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Analysis Of Abigail Williams In The Crucible

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Analysis Of Abigail Williams In The Crucible
In The Crucible, Abigail Williams has antisocial disorder, also known as sociopathy. This condition is caused by factors including early life experience and learned behavior. This reflects Abigail’s situation because it is known that she witnessed her parents being killed right in front of her when she was a child. Then as an orphan, she was raised by her uncle, Reverend Samuel Parris, who was not an honourable man. When these factors are combined with neglect and separation, like her experience with John Proctor, it causes a person to develop this personality disorder. People with this mental condition show no value for right or wrong, and they ignore the rights of others. The main symptoms of this disorder acquired by Abigail are that she lies persistently, has a lack …show more content…
From the beginning of the play, it was known that she had an endless capacity to lie. Abigail danced in the forest and drank blood, then accused her enemies of being witches to cover up for her inappropriate actions. This was a very impulsive decision because she clearly did not think about the end result in that moment. Accusing people of witchery was not taken lightly back then and resulted in the execution of innocent people. Abigail knew the negative consequences of her insane lie, but not once considered admitting to her mistakes and telling the truth. Her lies also put fragile people on edge for doing the right thing. For example, John Proctor convinced Mary Warren to tell the truth in court, but then Abigail accused Mary of sending her evil spirits into her. This put poor Mary Warren on edge and was almost executed because of it, so she gave into the lie and betrayed John Proctor. As a bonus for Abigail, the townspeople of Salem were sympathetic and showed affection towards her because they felt sorry for her. Abigail was gaining power at the expense of innocent people’s lives, which shows how she lies for her personal
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