As early as Scene one, we learn of the motives behind Abigail’s actions as she tries to get the girls to agree on a story to protect herself. She uses the threat of violence and their belief that she might know some real witchcraft, to keep them in line, “Let either of you breath 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... i can make you wish you had never seen the sun come
Reverend Parris found some girls, including Abigail, dancing in the woods. They were doing the acts of witchcraft. Parris caught Abigail and accused her of witchcraft. Abigail denied it and she then accused Tituba, the ‘leader’ of the girls out in the woods (p 1108-1111). Arthur Miller shows how being put on the spot can scare people and make them accuse others.
The girls did this to keep the attention off of them and avoid punishment. These harsh accusations on innocent people caused twenty deaths in their village. Abigail then became one of the many “witnesses” in the court. As soon as someone starts to suspect her of being a witch or performing witchcraft, she always manages to turn the blame back on them, whether it’s through lying or exaggerating a mysterious action. For example, she outs the blame on Tituba, who confesses to performing witchcraft.
When she says "Come you spirits that tend on murderous thoughts, unsex me," and "make thick my blood, stop th'access and passage to remorse," she is already calling on evil spirits to take away her feminine nature, and to stop her feeling any pity, remorse or compassion; Lady Macbeth is determined to assist Macbeth in murdering Duncan. From this early point, it is already evident that she is contemplating, and intends to take part in a murder so that her husband could have the status he had always wanted, but had been too weak to obtain. When Macbeth enters, Lady Macbeth replies: "O never shall sun that morrow see." When Macbeth informs her Duncan will be leaving the following day. Here, she blatantly reveals that she intends to murder Duncan, saying he won't live to see another day.
She uses her womanhood to portray her innocence but it is then exposed by her soliloquy that she wishes the spirits “unsex” her, leaving Lady Macbeth only with mortal thoughts. Macbeth also utilizes the darkness to allow him to understand and accept his own desires. Soon after hearing the witches’ first prophecy, Macbeth is told the Thane of Cawdor was executed and he will be the replacement. He is excited by the news and Macbeth and Banquo discuss the logic and certainty of the witches, “…And oftentimes to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles to betray in deepest consequence.” Banquo believes that the witches are tied to the devil and would tell half-truths in order to win them over to the dark side. Macbeth wonders if the next prophecy, that of king, would simply fall on him or if he would have to perform a dark deed in order to gain the crown.
Once Tituba confessed to witchcraft, Abigail joined in by accusing others of witchcraft so the negative attention would not be on the girls. Once Abigail started accusing people, Betty woke up from her “infinite” sleep and joined in along with the other girls. When the trials began, it was Abigail who kept the charade going by pretending that the accused were casting their spirits upon her and the other girls in the court room. Abigail led the girls by crying out in pain, pretending to see things and shivering. When the affair with John Proctor almost came up, Abigail was quick to turn on whoever went against
The accused had two options; either they “admit” to being a witch/communist and name others, or maintain their innocence and be hanged/blacklisted. It was all delusional. Miller was motivated to write ‘The Crucible’ while seeing McCarthyism take place. Miller used several different techniques to create tension in the first Act of ‘The Crucible’ as to capture the audience’s attention. For example in the first scene of ‘The Crucible’ where Parris is trying to get to the bottom of what Abigail, Betty and the other girls did in the forest.
As the story develops we are finding characters of a backstabbing, cunning person, that could easily be a murder. Abigail Williams is an orphan we learned this of her early in the story but we really don’t know her true origins. Who knows she could be using witchcraft herself to manipulate and deceive people. Even at the end of the story she deceives her uncle by claiming to be spending the night over at her friends’ house when really she was robbing him and leaving. In conclusion, I believe the lesson to be learned from this character is not safe to assume
The Crucible In the play The Crucible author, Arthur Miller, writes about witchcraft in the town of Salem and it’s all started by the character Abigail Williams. Her behavior is caused by the fact that she is committing adultery with John Proctor. While Abigail and some of the other girls were with the slave Tituba, doing a Barbados ritual, in the woods they were caught by one of the towns’ people. Upon being caught some of the girls faked being ill. So they wouldn’t get into trouble Abigail and all the other girls claimed Tituba was calling the devil.
While lying with Betty, she warns the other girls, “If anyone breathe a word or the edge of a word about the other things, I will come to you in the black of some terrible night” (). However, when the news of her and the other girl's strange actions spreads like wildfire, the hysteria sets in. Abigail only contributes to the hysteria, though. She makes up lie after lie just to conceal her wrongdoing. She even pretends to see Mary Warren take the shape of a yellow bird while in court just to take the focus off her and John’s affair.