Abigail In The Crucible Act 1 Essay

, Research Paper

Within the Crucible, there lies a complex story involving the

accounts and happenings surrounding the 1692 Salem witch trials

in Salem, Massachusetts. Act 1 of the Crucible sets up the

unfolding of events which lead to witch accusations and increasing

superstition among the puritan community. The Crucible reveals

the intriguing and malicious character of Abigail Williams to be a

manipulative and unabashed liar, who possesses the remarkable

quality of self preservation even among what seem to be

insurmountable odds. The character of Abigail Williams

demonstrates domineering behavior throughout the act in such

events as Abigail’s threatening the girls to remain silent regarding

events in the forest, Abigail’s attempts of seducing John Proctor,

and the repeated unsubstaincle accusations of Abigail placed on

people within the Puritan community.

Throughout the community, word of the supposed

“witchcraft” begins to leak out under the immediate concern of

Rev. Parris. Rev. Parris fears that the incident could taint his

reputation among the other Puritans. As a result, Rev. Parris

continually interrogates Abigail with the intent of getting what he

feels is the truth. Abigail continually acts innocent in order to

eliminate the suspicion of Rev. Parris. To keep the incident a

secret, Abigail threatens the girls involved in the incident, so that

they will not talk. More specifically, she threatens the girls with

death by her hands. Her logic for this is quite clear, she wants to

be cleared of all suspicion, and by putting fear into the girls, she

feels that this is a adequately accomplished. As a result, Abagails

tatics of manipulation keep her from receiving harsh persecution

and accusations.

Another act of domineering behavior on part of

Abigail is her repeated attempted seducing of Mr. Proctor.

Abigail’s reasons for this are not quite clear, but one could

conclude that it is purposed for the reason of separating Mr.

proctor from his wife Elizabeth Proctor and take her place as his

wife. It seems as though Abigail and Mr. Proctor had previous

intimate relations, and Abigail’s seducing of Mr. Proctor is an

attempt to rehash this past relationship. It is for obvious reasons

extreme megalomania that Abigail takes this course of action.

Lastly, Abigail show herself to be an even more

mischievous character by accusing Tituba of Witchcraft, and

wrong doing. Tituba in turn is held in suspicion of being a witch

and is threatened with the taking of her life if she refuses to talk

about her supposed involvement with the devil. Tituba reluctantly

gives in to the accusations after the realization that it was necessary

in order to save her life. This action on part of Abigail helps shift

blame and suspicion from herself solely to that of Tituba. Tituba

invents lies and sends the witchcraft fear further into a sense of fear

for the Puritan community. This incident is a vivid example one of

Abigail’s most remarkable character attributes, her ability to

manipulate those around her as she sees fit. The false accusations

of Abigail confirm her character as being domineering and

untruthful at the expense of others.

Abigail emerges from act 1 of the Crucible as an

evil-spirited, manipulative young girl. The callous behavior of

Abigail most likely stems from her childhood. She observed her

parents being murdered by Indians at a young age and was

orphaned as a result. No matter the reason for her violent nature,

Act 1 clearly defines Abigail as a person bent on crushing those

who oppose her. Abigail’s domineering acts of threatening the

other girls with death for talking of the events in the forest,

seducing of John Proctor, and her false accusations of witchcraft

serve as substantial reason for classifying Abigail as such an evil

person. To conclude, Abigail Williams arrives in Act 1 as one of

the most complex and intriguing characters of the Crucible.

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