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.
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 does not feel sorry for anybody. She accuses Elizabeth Proctor in witchcraft to get rid of her and have Proctor for herself. But this will never happen. In the third act a big conflict in the court is shown. Abigail pretends she feels cold and sees a yellow bird.
She then starts to mimic the actions and words of Mary; this in turn builds a solid proof in the eyes of the court that Mary Warren practices witchcraft. Abigail could care less of who she accused and sentenced to death, she watches people die in front of her eyes without feeling any regrets on her actions. In the end of The Crucible, Abigail and Mercy Lewis steal Reverend Parris’s money and aboard a ship because the town detests her and she loses her reputation in Salem. Abigail didn’t expect this ending, she thought by sentencing Goody Proctor to death she will live happily ever after with John. Lack of guilt made Abigail do contemptible actions, which took the lives of innocent
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!
She not only acted as a tyrant but she pulled other people into her mess. Abigail Williams is the main reason behind the Salem witch hunt. She is the one who broke the rules of the church and brought all the girls and Tituba into the woods. Once the “Blame Game” started, she could have ended the hysteria. Instead, she continued her false accusations.
Abigail deceives her closest friends and many other well respected townspeople. She manipulates the whole town and begins to gain power and control over everyone. Soon, Abigail starts to get revenge on the people from her past by accusing them of witchcraft. She goes after Proctors wife Elizabeth. Abigail previously worked for the Proctors until Elizabeth became aware of the affair between her and John.
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.
When Danforth is questioning Mary about telling the truth in court, she states, "I cannot lie no more. I am with God, I am with God." Mary would tell the truth to a person higher than her, but only when there was no one around to persuade her to do otherwise. Abigail falsely accused Mary of seeing spirits that then led Mary to scream, "Let me go, Mr. Proctor, I cannot, I cannot—“ Mary threw her morals out the window when she realized that if she did not pretend to be possessed, she will be convicted. Mary did not care if she was being dishonest or a hypocrite.
Cornered into admitting to participating in dark magic, she still cannot take responsibility for her actions and instead accuses others of cooperating with the devil. A final example of untruthfulness appears when Reverend Samuel Parris, Abigail’s uncle, questions Abigail after he catches her dancing with the other girls in the forest. Abigail fibs instead of telling the truth. Parris desperately tries to save his daughter, Betty Parris, from a sickness that takes hold after he catches them dancing while Abigail chooses, instead of potentially helping Betty, to tell him, “There is nothin’ more. I swear it uncle” (Miller 11).