Compare and contrast Elizabeth Proctor with Abigail Williams. Does the former have any redeeming features? Does the latter have any flaws?

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Compare and contrast Elizabeth Proctor with Abigail Williams. Does the former have any redeeming features? Does the latter have any flaws?

Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor, the leading female characters in ‘The Crucible’. Both show determination in order to get what they want. Elizabeth’s character portrays a wife in distress after she finds out about her husband’s affair, yet she still has courage throughout the play. She shows determination when she is in need of strength to keep her going, after Abigail accused her of witchcraft. Elizabeth is often cold and not open towards people yet she changes as the novel progresses.

        

Abigail, a cunning, malicious, immoral, deceitful, conniving and vengeful girl that is out for revenge who has many flaws, feels she has superiority over many of the other characters even though she is only a young girl. Abigail’s chief characteristic is that she is a liar; we discover this right at the beginning of the play, in this stage direction:

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        An endless capacity for dissembling.

 Abigail steals £31 from Hale and accuses her friends and the townspeople of witchcraft; her motivations for turning against her friends are mainly because of Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail had an affair with Elizabeth’s husband, which made Elizabeth fire Abigail. Abigail is in love with John and while talking to him she says,

“I wake and walk about the house as though I'd find you comin' through some door” (Act I).

 This illustrates her love towards John and that she will never forget their affair and how Elizabeth broke them up. Abigail ...

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