch trials because Abigail wanted to be with Proctor and she would do just about anything. The fact that John proctor realizes all of his flaws and confesses to all of his sins is another reason why he can be considered a tragic hero. When Proctor had to go to the court to get his wife out of being accused of upholding witchcraft he eventually confess to his sins he committed.
Not only does she deny doing witchcraft, she also manages to accuse Tituba of having full responsibility while she is the one who starts the whole thing. At the end of the chapter, she also frames some other citizens, saying that she sees them with the Devil. Her affair with John Proctor is furthermore exposed to the audience. Betty, Reverend Parris’s daughter, reveals that Abigail attempts to drink blood as a charm in order to kill Elizabeth Proctor, who is John Proctor’s wife. Moreover, when Reverend Parris confronts Abigail about being fired by Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail denies any wrongdoings.
The Corrupting Power of Women The portrayal of women in Of Mice and Men is limited and unflattering. We learn early on that Lennie and George are on the run from the previous ranch where they worked, due to encountering trouble there with a woman. Misunderstanding Lennie’s love of soft things, a woman accused him of rape for touching her dress. George berates Lennie for his behavior, but is convinced that women are always the cause of such trouble. Their enticing sexuality, he believes, tempts men to behave in ways they would otherwise not.
Abigail and Elizabeth stand out the most because of their role in the witch trails. Abigail Williams is the niece of Reverend Parris. She once was the servant for the Proctors but was fired by Elizabeth because she discovered that Abigail was having an affair with her husband, John Proctor. Abigail is a smart, wily, good liar, and vindictive when crossed. She is clearly the Villain of the play because she manipulated her friends and lied to the whole town.
The Puritans in The Scarlet Letter ironically condemn Hester by hypocritically reacting to her sin and by foolishly praising the preacher who actually committed adultery with her. Once the puritans realize Hester was pregnant, they began to condemn her and give her harsh consequences. All together they banished her from the town and tried to take her daughter away from her. These consequences were given hypocritically since the majority of the town participated in witchcraft. The town, in order to justify it's sin, acted like they actually held standards by harshly attacking Hester's sin.
Conflict certainly exposes the true qualities of a person that might have been kept deep inside never to be revealed, however due to the pressure of a bad situation the ‘real’ person is displayed. McCarthyism has been shown in the play “The Crucible”, which was practiced by Abigail. McCarthyism is paranoia and finding scapegoats and blaming innocent people for things they did not do. Many lives were ruined because of this. In the Crucible, Abigail is tormented by the fact that she had been caught out having an affair with John Proctor.
Abigail’s greed was the most destructive to the outcome of this story. She destroyed most people’s reputation in the town. Many innocent people are hanged for crimes they did not commit including John Proctor. Abigail wanted to get rid of John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth, and Elizabeth was charged with consorting with the devil. Abigail new the punishment for the crime of witchcraft was hanging and carried out her accusation so that she and Jon could “dance upon her grave together.”(Act 3) John Proctor is also charged with witch craft; he had a choice of lying about consorting with the devil or keeping his integrity.
Another reason their relationship is dangerous is that if John Procter were to prosecute against Abigail Williams saying that she is in fact a witch, Abigail Williams could very easily tell the entire town that she and Procter have been having an affair to get revenge on him. It wouldn’t really affect her too much, but on the contrary, it would ruin his reputation in the town and his relationship with his wife. Later in Act I, Abigail is being “interrogated” by Reverend Hale and she claims “I never sold myself! I’m a good girl! I’m a proper girl!” (Miller 40) in this statement, Abigail is defending herself that she never sold herself to the devil.