Abigail is also a character that is able to use threats with what she says. “I’ll come at you by the black of night…” She then goes on to say that she will use a ‘pointy reckoning’ if she had to, to keep the group of girls quiet which infers that Abigail, as a character, is not afraid to use violence to get her own way.
Again in Act 3, Abigail uses her manipulation techniques to gain power over Judge Danforth, who himself is also a powerful character. She tells Danforth, “If I have to answer that, I will leave and not come back again.” This illustrates that Abigail could be losing control of the situation but then regains her power by, again, turning the situation around so it seems she has not done anything wrong in the first place and that someone else has lead her to what has happened.
Throughout the play, Abigail abuses the fact she has slept with John Proctor and uses it to her advantage as she still loves him.
In Act 2, Mary Warren warns John, “Abby’ll charge lechery on you, Mr Proctor.” This shows us that she would do anything to save herself, even if that meant hurting the people she loved, just as long as she was safe.
Abigail’s status in society changes due to everything that has happened. As she tells more lies, she goes from being a slave to becoming a local hero and a celebrity. This is Abigail’s power. Events get out of hand when innocent people begin to die. Their deaths can be seen as murder, which would portray Abigail to be a killer.
An important scene for Abigail is in Act 3, where she appears to see a yellow bird in order to escape Hale’s accusations, who has always seen Abigail as false.
“Why-? (She gulps.) Why do you come, yellow bird?” Automatically, Danforth believes her deception and turns against Mary Warren. John Proctor knows Abigail is lying and so tries to show this to Danforth with Hale’s help, but is silenced straight away. Towards the end of the scene, Abigail has managed to turn the situation around so that Mary Warren turns against John and, in doing so, returns to Abigail and the girls to save herself from an almost certain death. By writing this scene, I believe Miller was showing off Abigail’s power of manipulation at its best.
By comparison, Danforth does not manipulate other characters nearly as much as Abigail but it is still apparent that it happens. The main scene which includes Danforth manipulating others is in Act 3 where he interrogates Elizabeth about her husband, John Proctor, and Abigail, “(reaches out and holds her [Elizabeth’s] face, then) Look at me! To your knowledge, had John Proctor ever committed the crime of lechery? (In a crisis of indecision she can not speak.) Answer my question! Is your husband a lecher!” Danforth asks this question repeatedly until he gets the answer he wants to hear. Even if Danforth had realized Abigail was deceiving him and everyone else, he would have carried on with heir lies to protect his reputation as one of the best judges in America because eh would not have wanted his peers to know he was fooled by a group of slave girls who appear to be at the bottom of society.
Another example of Danforth’s power and manipulation is, again, in Act 3 when he talks to John Proctor about stopping his attempt of overthrowing the court proceedings. “We have thought it too convenient to be credited. However, if I should tell you know that I will let her be kept another month; and if she begin to show her natural signs, you shall have her living yet another year until she is delivered- what say you to that? (John is struck silent.) Come now. You say your only purpose is to save your wife. Good, then, she is saved at least this year, and a year is long. What say you sir? It is done now. (In conflict, Proctor glances at Francis and Giles.) Will you drop this charge?” This shows the audience that Danforth is a very persuasive character and that he has power over a majority of the other characters including Proctor as he has made him re- think what he had planned to do, which was to prove everyone’s innocence.
Danforth’s status does not change during the play as he is a judge but it can be argued that he is a judge that does not listen to sense and evidence, and will believe anything.
The final character I am going to focus this essay on is Mary Warren. Mary’s character does not manipulate others but is manipulated herself. In comparison to Abigail, Mary can be seen as weak and fragile. She is mainly manipulated by Abigail throughout the play. “Abigail: (Shivering visibly.) It is a wind, a wind! Mary Warren: Abby, don’t do that!” In my opinion, Arthur Miller created such a character so the audience can easily view the lengths Abigail goes to, to influence and control a situation that could end up unfavourably for her. This illustrates how selfish she is as a person and because of Mary Warren, it helps us to understand the character of Abigail.
Danforth, who always seems to believe Abigail, turns against Mary Warren, who was a part of the group of girls accusing people in the public of using witchcraft, and asks Mary Warren about what she is supposedly doing to Abigail, “Danforth: (Himself engaged and entered by Abigail.) Mary Warren, do you witch her? I say to you, do you send your spirit out?” This then eventually causes John Proctor to prove to Danforth that Abigail can not be trusted by telling everyone what has happened between him and Abigail.
Mary, as a character, is not strong enough to stand up to a character like Abigail for a fear of what could happen to her. This shows us that the point of Mary’s character is to show the audience Abigail’s evil qualities and possibly what Abigail is capable of to protect herself.
In conclusion, Abigail had the ability to push around anybody, something she would not have been able to do if the trials for witchcraft had not taken place.
Abigail is possibly the most manipulative character in modern literature. By creating Abigail, I believe that Arthur Miller was trying to capture the events of what was happening within his own society at the time.
From writing this essay, I have learned that this play is a study of power and manipulation as there is a vast amount of it within just one piece of literature. By writing ‘The Crucible’, Arthur Miller has shown his readers that if one person is given too much power, no good would possibly come from it.