Abigail Williams
Neel Parikh
English11 7/8
Victorero-Mongone
10th, May 2013
Psychological Evaluation of Abigail Williams
When people hear the term psychological disorder, they usually think of someone who might have gone crazy or are on the verge of losing their mind. That is not always true however as, some of those diseases are pretty severe and whereas others that are not too harsh. A prime example of this would be the movie A Beautiful Mind where John Nash was having false imaginations of things including agents trying to kill this other person and amongst many other things. But none of those imaginations were true, he was just imagining them. Later it is revealed that Nash suffers from Schizophrenia. “Schizophrenia is a collection of related psychiatric disorders of unknown etiology that follow a specific pattern of behavior” (Basile 747). This was also seen in the play The Crucible. In this specific play Abigail Williams, one of the main characters, was accusing many people in Salem, Massachusetts of performing witchcraft. Most of her accusations were false; she accused most of the people for solely personal benefit and she created the idea of Mass Hysteria by just imagining things that were not even there. She also involved other girls in the town to follow her ideas and kept spreading it all the way through the town. Abigail Williams displayed some of the symptoms that a schizophrenic person does such as saying statements that do not make sense, lying for almost everything and every time and imagining things that are not there. Throughout the play it is shown that Abby is suffering from schizophrenia which is forcing her to lie, imagine things and say things that make no type of sense. The play The Crucible is a much known play written by Arthur Miller. In the play Arthur Miller talks about the famous Salem witchtrails. “In 1692 nineteen men and women and two dogs were convicted and hanged for witchcraft in a small village in eastern Massachusetts” (Miller vii). In the
English11 7/8
Victorero-Mongone
10th, May 2013
Psychological Evaluation of Abigail Williams
When people hear the term psychological disorder, they usually think of someone who might have gone crazy or are on the verge of losing their mind. That is not always true however as, some of those diseases are pretty severe and whereas others that are not too harsh. A prime example of this would be the movie A Beautiful Mind where John Nash was having false imaginations of things including agents trying to kill this other person and amongst many other things. But none of those imaginations were true, he was just imagining them. Later it is revealed that Nash suffers from Schizophrenia. “Schizophrenia is a collection of related psychiatric disorders of unknown etiology that follow a specific pattern of behavior” (Basile 747). This was also seen in the play The Crucible. In this specific play Abigail Williams, one of the main characters, was accusing many people in Salem, Massachusetts of performing witchcraft. Most of her accusations were false; she accused most of the people for solely personal benefit and she created the idea of Mass Hysteria by just imagining things that were not even there. She also involved other girls in the town to follow her ideas and kept spreading it all the way through the town. Abigail Williams displayed some of the symptoms that a schizophrenic person does such as saying statements that do not make sense, lying for almost everything and every time and imagining things that are not there. Throughout the play it is shown that Abby is suffering from schizophrenia which is forcing her to lie, imagine things and say things that make no type of sense. The play The Crucible is a much known play written by Arthur Miller. In the play Arthur Miller talks about the famous Salem witchtrails. “In 1692 nineteen men and women and two dogs were convicted and hanged for witchcraft in a small village in eastern Massachusetts” (Miller vii). In the
Cited: Abbotson, Susan C.W. "Salem Witch Trials in the Works of Arthur Miller." Arthur Miller: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York, NY: N.P., 2007. N. Bloom 's Literary Reference Online. Web. 12 Apr. 2013. <http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin=CCAM0398&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 12, 2013)>. Basile, Maria, PhD. "Schizophrenia." The Gale Encyclopedia Of Neurological Disorders. Vol. 2-M-Z. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2005. 747-51. Print. Bellenir, Karen. "Schizophrenia." Mental Health Information for Teens. First ed. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 2001. 276-81. Print. Martin, Robert A. "Arthur Miller 's The Crucible: Background and Sources." Modern Drama Volume 20. Vol. 20. New York: N.P., 1977. N. pag. Bloom 's Literary Reference Online. Web. 12 Apr. 2013. <http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin=BGCRU23&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 12, 2013)>. Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts. New York, NY: Penguin, 2003. Print.