Reasons Why Abigail Is To Blame In The Crucible (Essay Sample)

The Crucible is a story, written by Arthur Miller, about the Salem Witch Trials that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. During these events, innocent people were hanged and accused  of witchcraft. Abigail Williams, from The Crucible, is responsible for the events that occurred during the Salem Witch Trials as seen through her desire to be John Proctor´s wife and her desire for power and authority. 

Abby´s desire to be John Proctor's wife is what started it all. Abby and John had a secret affair, but John knew it was a terrible thing to do to Elizabeth, his wife, so the next time Abby flirted with him, he rejected her and tried to end their relationship. Abby didn't believe him though, she said, ”Do you tell me, you´ve never looked up at my window?¨ (Miller 149). You can infer that Abby was obsessed with him because she said, ¨I cannot sleep for dreamin´: I cannot dream but I wake and walk about the house as though I'd find you comin´ through my door¨ (Miller 149). This situation resulted in Abby being extremely jealous of Elizabeth ,because John wanted her instead, because of this, Abby took things a little too far. Abby gathered a group of the girls from the village to go do spells out in the woods. Abby even drank blood, it was a part of her spell against Elizabeth. While the girls ran through the woods, naked, and doing their spells Reverend Parris, Abby´s uncle, caught them. He later confronted Abby about it ,but she denied the accusations, she said, ¨We only danced¨(Miller 147). When the rest of the girls found out that Paris saw them, it freaked them out. Betty ,being quite young, freaked out the most, she even acted like she was sick and went inaudible. She knew if she wasn't able to talk, they wouldn´t accuse or question her. What she didn't know is that she is one of the main reasons why everyone was so concerned, and they brought in Reverend Hale, the expert on witchcraft. This also made Abby really mad and scared, so instead of confessing that she drank blood and was a part of this madness, she let Reverend Hale come to town and this led to him accusing people of witchcraft and many people later ,being hanged.  Abby was one of the people that put the blame on other people in the town, Elizabeth being one of them. 

Abby´s desire for power and authority is another reason why this madness was her fault. If she and the girls would have confessed in the beginning, it would have never led to people being accused of witchcraft and hanged. Instead Abby decided to lie and make everyone else lie for her, you can infer this when she said, “Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam´s dead sisters. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word about the other things, and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it¨( Miller 148). The reader can infer when reading that, that Abby longs for power and authority over people. Throughout the story she is very bossy, you can tell by the way she says, ¨Shut it! Now shut it!¨(Miller 148). This is the reason why the girls lied for her, she scared them.

Abigail Williams, from The Crucible, is responsible for the events that occurred during the Salem Witch Trials as seen through her desire to be John Proctor´s wife and her desire for power and authority.