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).
Proctor tries to prevent Elizabeth from being hanged. He also admits that he lusted with Abigail. Elizabeth lies to the court, telling the first lie she has ever told. She lied to save her husband though. Abigail is accusing everyone of witchcraft to clear her name.
Abigail Williams is a perfect example of a liar in Salem. The crucible displays how people accused others of witch craft just because they didn’t like them and not based on whether they were witch or not. We can witness this action by Abigail repeatedly. However, she does not only lie when accusing people but she lies to protect her own name, and she does so, so convincingly. ‘’She sends her spirit on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer!’’ this is a quotation from Act 1 just after Reverend Hale’s arrival.
Abigail is a key example of someone who is dishonest. When Reverend Parris interrogate her she lies and tells him that the girls were just dancing in the woods. Their “spirit conjuring” is later revealed in the story. Because of Abigail’s dishonesty a web of lies has been weaved, entangling those that are both innocent and guilty. Act 1 reveals Abigail’s dissembling nature when she lies to Reverend Parris about what happened in the woods.
‘At the heart of conflict is fear’ Fear often leads us to make rash, harmful mistakes. It was fear of getting in trouble for the dancing in the woods that prompted the girls to start accusing people of witchery. It was fear of being whipped or hanged that prompted Tituba to "confess" to being a witch and name other women who had joined her. It was fear of the girls turning on her and accusing her of being a witch that led Mary Warren to rescind her testimony against them and accuse John Proctor of being a "devil's man." The fear of getting punishment for the dancing that occurred in the woods was what prompted the girls to start accusing innocent people of witchery.
Up to now in this story it seems like half of the town has been accused of witchcraft, but it gets worse. Martha Corey was accused because she thought the town and everyone in the church was insane blaming all the innocent people for things that were out of their control. She also thought the girls they were listening to were fools and she thought they were even bigger fools for listening to children. She told the court that she was innocent; she didn’t know what a witch was. They simply told her that how could she not know if she was one if she didn’t know what a witch is.
It is such an important factor in this play because as mentioned earlier it is what introduces the main point. After Goody Proctor got arrested Proctor was determined to prove her innocence and Abigail’s false allegations. He presents himself at court to talk to the “Excellency” about Abigail and the girls’ false visions. He has Mary Warren testify which catches Abigail off guard and she has to pretend that she is once again being attacked. Proctor angered by this calls her a whore and says “I have known her, sir.
Is Abigail Williams a Victim or Villain? We have been studying the text The Crucible by Author Miller and I am going to study in detail weather Abigail Williams is a victim, or truly the villain. Abby is the villain and some may put it down to some of the "reddish work" she has seen but is it? In Act One Abigail is willing to lie to everyone to save her own, Abby is certain "[they] danced" and nothing else, even though we know that is not all they did. Abby threatens the girls, forcing them to tell the story according to the way which incriminates her the least.
Abigail is an antagonist for multiple reasons. At the beginning of the story she is in the woods dancing naked and using witchcraft, but when she is asked if she was involved with the devil, she denies it. Everyone lies but this is a sign of being deceitful. She also has an affair with a man known as John Proctor, which helps to almost ruin his marriage. She knew he was married so she shouldn’t have done this, and this is also another sign of being the antagonist.
Parris and Procter did not agree on how people would be accused of something. Procter says to Parris “But who tells us Rebecca Nurse murdered seven babies by sending out her spirit on them? It is the children only, and this one will swear she lied to you”. (III.116-132) Procter knew the girls were lying because Abigail had told him so. The fear of it being true made the people crazy.