How Is Abigail Manipulative In The Crucible

Abigail Williams is one of the major characters; she is easily established and is clearly the villain of the play. Abigail is a good liar, she can be very manipulative and overall she is a very vindictive character. Abigail is an orphan and an unmarried girl; therefore she occupies a low rung on the Puritan Salem social ladder (the only people below her are the slaves like Tituba). In the play John Proctor has an affair with Abigail Williams; however, by terminating their affair he unexpectedly stimulates her spiteful jealousy.

It is for this reason that Abigail begins to manipulate the truth and abuse her power.

By aligning herself, in the eyes of others, with God’s will, she gains power over the Salem society and her word becomes virtually indisputable. Abigail’s motivations never seemed more complex then simple jealousy and a desire to take revenge on Elizabeth Proctor (John Proctor’s wife), who fired Abigail as a maid from their home after she discovered that Abigail and her husband (John) were having an affair.

Abigail is driven by sexual longing and desire for power. Gaining power meant that Abigail could now express withdrawn feelings and act on long-held grudges.

Abigail took full advantage of the situation which was occurring in Salem by accusing Elizabeth Proctor of witch craft; hoping to have her sent to jail or even killed. Abigail was conscious of the fact that this lie would result in pure success, having made prior preparation for this charade.

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Such explicit evidence could not be doubted nor questioned so Abigail took this opportunity to seek revenge on Elizabeth; the woman whom she despised for being the wife of her ex-lover John Proctor, and since Elizabeth had discharged Abigail from their home after the affair was exposed, Abigail was extremely motivated to get vengeance.

Why Did Elizabeth Proctor Fire Abigail?

Moreover, at the end of Act 3, Mary Warren is defeated by Abigail and has no choice but to side with her once more. Abigail succeeds in defeating Mary Warren by again, lying and manipulating the truth. Mary stands before the court to expose the truth about how Abigail and the other girls were not in compact with the devil and that they were all lying about their convention with the devil as well. Mary also attempts to reveal that everything the girls had done and were doing was entirely pretence. However, it is not long before Abigail begins to twist and manipulate the truth.

Abigail fallaciously claims that she can see Mary with the devil and that she could also feel a strong wind. Abigail pretends to feel threatened by both Mary and the devil before the court. At first Mary pleads with Abigail and asks her to put a stop to her acting; Abigail: (looking about in the air, clasping her arms about her as though cold) “I- I know not. A wind, a cold wind, has come. ” (Her eyes fall on Mary Warren) Mary: (Terrified, pleading) “Abby! ” Abigail: (Shivering visibly) “It is a wind, a wind! ” Mary: Abby, don’t do that!

However when she realises that her efforts are pointless and she would be much better off lying along with the girls, she points the finger at John Proctor and tells Judge Danforth that John is in touch with the devil and that John had threatened to kill her if she did not attend court to give a testimony. Mary: (hysterically pointing at Proctor fearful of him) “My name he wants my name. ‘I’ll murder you’ he says ‘if my wife hangs’! we must go and overthrow the court’, he says! ” Proctor: (turning, appealing to Hale): “Mr Hale! ”

Mary: (her sobs beginning) “He wake me every night, his eyes were like coals and his fingers claw my neck, and I sign, I sign… ” Mary: “… (Sobbing, she rushes to Abigail) Abby, Abby, I’ll never hurt you more! ” Furthermore, even though Abigail is unsuccessful in this attempt she still tries to abuse her power and use it to her full potential by lying to Judge Danforth that a woman, whom she believes to be Reverend Hale’s wife, comes to her every night threatening to kill her. However, Danforth rejects this accusation made by Abigail as he claims that it is impossible for a minister’s wife to be in compact with the devil.

The reasons as to why Abigail may have abused and manipulated her power throughout the play might have been the following: To take revenge on Elizabeth Proctor, to be recognized by the Salem society and more importantly to be recognized and acknowledged my John Proctor. A further character in the play who also abused her power was Tituba. Tituba was Reverend Parris’s West-Indian slave originally from Barbados. Tituba initially agreed to perform voodoo at Abigail’s request and lead the other girls to dance around a fire in the forest, at the beginning of the play.

Tituba, whose status is lower than that of anyone else in the play by virtue of the fact that she is black, manages to deflect blame of herself by confessing apologetically and then condemning others who she claimed were also in touch with the devil. Not only did Tituba abuse her power but she succeeded in manipulating the situation by lying to Parris about her session with the devil. Tituba manages to rise even as a black slave who was substandard when she obtains a voice; this voice gives her power as well as control over the situation.