Little Miss Faulty (Persuasive)

"Oh, I marvel how much a strong man may let such a sickly wife be..." Abigail says to Proctor. "You'll speak nothin' of Elizabeth!" Proctor exclaims (Miller Act 1). In Arthur Miller's, The Crucible, the play describes the story of a Puritan society that ends up in chaos due to a numerous amount of lies and accusations amongst the society. Abigail Williams, a young Puritan girl, involves herself in an affair with a married man, John Proctor. Throughout The Crucible, Abigail remains hopeful that she and Proctor can continue the affair. Because of Abigail's actions of allegedly participating in witchcraft and attempting to stay with John Proctor, the Puritan community erupts in chaos.

In The Crucible, Reverend Samuel Parris, the minister of Salem’s church, accuses Abigail, Betty Parris, and Tituba of casting spells and creating potions, which is a possible sign of witchery. Initially, Abigail remains hesitant of admitting to the truth, but when Reverend Parris confronts her, she brings the blame to the other girls who were also involved in the accused witchcraft practices. Abigail attempts to blame the other girls, so the community’s attention is extracted away from her and is transferred to the other girls instead. In Act 1, Abigail says, “I want to open myself! I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Miller Act 1).

Another factor that contributes to Abigail being at fault is how she attempts to continue the affair with John Proctor. Proctor wants to forget his act of adultery with Elizabeth and move on from the situation. But, Proctor promised her that he would leave his wife, Elizabeth, to be with Abigail. In Act 1, Abigail hollers “I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet! (Miller Act 1)." Abigail knows that John Proctor did once love her, and still does love her. Therefore, Abigail tries to set up Elizabeth by accusing her of performing voodoo on Abigail. Mary Warren, one of Abigail's accomplices, gives a poppet to Mrs. Proctor. When the court examines the poppet, needles were inserted into the doll. But prior to finding the doll, Cheever claims Abigail "...without word or warnin' she falls to the floor..." (Miller Act 2). Also, he mentions that he withdrew a needle from Abigail's body. This resulted in the arrest of Elizabeth Proctor due to Abigail's false accusations of witchcraft.

As a final point, this puritan society was in disarray due to the endless amount of conflict throughout The Crucible. Yet, it can be concluded that Abigail Williams contributed to the controversy within Salem’s Puritan community. The consequences of Abigail's actions of allegations of witchcraft and the continuation of her and Proctor's relationship all led to the spark of destruction between the Puritan community of Salem.

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