The Crucible. The whirlwind events of the Salem witch trials stem from the community's bottled up bitterness over political, financial, and personal issues

Abigail's vindictive and manipulative nature is a significant catalyst to the events and results of the witch hunt. Yet, this character's fate remains indefinite and is a lingering loose end to Miller's tragedy. Abigail is most often considered the play's villain and the lack of just punishment for her leaves the audience dissatisfied. Abigail initiates a sly game of finger pointing that leads to ample victims executed. She also greedily finds satisfaction in this game as it gives her a new kind of power that her reputation in the community did not previously grant. Abigail finds control over the "keys of the kingdom" and handles it with reckless, selfish hands. It is thus unnerving to the audience that she runs away from Salem, fleeing retribution and leaving others to sort out the mayhem she had caused. In the end of The Crucible, the Good met with unjust fate, while the Evil endured with no apparent punishment.

Miller's tactic is clearly far from Shakespearean. The tragedy leaves the villain's fate unaddressed, and in fact, Abigail's name is mentioned only once in the final act. Her lack of contribution to the conclusion of the play suggests that Miller only used her as a tool to mould his tragedy. Abigail is used only intermittently to manipulate the play and is eventually "thrown out", absent from the final form of the piece. Her role in shaping Miller's work mirrors her character in the play. Abigail's status as an orphan and her scandal with the Proctors make her a slight outcast in the community, just as her character did not seem to truly belong in the play. Abigail is rebuffed by John Proctor when he no longer finds her desirable, just as Miller disregards her in the conclusion of the play because he has no further need of her. Abigail Williams is perhaps then not truly a scheming villain, but simply a pathetic, bratty child seeking attention. Despite her influence in the witch hunt, Abigail ultimately remains neglected of love in Salem, of attention in the conclusion of the play, and of sympathy from the audience.