Throughout the entire play, Abigail Williams uses her good name to control Salem by accusing people of witchcraft, which results in the deaths of many people in the town. After witnessing Tituba confess to Reverend Hale, Abigail confesses “I saw Sarah Good with the devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the devil!” (Miller 189). Abigail realizes that by giving the names of people she saw with the devil she can control Salem because she has a good name and people will listen to her.
She was arrested and tried for practicing witchcraft because of her American Indian decent. Seen as “Devil worshipers” American Indians were perceived as being familiar with occult practices (536). This stereotype left Tituba with no control of her situation and fearful for her life. Tituba’s ethnic background left her victim to stereotypes that previous to her confession, would have most likely only sealed her dooming fate. Luckily, Tituba was able to use her knowledge of African, American Indian and English folklore to her advantage, diverting the attention away from her socially and geographically.
The first reason is that because Abigail Williams is extremely manipulative and vindictive. Abigail tries to get Procter to pity her saying, “You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet! John, pity me, pity me!” (Miller 22). Abigail wants Procter to pity and give her what she wants, regardless that his wife caught them once and can catch them again. 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.
When Hale comes and visits John and Elizabeth Proctor; he wants to investigate the people who are accused in court. Elizabeth and Proctor are astonished when Hale mentions that Rebecca Nurse has been accused of witchcraft. In the Crucible Rebecca Nurse is pictured as a saint throughout the play. The first clue that shows Hale is beginning to notice something wrong is when Rebecca’s been charged by saying “God forbid such a one be charged” (Miller 1210). Towards the end of Act II he starts to have some suspicion on what is going on because now Elizabeth Proctor is accused of witchcraft.
Hale claims that Tituba is “‘selected’” and is “‘chosen to cleanse our village’” (848). She knows that by calling out names of people who are the “‘devil’s agents’” (848), she will not be in trouble. She cries out, “and there was Goody Good” and “‘Goody Osburn’” (848), in front of everyone. Being that she is God’s representative to accuse the witches, she has the power to make everyone believe in her. Before, no one will listen or take her seriously to a word she said, but she now has a position of authority from which to name the secret sins of other Salem residents.
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.
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
So now we’ll talk about affairs and how people get revenge. In The Crucible, Mr. Proctor had an affair with a young lady. It made John look bad, so he started to ignore Abigail by telling her to leave and that he was mad at her. When she wouldn’t leave he pushed her away. For revenge she accused John’s wife, Liz, of being a witch.
In 1692, people who were accused of witchcraft, and did not confess to it, were typically hanged. In the story “The Crucible” many of the characters ended up being falsely accused of witchcraft, and everyone knows that most stories/movies have a “bad” character. In my opinion, Abigail Williams was the villain in “The Crucible.” First off I can start by saying that Abigail Williams was the one who influenced all of the other girls involved with the trial. In the beginning of the movie, Abigail Williams and her slave, Tituba, were seen dancing around a pot of boiling items with a bunch of other girls. It seemed to me that Abigail was the one who wanted to keep it going and didn’t want to stop; she was the leader of the dancing.
The lack of power that women have in Salem sets the stage for hysteria. The female characters long for a voice in the community, and attempt to gain one by using their court powers to blame those around them and lying to gain attention from the community. Due to the very little power women have in Salem, the women find the need to blame others in order to be heard. While Abigail is being accused of performing witchcraft, she tries to blame Tituba. Abigail states, “Sometimes I wake and find myself standing in the open doorway and not a sitch on my body!