Abigail Williams Character Analysis Essay

Every story has good and bad character. Abigail Williams is the bad character in the story. She was devious and most of the things she did she did them blindly without thinking first. Everything she did, she did it for herself and she never thought about how it’d affect other people. Witchcraft being a terrible sin in a Puritan community she through it around loosely accusing innocent people. There are many reasons why she the worst character in the story but the main reasons are because she is selfish, she is a liar and a manipulator, she also has obsessive habits.

One reason Abigail is the worst character is because she is a liar and a manipulator. An example is that she lied to Reverend Parris about what happened in the woods claiming that her and the girls only ‘danced’. Once she had explained what happened she threatens the girls telling them that if the ever spoke of what happened, “… I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you,” (Miller, 1137). She also lied to the courts claiming witchcraft on Tituba then from that point on she claims witchcraft to get what she wants. She claims witchcraft on Goody Proctor with hopes of getting John Proctor to herself. She does that by stabbing herself with a needle claiming that Goody Proctor did it through a poppet. The courts sent out a warrant for Goody Proctors arrest.

Another reason she is the worst characters is because she has obsessive habits. She had an affair with John Proctor and became obsessed with him. This trait caused her to to do terrible things so that others couldn’t have what she wanted. She claims witchcraft on Goody Proctor saying she had connecting with a poppet and stabbed her with a needle, (Hytner; movie). They sent out a warrant for her arrest taking her away from her husband. She also got obsessed with the power she had over the girls and the court. She threatened or claims on those that did not follow her lead to the point where they feared her. When Mary Warren said that Goody Proctor was not a witch and claimed the poppet as hers, Abigail and the other girls claim witchcraft on her telling the courts that she works with Goody Proctor as a witch, (Hytner; movie). After she claims witchcraft on Tituba she became with using her power over the courts to get what she wants.

The final reason why she is the worst is because she is selfish. She ended lives and ruined reputations because she was unhappy with the condition of her own life. Ruining other peoples lives made her content with hers. She was unhappy about Elizabeth being with the man she loved so she claims witchcraft on her to get her hung and out of the picture, (Hytner; movie). She also claims witchcraft on Goody Hale because Reverend Hale was trying to put an end to her schemes. She tried to get rid of something that was his to keep what her power going, (Hytner; movie).

After she caused all this commotion and ended lives she fled the town never to been seen in Salem ever again. She knew what she did to a once respectable town and she left for them to deal with. She did everything so blindly that she got the only person she loved hanged. She did not portray the Puritan life good at all.

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