When she's kicked out of the Proctor house and sent back to her uncle's, she's upset, not because she loves John, but because of the loss of her good reputation. She's only concerned with Betty's illness because it means Abigail will get into trouble, and the reason Abigail doesn't immediately say that Betty's suffering from witchcraft is because Abigail doesn't realize that's the best tack to take until later.
She wants to kill Goody Proctor and marry John not because she cares about him, but because it will increase her social status and also gain her access to intimate relations with Proctor's "unexpressed, hidden force" p.
She accuses other people of witchcraft because it benefits her by helping her get out of trouble for dancing and conjuring in the woods; it also makes her seem more powerful especially if those people "confess" and so corroborate her accusations. She purposefully throws a fit to discredit Mary and pressure Mary into recanting her statement to protect herself. When she's at risk of losing her power and authority because of events in Andover, Abigail steals her poor uncle's money even though he had housed and fed her after her parents were killed and runs off, eventually becoming a prostitute.
Maybe you can tell by how hyperbolic my language got at the end there, but I don't think that writing off Abigail an emotionless, manipulative person and ignoring any other facet of her character is a particularly useful or insightful way to analyze her character. In addition to being motivated by opportunism taking advantage of the situation to get an outcome that's best for her, no matter what the cost for others , Abigail also seems to be motivated by a desire to avoid getting into trouble with authority which means she needs to keep her reputation clean.
Unlike with Mary Warren, however, Abigail's wish to avoid trouble is not coupled with a desire to please. She wants to avoid trouble not because she wants to make everyone happy, but because that is the safest thing to do. And in contrast to John Proctor, who struggles through the play with how he's compromised his sense of himself by committing adultery, Abigail doesn't seem to care as much about the principle of having a good reputation—she's more concerned with the practicality of how being considered "soiled" might negatively affect her.
All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam's dead sisters. And that is all" Act 1, p. In Puritan Salem, dancing and conjuring dead people are NOT activities that are good for your reputation, particularly if you're in a precarious social position to begin with orphaned, young, girl, fired servant. Being found guilty of these acts, however, will merit far less punishment than being found guilty of adultery and of trying to kill the wife of the man you committed adultery with.
It could be argued that part of Abigail's desire to avoid trouble at all costs stems from her traumatic past. When The Crucible begins, Abigail is an orphan living with her uncle and cousin, but her parents didn't just die of cholera or some other natural cause. Abigail explicitly states "I saw Indians smash my dear parents' heads on the pillow next to mine" Act 1, p. Perhaps because of this previous upheaval, Abigail doesn't seem to quite trust that her uncle will love her and let her stay there, no matter what:.
Whether or not Abigail's fears of being kicked out of the Parris's house are justified, they're still a motivating factor—she wants to avoid getting into trouble so that she doesn't lose her only home.
As Act 1 continues, Abigail continues to try to defray blame and to play down the "dancing in the woods. For example, take a look at this series of exchanges between Hale, Parris, and Abigail:.
Abigail, what sort of dancing were you doing with her in the forest? Did you call the Devil last night? Step by step, Abigail adds more information as she is pressed to explain herself by Hale and Parris.
The clinching moment for me and the reason I don't think Abigail is so much calculating as she is trying to avoid trouble is this next exchange Abigail has with Reverend Hale:. HALE: Did you feel any strangeness when she called him?
A sudden cold wind, perhaps? A trembling below the ground? Abigail does not immediately seize upon the suggestion of witchcraft that Hale so blatantly puts out with his leading question "Did you feel any strangeness when she called him?
If she really were entirely calculating and opportunistic, there's no way she would have passed up on an opportunity to push the blame onto some external force here, when she's under pressure. Abigail's breaking point happens when Tituba is brought into the room—the only way out for Abigail to maintain her status as a good and proper girl and to avoid getting into even more trouble is to strike first; there is no other option that ends well for her in this scenario.
Distress , used under CC BY 2. A similar argument could be made for why Abigail acts the way she does in the courtroom in Act 3, although now she's changed from being on the defensive saying she never did anything wrong to being on the offensive accusing Mary of lying, threatening Danforth when he doubts her. Abigail has gained an enormous amount of power and authority since her introduction in Act 1, which means that she no longer has to worry as much about her reputation—anything negative that's said about her she can lie about, and her word will be believed as it is with Mary Warren.
Abigail does, however, still try to avoid answering the question of whether or not she committed adultery with John Proctor:. But this could also be her still trying to walk the fine line of avoiding getting into trouble and avoiding telling lies, particularly because this subject is one that she cares about. The other exception to Abigail's "offense is the best defense" stance is at the end of Act 3, when she doesn't do anything to counter Mary Warren's accusations against John Proctor.
From a pragmatic point of view, this still makes sense, because the safest thing to do is to back up Mary's accusations by praising God; if Mary's shown to be a liar and pretending to be afflicted, then the whole house of cards will come tumbling down and Abigail will be in a huge amount of trouble that she won't be able to talk her way out of.
The final piece of Abigail's character puzzle is her relationship with John Proctor. I'll begin the discussion of this motivator through a common discussion question asked about Abigail in The Crucible :.
How did Miller's deviation from the "historical model" affect the play? He was 18 years older and her employer? She wasn't even 18? And he constantly threatens to whip women of a lower social status if they displease him? That's still uncomfortable and upsetting. Arthur Miller also throws in at the end of The Crucible in "Echoes Down The Corridor" the rumor that Abigail eventually becomes a prostitute in Boston, 20 years down the line.
