Kevin McAdam
AP English 11/ Mr. George
1/4/10
The Crucible Essay
Abigail the Ultimate Villain

The only true witch in The Crucible was the evil power of public perception. In Salem, one could be crowned a leader as fast as they could be put to death based on how the eyes of society saw that person. This fact about Salem is no truer than with the case of Abigail Williams. Her fiendish schemes changed society’s opinion of her and placed her in a position of supreme authority. Neither Abigail’s attitude nor her moral process fluctuated prior to her superiority or after her fall; public perception lifted her to such immortality.

Abigail’s actions before her rise to supremacy display the fact that the people of Salem were incorrect in changing their opinion of her and that she never should have been able to be in power over the town. Abigail’s past actions would not merit being placed in such an influential position, especially when those events include drinking blood and threatening to kill her own friends: “Abigail: Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the terrible 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” (Miller 20). Abigail even showed her poor character by insulting Goody Proctor to cover up her even worse act of adultery with John Proctor: “Abigail: She hates me, uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave. It’s a bitter woman, a lying, cold, sniveling woman, and I will not work for such a woman!” (12). Society would loathe her for her wrong-doings instead of worship her. The reader is shocked and appalled that someone like Abigail, with such a corrupt and misguided past, could reach such heights. Her wild and eccentric personality got her into hot water with the town, but she also used it effectively to get herself out of trouble and to change people’s minds about her. Abigail’s character and the troubling acts she had committed leading up to her ascension were blatant warning signs of the terrible developments that would come to pass later in the novel. When the people of Salem handed power over to Abigail Williams, it was basically the same as giving a loaded gun to a young child.

Salem’s perception of Abigail changed and put her atop society because she used her skills of deception and the townspeople’s overwhelming obsession with finding witches to influence their beliefs about her. Throughout the novel, Abigail performed no action to merit any rise in society. Abigail’s rise was mainly an illusion, specifically when it came to her active step in rising. Abigail mainly road on the coattails of other characters to get to the top and let others take the punishment while she went free. For example, when Abigail proclaimed that she was a witch, the idea was not hers in the first place. She had only followed Tituba after realizing that they would not punish her. Once she had professed her witchcraft, she decided to falsely name off other individuals to back her case: “Abigail: I danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss his hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (48). From then on Abigail could coast on the fact that the entire town would listen to anything she said. She was clever enough to realize the advantages of being a witch, in that everyone followed her command and did not focus on who she really was. In Abigail’s case, she was a young, inexperienced, and unlawful girl. Back in those days, no girl like Abigail would ever be given as much control as Abigail. However, society’s view towards her changed and all they saw was the witch Abigail, not the girl. Because the people of Salem lost focus on what was true and allowed their perception to change, they allowed Abigail to wreak havoc in the town when it could have been avoided. After Abigail and the townspeople had continuously made outlandish accusations of anyone who crossed them the wrong way, people started to consider if Abigail’s story was true. Abigail’s constant accusations were like the child shooting the gun at the people who gave the gun and the people started to regret their decision.

The relentless accusations that were made had eventually overwhelmed the community even more than the witch-hunt had. Even Reverend Hale, the expert of witchcraft, started to doubt the legitimacy of the accusations: “Hale: Excellency, it is a natural lie to tell; I beg you, stop now before another is condemned! I may shut my conscience to it no more- private vengeance is working through this testimony!” (114). Abigail was fast-acting and hard-hitting as she was removed from her throne of power just as quick as it was given to her. Abigail’s tremendous fall from society’s good graces is not surprising in the novel because she had not changed her own character from start to finish. She had committed several bad deeds before she came into power, she completed even more bad deeds while she had power, and so it was not surprising that she continued the same disgraceful lifestyle after her reign of Salem. As the doubts of Abigail’s truthfulness started to roll in, it was as if the child had finally run out of bullets and was left to face those that were left standing. The townspeople had brought the entire crisis on all by themselves because they had become overpowered by the feeling that witches were among them. Abigail’s reign over Salem was exciting while it lasted, but she could only deceive everyone for so long.

Abigail’s immoral character and desire to do whatever necessary to stay atop society were both constant throughout the story. The townspeople would see Abigail in this situation as having a large rise and fall in society, when, in fact, Abigail stayed the same the entire time. Abigail had always been a static character in The Crucible, but there was a dynamic change in society’s perception of her character that allowed her to rise to such heights and fall to such depths in such a short period of time.