The Crucible And Abigail Essay, Research Paper
The main characters are Abigail, Mercy, Proctor, Hale, and Elizabeth. Abigail is a girl who accuses many people of witchcraft including Elizabeth. When Elizabeth is accused of witchcraft, she comes up with evidence that Abigail accused her as a trick to get ahead in life. Although Abigail and the girls initiate the tragedy, responsibility lies with the whole Salem community.
Although Abigail was almost an adult, she still basicly acted like a child, to be seen but not to be heard I think. This was the attitude in the entire town for children.
I think Abigail’s most interesting feature is that she can lie through thick and thin I think. At the end of Act 1 Abigail lied by saying “I danced for the Devil, I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand” (Page 49) because she wanted to save herself. The point is Abigail doesn’t care to who she is lying. It could be a judge or even Proctor it really didn’t make difference to her as long as she was able to save herself.
The way some times she lies was quite entertaining. In Act 1 Abigail thought there was a bird on the ceiling and it was doing a good job; she made believe every one else that were there.”But God made my face; you cannot want to tear my face. Envy is a deadly sin, Mary.”(Page 115) The reason Abigail did this again was to make everyone believe that she was a psycho. Abigail was able many times to effect the court she said “I have naught to change, sir. She lies”(Page 103). She was able to have her ways with Danforth and Jugde Hathrone and the court (but many times court asked the question who had the power).
I think Abigail has many split personalities. In act 1; Abigail goes threw many emotional changes and moods. Abigail goes from violent to “peace keeping” when she holds Mercy back. Then Abigail goes to quiet then mad. Then Abigail goes to flirt with Proctor. I found out that Abigail made many threats to people but never went threw with them. Like when Betty was sleeping for a long time, Abigail would threaten her saying “Get up or I’ll beat you Betty”(Page 19)
Even though there are many problems in this story, the main problems are the people being accused of witchcraft. The most talked about event is when Abigail accuses Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft. The only reason that Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft is because she wants to get her out of the way so that she can pursue her husband. Abigail says that Elizabeth s soul came and stabbed her with a pin in the stomach.
In conclusion, in the book, everybody in Salem wanted the whole tragedy to end, but one way or an other, nearly everyone with in the community had a way of making the tragedy continue on longer than it needed to be I believe.
Works Cited
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible (New York: Penguin Books, 1976)