Abigail Williams: Swindler Extraordinaire

Noni Akintunde

Marty Frazier

American Literature

3 November 2016

Abigail Williams: Swindler Extraordinaire

         A crucible, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary, is “a ceramic or metal container in which metals or other substances may be melted or subjected to very high temperatures.” Arthur Miller experienced the pressures of the United States government and felt the need to speak up about the issue of McCarthyism in the country, which was the reckless blaming and imposition of Communism onto politicians during the period of time after World War II without proof or evidence. The Crucible, written as a response to McCarthyism, uses the Salem Witch Trials to show that the irrational accusations that the American people were making about Communists are a direct reflection of the events in Salem in the late 17th century and will lead to chaos and recklessness. Just like Arthur Miller, the characters in The Crucible felt immense heat and pressure in their community and did anything to release it. The results are lies and manipulation. Many characters use this to their advantage and advance themselves, without regard to anyone else around them. The main culprit is Abigail Williams. A talented liar, manipulator and being described by Miller as having “an endless capacity for dissembling” (8), the obvious villain uses these skills to her advantage to keep her name clean and clear in the town of Salem.

        From the opening, the display of manipulation is full-blown. Towards the beginning of Act I, the lies and manipulation begin brewing with Abigail’s story of what happened in the forest. Reverend Parris, Abigail’s uncle, wants to know what happened in the forest and believes that his daughter, Betty, is bewitched. Not wanting her reputation damaged, Abigail lies and says that all they did was dance and that “it were sport” (10). Later on, after Parris leaves, Mary Warren and Mercy Lewis, the people who Abigail was in the forest with, enter the room and Abigail, knowing what truly happened, begins to build her story. The girls reveal that she was indeed in the forest, and she drank a potion attempting to kill Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife. Making sure to cover her tracks, she forces the other girls to lie about what happened in the forest: “And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.” Enlisting fear into the girls, her cunning manipulation tactics are successful as they draw attention away from Abigail and speak not a word to John Proctor when he enters.

        Abigail’s encounter with John Proctor is a full display of her deceitful actions. She asks to have a “soft word” with him, implying that she wants him to show his love for her. Using the stereotypical character traits of tenderness and submissiveness, Abigail attempts to regain John’s love and rekindle the affair. Abigail fails and John Proctor sternly tells her, “Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby” (22). Abigail is desperate to get her love back and brings John’s wife, Elizabeth, into the conversation, calling her “sickly” and claims that she is “blackening” her name. Although Abigail seems angry with Elizabeth for ruining her reputation, in actuality she is filled with jealousy at the fact that Elizabeth is married to John. With Abigail’s goals of keeping her name clear, and the lust of John Proctor in her eyes, this combination reveals her true motives and leads to a wave of fraud and deception.

        In Act II, Abigail enlists Mary Warren with the task of planting a poppet with a needle in it in the Proctor household to frame Elizabeth for witchcraft later on. Mary gives it to her as a gift and Elizabeth accepts it. Later, Ezekiel Cheever, the clerk of the court, informs the Proctors that Abigail has charged Elizabeth as a witch and arrests her. It turns out that while at dinner at the Parris house, Abigail fell to the floor, writhing in pain, and a needle was pulled out of her by Parris. This plan was all conjured up by Abigail when she saw Mary Warren making the poppet in court. Elizabeth is taken into custody and the full gaze of Abigail’s manipulation is shown. John Proctor tells Mary Warren that she will testify in court and tell them where the poppet actually came from. Mary resists, saying, “She’ll kill me for sayin’ that! Abby’ll charge lechery on you, Mr. Proctor!” (76). Putting three people’s lives and reputations at risk, Abigail lashes out on Elizabeth with false accusations, on Mary, placing her life on the line, and on John Proctor with the threat of accusing him of adultery. The span of her lies is wide, but as long as Abigail gets what she wants, it doesn’t matter who she takes down on the way.