How would you describe Abigail Williams? Perhaps a vindictive, vicious, villain?
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is often viewed as the convict, Under Miller’s portrayal, Abigail looks like a convict who pretends to be victimized, this allows her to gain trust from the authority, which leads to the deaths of the innocents.
ABIGAIL. I have been hurt, Mr. Danforth; I have seen my blood runnin’ out!
DANFORTH. Child, I do not mistrust you. (Miller, 100)
From this quote, we can clearly feel that Abigail is the victim. However, to determine if someone is a convict or a victim, we have to shift perspective and find the origin of the problem – Why did Abigail conduct the witchcraft? If we rewind to Act one, John Proctor and Abigail had an affair, Abigail was madly in love, yet John wanted to remain his integrity and reputation, in which he chose Elizabeth over Abigail.
ABIGAIL. you loved me then and you do now!
PROCTOR. Abby, that’s a wild thing to say- (Miller, 21)
It is crystal clear why Abigail conducted the Witchcraft, it was her loneliness, her desire for John Proctor’s love, and yet John Proctor chose Elizabeth over her.
Besides John Proctor, it was the corrupted court that forced Abigail to start the hysterical accusations. Judge Danforth only values his reputation, he values how many people confessed, which encouraged Abigail to remain accusing. In Addition, although Hale is a good-hearted man, he promoted the idea of “If you accuse, you live” among the Salem town, which motivated Abigail to accuse others in order to save her own life. Corrupted society is the origin of corrupted people. “When the Devil comes to you does he ever come – with another person? Perhaps another person in the village? Someone you know.” (Miller, 43)
In The Crucible, Abigail is a convict in the Salem witch trial, yet she is a victim of this corrupted society. What determines whether she is guilty or not is our perspectives, neither side can be right, either side can be right, too.
Abigail Williams reminds me of the case of O.J Simpson, he was accused of murder, all the evidence against him were hard as a rock, however, several evidence point out the Officials might have fabricated the evidence, this changed the whole event, the court result shows O.J. Simpson was not guilty. Whether if he is guilty or not is still a mystery, it is all about our perspectives. He could be the convict of murder, he could also be a victim of the corrupted authority.
Citation:
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts. New York: Penguin Books, 2003. Print.
Wbur. “25 Years On, The Lasting Cultural Impact Of The O.J. Simpson Trial.” WBUR, WBUR, 12 June 2019, https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/06/12/oj-simpson-trial-murder-nicole-simpson-ron-goldman.
Hi Anderson,
The idea of contrasting victim and convict is really about perspectives. From the perspective of the villagers in Salem, Abigail may be a victim. From a third-person view, it is clear that she is a convict because we look over the whole play, analyze the plots, and see through the process of how she manipulates others. However, from my perspective, I think Abigail is a victim in love because Proctor is the one who supposes not to have other relationships, yet he still flirted with her but threw her away once he thought of his reputation and his wife. From your perspective, how do you view Abigail as a role in the Crucible?
Hi Anderson,
I found it interesting when you said that the cause of the witch trials was caused by Abigail’s desire for John Proctor’s love because it brings up the idea that maybe Abigail wasn’t a bad person because all she wanted was John Proctor, not to hurt people. Her motivation was selfish, but as humans, we all desire for something and if we want something, then of course we’ll try our best to get it. We are all the protagonists in our own stories. In her eyes, she did nothing wrong except go after John Proctor. I think that although her actions brought on negative consequences, her motivations were “pure” (to chase after love). It doesn’t excuse what she has done because she should have seen the destruction that she brought onto the community and stopped, but it humanizes her in the sense that she did not become a convict baselessly and because she wanted those people to die. Instead, she was just trying to get John Proctor. I agree with what Heloise says about how Abigail is also the victim of John Proctor’s games because their affair is what starts her longing for him. He didn’t even have the decency to end it fairly and properly the first time, giving her hope that there was still something there. I think the blame of the witch trials cannot lie entirely on the hands of Abigail as it was John Proctor’s negligence towards her feelings that lead to her trying to get him back (and stopping at nothing in order to get it, even if it meant people had to hang). Do you think John Proctor is partly responsible or is Abigail at fault for trying to get rid of Elizabeth in the first place? Was it Proctor’s actions and her desire for him that caused her to be numb to all those she killed or she did she really not care?
I also think that you made an interesting connection to a corrupted society as in the case of OJ Simpson, but I don’t think Abigail was the victim of a corrupt society. The people that she accused and died because of her were all victims of a corrupt society as Danforth and the judges gave them a rigid dichotomy between life and death. The judges did not listen to the evidence because they were convinced that they were righteous and fair. People fell victim to her false accusations and she fell victim to Proctor’s empty promises, but Proctor is not the society. The corrupt society was actually the one the gave her the power and ability to become a convict in the first place. This reminds me of how murderers/serial killers usually have some childhood trauma from their loved ones that leads them to commit the horrible acts that they do. For example, the Menendez brothers killed their parents out of reports that their dads sexually abused them throughout their lives. Do you think these people convicts or victims? They suffered through mistreatment at the hands of someone they trusted, but then in return, their trauma lead them to bring harm onto others.
I enjoyed reading your post and seeing your perspective of how Abigail is also a victim. It brings up a lot of questions about whether people are fundamentally evil or influenced by their experiences to be evil.