The Crucible Abigail Williams Quotes

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In society, it is common for a child to lie in order to get what they want. In the play The Crucible, author Arthur Miller creates an image of a girl who does just that. Abigail Williams, an antagonist of the play, is depicted as a character who is being attacked by witches. Although Arthur Miller portrays Abigail as being a victim, Abigail actually causes the Witch Trials and she intends to profit from them.
Instead of proving her innocence when accusations of witchcraft fall on her, Abigail quickly exculpates herself and accuses others of witchcraft. When the eyes of the Putnams and Reverend Parris land on Abigail, she quickly shakes them off. "Then you were conjuring spirits last night." "Not I sir- Tituba and Ruth" (16). Tituba and Ruth …show more content…
When Judge Danforth believes that Abigail lies about witches, she turns the tables on him. "Child I do not mistrust-' Let you be beware, Mr. Danforth. Think you to be so mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits" (108)? Abigail cannot have people believing that she lies about the trials. So, she has to twist the minds of the people in the court in order to prove her "innocence." She does this by convincing everybody that Mary Warren, who has come to testify against Abigail, is sending her spirit after her. "But God made my face; you cannot want to tear my face. Envy is a deadly sin, Mary" (115). When Abigail senses that the court believes Mary's story, she has to change the minds of the other characters. So, she lies and pretends that witches are sending their "spirits" after her. People now believe that Mary Warren torments Abigail. Because Abigail makes herself out to be a victim of the witches, the court believes this to be true. So, because Abigail manipulates the courts in her favor, she cannot be counted as a victim in The Crucible.
Abigail Williams intends to profit from the Witch Trials and is the reason for the trials, despite the writings of Arthur Miller. Abigail Williams is able to accuse others of witchcraft, she is able to get her own selfish wants and desires, and she is able to manipulate the court in her favor because of the theocratic government that was in place in
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