This diversion of guilt results in the witchcraft scare, and ultimately the deaths of the characters who are sentenced to hang in acts three and four. She is described as ‘instantly’ pointing at ‘Tituba’, and exclaiming ‘She made me do it!’ This exclamative again showcases Abigail’s utter selfishness, as she uses not only aggressive language, but also her physicality to impose her way of thinking upon others. Abigail refers to Tituba at ‘She’, using the pronoun rather than her name to dehumanize Tituba, objectifying her, thus making it easier for others to also blame her, saving Abigail from any form of accusation. The audience will perhaps feel sympathy for Tituba, who truly is defenceless, and is ultimately and inevitably destined to die in act four by Abigail’s selfish actions here in act one.
In addition, Abigail uses the context within which she appears to influence other characters and alter the direction of the play, thus making her responsible to some extent for the events that arise in acts three and four. She manipulates Danforth, using his preconceptions of children against him to influence his decisions. Throughout the text, Danforth refers to Abigail as ‘Child’, showing that he views her as a child, not as the adult that she is. Abigail encourages this belief, never correcting him as she corrects John Proctor in act one, when he refers to her as a ‘child’. She portrays herself as the obedient, subservient youth, willing to acquiesce to Danforth’s requests, fulfilling all of the criteria implied by Danforth when he addresses her as ‘child’.
This deceptive behaviour convinces Danforth of her innocence and purity, and Miller comments in his narration that at this time, it was ‘never conceived that children were anything but thankful to for being permitted to walk straight, eyes slightly lowered’ and with their ‘mouths shut until bidden to speak’. This illustrates the view of children at this time; they could not possibly lie to an authority figure such as Danforth, much less have cold murderous intent like Abigail Williams. This clever and calculating deception is carried out flawlessly by Abigail, who is a ‘marvellous pretender’ in the words of John Proctor. This contributes to Danforth’s ultimate ruling that Proctor is guilty, and the girls innocent, which results in the death of John Proctor and the other towns people who could have been saved from death had the judgement been reconsidered rather that cemented by Proctors appearance in court with Mary Warren in act three. This makes Abigail responsible to a great extent for the events of act three and four.
In conjunction with this, Abigail’s treatment of other characters could make her responsible for the events of act three and four. Abigail attacks Mary Warren’s fragile confidence during act three, as she knows her immense influence in the court room will overpower Mary’s frail composure, causing her to break her ties with Proctor, which will culminate in the affirmation of the witchcraft convictions. Mary is in a very fragile state, she ‘bursts into sobs’, demonstrating this unstable mindset. Abigail exploits this, creating a theatrical display designed to destabilize Mary. She begins to speak to a ‘yellow bird’ that she claims wishes to ‘tear her face’, and then begins to imitate the words of Mary, joined by all the girls. They repeat whatever Mary says, which is incredibly childish and immature, but also creates tension and mass hysteria, torturing Mary into submission. Perhaps this is symbolic, employed by Miller that once you belong to a group with evil and selfish intent, you cannot break free, that your previous actions cannot be forgotten by the state within which Mary and Miller exist, and that the truth will not be heard over people’s prejudices. Mary is broken by this cruelty, and turns on Proctor, confessing falsely to compacting with the devil.
Abigail’s character itself is incredibly selfish, and it is this selfishness that results in the events of act three and four, rendering Abigail almost entirely responsible for these events. Abigail’s only aim is to free herself from the possibility of being blamed for witchcraft. She completes this aim by accusing others, as seen in act one, and blackmails the other girls into working with her. She threatens them with violence in act one, vowing that if they disobey her she will ‘bring a pointy reckoning’ upon them; it is this aggressive warning guarantees that their compliance and helps her achieve her selfish goals. The use of ‘reckoning’ has biblical references, connected with the final reckoning on judgement day, and so it could be employed by Miller to imply blasphemy on the part of Abigail, as she is threatening that her vengeance would be as mighty as Gods final judgement of humanity. The audience may see this as a hint that Abigail is not the ‘proper girl’ she claims to be, but is in fact a sacrilegious and selfish girl. Had Abigail not threatened the girls, they may not have so loyally defended her, nor accused others of witchcraft, which would have avoided the events of act three and four.
Overall, Abigail is responsible to a great extent for the events of act three and four. Her selfish character and cruel treatment of other characters such as the cruel attack on Mary Warren combined with her aggressive language and manipulation of her position generate the deaths in act four and affect the structure in such a way as to direct the plot to the court scene of act three. Abigail is structurally integral, as her actions act as a catalyst for the play, and she is used by Miller to represent Senator McCarthy who made wild accusations of communism which mirrors the way Abigail makes wild accusations of witchcraft. Abigail’s actions throughout the play conclude in the deaths of many people in the fourth act of the text, and the events that ensue in act three.