Abigail Williams Villain Essay
A dynamic antagonist, Abigail Williams from Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a great example of how a character can be molded by personal desires and a work’s setting to become a villain. Seemingly innocent, orphaned adolescent Abigail ultimately causes hysteria in the town of Salem from her frivolity and selfishness. The reasoning and origins of Abigail’s malice demonstrate the setting’s influence on the inhabitants of Salem during the 1962 witch trials. Abigail is introduced as Parris’ niece. At the beginning of the play, Arthur Miller provides what might be an explanation to the start of Abigail’s needy nature as she relays the story of how she became orphaned to her friends. Abigail explains that she witnessed her parents being killed
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Abigail’s villainy is significant because it helps the reader become familiarized with the environment of Salem Massachusetts, the Christian religion it thrived off of, and how these combined ultimately caused the witch trials. The people who practiced this intense Christianity had no spiritual method to relinquish guilt for their sins. In turn, this led to the people of Salem having to find their own outlets for their guilt. Along with the stress of guilt, the individuals of Salem have to worry about the constant need to make themselves adequate for the community. Reputation is extremely important, and being associated with anti-christ figures and ideas is completely unacceptable. These stresses combined raise the perfect type of people for Abigail to use to aid her in her plan to rid of Elizabeth. After practicing witch craft with her, Abigail’s friends feel guilty for the sin. Abigail’s failure to feel guilt for this (or any of other sin she commits throughout the play) is what attains her success is causing havoc in Salem. After being found out for their anti-Christian activities in the woods, Abigail begins accusing other random people in the community of witchcraft. The other girls follow suit, shuffling their guilt to someone else to feel self assurance. By accusing other people the girls felt they had retrieved innocence. In a sense Abigail was able to use her friends without them noticing. Through her manipulation shows
Abigail’s villainy is significant because it helps the reader become familiarized with the environment of Salem Massachusetts, the Christian religion it thrived off of, and how these combined ultimately caused the witch trials. The people who practiced this intense Christianity had no spiritual method to relinquish guilt for their sins. In turn, this led to the people of Salem having to find their own outlets for their guilt. Along with the stress of guilt, the individuals of Salem have to worry about the constant need to make themselves adequate for the community. Reputation is extremely important, and being associated with anti-christ figures and ideas is completely unacceptable. These stresses combined raise the perfect type of people for Abigail to use to aid her in her plan to rid of Elizabeth. After practicing witch craft with her, Abigail’s friends feel guilty for the sin. Abigail’s failure to feel guilt for this (or any of other sin she commits throughout the play) is what attains her success is causing havoc in Salem. After being found out for their anti-Christian activities in the woods, Abigail begins accusing other random people in the community of witchcraft. The other girls follow suit, shuffling their guilt to someone else to feel self assurance. By accusing other people the girls felt they had retrieved innocence. In a sense Abigail was able to use her friends without them noticing. Through her manipulation shows