As far as I've been able to discover from researching it, there's zero truth to this—Abigail most likely died in the s, since nothing is ever heard about her again. Thus, Miller very much shaped Abigail's character from an year-old servant girl into a sexually predatory woman and used that to drive conflict in the play.
I know you, John. I know you. She is weeping. I cannot sleep for dreamin'; I cannot dream but I wake and walk about the house as though I'd find you comin' through some door.
She clutches him desperately. But I will cut off my hand before I'll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby. Abigail thinks to win him back and get revenge on his wife at the same time by accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft Act 2 …or at least, so Proctor seems to think. Proctor tells Danforth his interpretation of Abigail's actions and intent, attributing her actions first to lust, then to vengeance:. But it is a whore's vengeance, and you must see it" Act 3, p.
Abigail's real motivation for getting Elizabeth Proctor out of the way, however, is somewhat opaque. Because we never really get to see inside Abigail's head again in the play she never talks in private to anyone onstage after Act 1 , we don't actually know if Proctor's interpretations are correct. Abigail could be accusing Elizabeth because she's convinced herself Elizabeth is a witch, she could be accusing Elizabeth because she loves John and wants to be with him rather than because she hates Elizabeth or because she just wants him for his body , or she could be accusing Elizabeth because she sees marrying John as a way to empower herself and gains status in the restrictive, misogynist society of Salem.
Whatever the reason s behind it, Abigail's plan to get Elizabeth out of the way and win John back backfires. John calls Abigail a whore in court, Abigail's forced to deny this to keep her good standing with the court, and while Abigail doesn't retaliate by calling John a witch perhaps because she still has some "soft feelings" for him , she doesn't make a move to stop his arrest when Mary Warren accuses him.
To answer this question, you can discuss how the two women's relationships with John change over time, their actions to protect or not protect John, and their feelings about John and themselves do they really care about John, or are they just trying to cement their social positions? Use the information in the above analysis about Abigail to bolster your comparison.
Portraits of two women , used under CC BY 2. Over the course of The Crucible , Abigail goes from having basically no power to having the most power of anyone in Salem. She starts out one step higher than Tituba: an orphaned, teenaged, girl who has been fired from her job and is being given a bad reputation around town by her former employer, basically living on her uncle's charity.
By Act 3, Abigail is the head of the "afflicted children," powerful enough that she can threaten Danforth, the Deputy Governor of the Province, and get away with it:. Danforth; I have seen my blood runnin' out! I have been near to murdered every day because I done my duty pointing out the Devil's people—and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, questioned like a—. Think you to be so mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits? Beware of it!
Abigail talks back to Danforth in court, and rather than yelling at her, he weakens in his own conviction. She then follows this up with a not-so-veiled threat that underscores her power—if he crosses Abigail, maybe he'll find himself accused of witchcraft. Even though in Act 4 Parris reveals to Danforth that Abigail is a runaway thief, that is not enough to diminish her power—those who she accused of being witches are still set to hang.
Abigail also changes from having a questionable reputation to unimpeachable reputation and then back to having a tarnished reputation over the course of the play. In Act 1, Parris tells Abigail that her former employer, Elizabeth Proctor, "comes so rarely to church this year for she will not sit so close to something soiled" Act 1, p. By the time Act 2 rolls around, Abigail's reputation has soared to such heights that she's treated like Moses a Biblical prophet.
As Elizabeth Proctor states:. As Proctor and Elizabeth eat dinner they discuss the farm, crops, and domestic issues; however, tension exists in the house. Elizabeth knows about Proctor's affair. She tells Proctor that she forgives him, but a lingering distrust plagues her.
Even though Proctor has remained faithful for the past seven months and is truly sorry for his affair, Elizabeth faces difficulty moving beyond the past. As a result, Proctor feels that Elizabeth continually scrutinizes his actions, which frustrates and angers him. Tension and mutual frustration define their relationship.
Elizabeth is frustrated with Proctor because of his initial infidelity and because she believes he still has feelings for Abigail. She is also frustrated with herself. She wants to forgive Proctor and begin reestablishing their relationship, but she cannot forget what he has done.
Elizabeth tries to demonstrate her faith in Proctor when she asks him to go to Salem even though she does not want him anywhere near Abigail. However, the fact that he spent time alone with Abigail shatters Elizabeth's confidence in him. Elizabeth automatically suspects Proctor of wrongdoing.
Proctor, however, regrets his affair with Abigail. His own guilt, coupled with Elizabeth's subtle recrimination, wearies him. He too would like to move beyond the past and strengthen their marriage, but he does not know how to deal with Elizabeth's feelings or the distance between them.
Proctor questions Abigail about Betty's illness, suspecting that responsibility for "this mischief" probably lies with Abigail. Denying any involvement in witchcraft, Abigail states that she and the girls merely danced in the woods. Abigail asks Proctor if he has come to see her, but Proctor denies it. The conversation reveals that approximately seven months earlier, Abigail and Proctor had an affair while Abigail lived and worked in the Proctor household.
Goody Proctor subsequently dismissed Abigail. Now Abigail accuses Proctor of still being in love with her, even though he will not admit it to her or himself. Abigail is the exact opposite of Proctor's morally upright wife, Elizabeth.
Abigail represents the repressed desires — sexual, material, or other — possessed by all of the Puritans. The difference between Abigail and the other residents of Salem is that she does not suppress her desires.
Abigail goes after what she wants and uses any means to achieve her goal, even manipulation, deception, and seduction. While Abigail lived with the Proctors, Elizabeth was very ill. Abigail's responsibilities expanded and she began to see herself taking Elizabeth's place as Mrs. John Proctor. Not surprisingly, Proctor, lonely and vulnerable, noticed Abigail and became attracted to her.
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