Also Abigail is vindictive and revengeful, immediately after the events above Abigail and John Proctor engage in a conversation about their affair, but what Abigail does not realise was that her cousin who she thought was asleep could hear every word that Abigail and John were saying. Abigail expresses loving John with all her heart, but John said to Abigail “I will chop off my hand before reaching for you again”.
Unhappy with his rejection she vowed to herself that she would seek revenge even if it were upon his wife Elizabeth. Elizabeth had spread the word around town of Abigail flirtations and sinful behaviour with John. John and Elizabeth had two boys and were regular attendees at the Church administered by Abigail’s uncle the family are well respected and known within the community. Elizabeth also declares that she will not attend the church reasoning that she would not sit near to anything so soiled. This would have caused great controversy and gossip as in the sixteenth century Salem was a very religious and pious community. Also Abigail is living with her uncle who is the Reverent of the church that would also cause a great animosity between Abigail and Reverent Parris. Reverent Parris is one of the many people who believe that she is a witch, but turns a blind eye to a lot of Abigail’s behaviour because of his position in the town and he only begins to seriously question her when his daughter Betty is lying lifeless on her bed. Parris ask Abigail if she did conjure spirits in the forest. Abigail replies firmly “No”. This is the first and only time that Abigail tells the truth but yet Parris does not believe her.
In act two, people begin to believe that Abigail did not conjure spirits and practice witchcraft in the woods. In this time period everybody believed that witches kept dolls and when Elizabeth was arrested in her own home they found a doll with a knitting needle through the stomach of the doll which was considered as mechanism for voodoo ritual. Abigail had stabbed herself with a knitting needle and proclaimed that it was Elizabeth that had done it. Abigail was very convincing and the town’s people were becoming suspicious of Elizabeth Proctor being a witch. Although in act two you do not see Abigail at all, however the dramatic effect that she brings to the play is extremely powerful. As a result of these events Elizabeth Proctor is accused of witchcraft, but what she does not realise is that it was Abigail who first instigated the accusations and then manipulated others to believe this and cause hysteria throughout the town. This is how Abigail followed through her pledge to gain revenge on John Proctor by targeting his wife, it was her intention and hope that Elizabeth would be found guilty of witchcraft and punished for this crime. This showed how extreme and deranged Abigail’s actions became to try and seek revenge upon John. She believed that with Elizabeth out of the way that she could make John love her again. In this period being accused of witchcraft the sentence carried out was to be put to death. I feel that this is a key part in the play as it shows the power of Abigail’s influence and the dramatic effect that she brings even when she is not on stage. In act two, Reverent Hale appears; he is on good terms with the Proctors and reputed to be an expert in witchcraft. He is called to Salem to examine Betty, Parris daughter; Hale is a devoted Christian and hates witchcraft. His presence causes further hysteria, John Proctor tries to get him to over turn the decision that the court made to arrest Elizabeth Proctor on suspicion of witchcraft, however Hale says “God help me, I can not judge her guilty or innocent – I know not.” Elizabeth was arrested on the grounds that a doll or ‘poppet’ as it is referred was discovered in her home. However later he regrets his actions and later tried to save the accused. After these events John fears that Abigail will show up at his home and cause further problems however Abigail never turns up. This I feel contributes to the dramatic affect to the play as it keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.
I believe that act two is a one of the most dramatic scenes of the play, despite the fact that Abigail she does not appear in this scene.
Act 3 is situated in a courtroom where next door the trail of Elizabeth Proctor is taking place. At the beginning of the act John is thrown of the courtroom because of the disturbance he made when they said that Goody Proctor Had pleaded guilty. The judge from the court room then comes into the scene by telling some guards to escort Proctor out of the building, as John fought his way out of the grip of the guards he said that his wife was not a wife at all.
Later in act three, Abigail and the girls from the forest show up at the court case of Elizabeth Proctor. The girls all do exactly as Abigail dictates, they appear to be brainwashed and they all say exactly the same words in unison. Mary Warren is there with John supporting his attempt to free his wife, Mary works for the Proctors and she was also the person who knitted the poppet. The whole build up of act two was because of the poppet that Mary Warren had knitted. The problem was that Abigail saw Mary knit the poppet and in the court room Abigail and the other girls exclaim that Mary is also a witch, the judges seem to believe their accusations. Abigail holds great weight in the courtroom as she has many witnesses behind her. Also her uncle, Reverend Paris defends her name in the interest of his own self preservation and supports her accusations his words carry great weight in the courtroom.
The key part in act three was when the trail began and they said that Mary Warren was a witch. As they were questioning Abigail she began to act crazy by saying she was cold then all the girls began to feel cold and they said it was Mary or Titbu the coloured slave that was committing witchcraft in order to stop them from telling the truth. This I feel brings an enormous amount of dramatic effect to the play. It also shows Abigail’s determination of self-preservation she’s not bothered who gets hurt as long as it is not her. After this incident Abigail and the girls pretend to see a yellow bird in the courtroom the colour yellow is very important as the colour yellow means cowardice the importance of the meaning of coward is that Abigail was trying to trick the judge to believe that Mary Warren was using witchcraft to control what Abigail and the girls say also the way that Abigail and the girls speak give a lot of dramatic effect.
In act three Goody Proctor is found guilty of witchcraft but also it is discovered that she is pregnant witch would gives her at least nine months to live before she would be executed. This brings even more of a dramatic twist to the play, as Goody would have more time to prove her innocence.
In summary of act three there is a lot of tension built up by Goody Proctor been found guilty. And the dramatic effect brought to the play by Abigail being selfish and very misleading.
Act four is situated in a jail cell were John is tied up after admitting to being connected to the devil and possessed with evil spirits. In this act you hear no news of Abigail and what accusations she made that ended up taking peoples lives.
Although Abigail is not mentioned in act four her presence is still there, because of the consequence of her actions throughout the play.
John says I would rather die than my name live in shame with my name on the church door. At the end of the act John Proctor was hung.
In conclusion the dramatic effect that Abigail Williams brings is extremely important to give ‘The Crucible’ the ongoing tension that is created. The key parts of the play I feel are in act one were John and Abigail were having a conversation in Parris’s house him being the Reverend and them having committed a sin. Also in act three where Abigail and the girls were supposed to be being controlled through witchcraft by Mary Warren. I feel these scenes in the play give a great amount of dramatic effect directly instigated by the character of Abigail Williams.
The language of the play is almost biblical and Abigail is almost like a biblical Jezebel character, driven by sexual desire and her lust for power. Her language and the language of the whole play are plain, simple and concise yet quite figurative in places although her language is simple Miller often has her rambling and repeating phrases as on page 23 “And you must. You are no wintry man. I know you, John. I know you. 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.” This passage also shows emotion but from other parts of the play we can see that Abigail is far from emotional but it conveys to us the deceitfulness in her character. Also by repeating the phrases it gives us the idea that Abigail is not so well educated and has to think what she is about to say. Her reference about the way John Proctor “sweated like a stallion” is both a simile and yet crude and simple leaving a definite image in the minds of the audience.
