The Crucible

        Arthur Miller writes, “The witch-hunt was a perverse manifestation of the panic which

set in among all classes when the balance began to turn toward greater individual freedom”

(miller, 1261).The witchcraft accusations were powered by various dark motives held within

citizens of Salem.  During the accusations, the power many people gained were, in a way, caused

by these motives. One of the people who was greatly motivated and affected by the need for

power in The Crucible was Abigail Williams. Abigail Williams has a certain set of motives that

cause her to act in such a way that gains her power in the town of Salem.

Abigail’s self-centered personality motivates her to survive the society of Salem. To

Abigail, staying alive is the most important thing regardless of the affects. “Abby, we’ve got to

tell. Witchery’s a hangin’ error, a hangin’ like they done in Boston two year ago! We must tell

the truth, Abby! You’ll only be whipped for dancin’, and the other things! Abigail: Oh, we’ll be

whipped!” (Miller, 1268). Miller suggests that Abigail is willing to conceal any bad deed to stay

alive and to keep her name good in the village.

Keeping her name was above all the most important thing to her and convincing other

people her name was clean was another. Abigail says, “My name is good in the village! I will not

have it said my name is soiled! Goody Proctor is a gossiping Liar!” (Miller, 1264). Abigail was

motivated for self preservation constantly throughout the play, and was willing to go through

such leaps and bounds to basically stay alive.

Abigail takes these motivations to such an extent that actually lead her to accuse her

friends who she cares about. Abigail says to Tituba, “Don’t lie! She comes to me while I sleep:

she’s always making me dream corruptions! - Sometimes I wake and find myself standing in the

open doorway and not a stitch on my body! I always hear her laughing in my sleep. I hear her

singing her Barbados songs and tempting me” (Miller, 1284). Actions like this tell the reader

that she is willing to do anything for self preservation including staying alive.

Another thing that motivated her constantly throughout the play was her love for John

Proctor. Her sick love for John was something that only she felt towards the middle of the play,

“I look to John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart [...] you bid

me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot!” (Miller, 1271).  Abigail’s sick love

obsession with John Proctor foreshadows unjust events that will occur later in the play and

further shows her self-centered personality and lack of Puritan ethics. Abigail’s motivation to get

Proctor’s love leads her to do unethical things later in the play.     

   Abigail’s actions created by her motives, such as her love for Proctor, keeping a good

name in the village, and staying alive, caused her to control and manipulate the minds of her

peers, and the minds of the people of Salem. To stay alive, Abigail had to control the minds of

her friends to make sure they wouldn’t speak a word of what they were doing. Abigail says to the

girls, “And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other

things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy

reckoning that will shudder you” (Miller, 1268). Her actions were actually threatening to the

people to whom she is closest with, which evidently scared them on to her side. Miller magnifies

the terribleness of her threats by using dark language to personify how scary she actually was.

Miller also suggests the terribleness of Abigail in The Crucible by showing how her power grew

from beyond over just her friends and eventually over the court. Abigail says, “Let you beware,

Mr. Danforth. Think you to be so mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits? Beware

of it!” (Miller, 1331). In Abigail’s dialogue it is clear that her control over the people goes

beyond just the people around her, and eventually leads to her challenging the court itself.

Because of the terrifying content of her dialogue she controls the mind of Mr. Danforth. Her

motivations such as staying alive, obtaining Proctor’s love, and keeping a good name in the

village, almost force her to control the people’s minds.

        Abigail’s motives lead her to fake the devil’s presence which gains her evil power in

Salem. She finds a way to create mass hysteria in Salem which generates the fear of their

Ideological beliefs being in jeopardy. As Reverend Hale explains, “Theology, sir, is a fortress:

no crack in a fortress may be accounted small.” (Miller, 1302). One thing that Abigail does to

gain power is to crack the foundation of Salem’s beliefs which were caused by her various

motives such as her love for Proctor. This crack, which was the Devil’s presence, spreads to the

minds of the people, and eventually the court. Her self-preserving motives cause her actions to

be spontaneous when in trouble especially when she is dealing with the court because she knows

she will be in trouble if the court catches her. To stay alive and stay out of trouble with the court

Abigail says, “Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my

mouth: It’s God’s work I do” Danforth: “you have seen the Devil, you have made compact with

Lucifer, have you not?”(Miller, 1336-1337). Along with the manipulation of the minds of her

friends, she goes even further and manipulates the members of the court by making them believe

in the presence of the Devil, this comes along the second her well-being is in jeopardy.

In The Crucible, Miller describes the Ideological turmoil that greatly affected the village,

and how this turmoil was brought on by dark motives, including the motives of Abigail

Williams. Abigail’s actions caused by her motives can be related to those of people in today’s

world, including Bernie Madoff. Bernie Madoff and Abigail Williams showed how troubled

times can cause unethical actions. Abigail Williams in The Crucible shows how these

motivations can motivate anyone to do anything, negative or positive.