Crucible Study Essay

Between February 1692 and may 1693 there were a series of hangings because of people accused of witchcraft in Salem Massachusetts. I think Abigail is the guiltiest person in the Crucible because she had an affair with John Proctor and tried to kill his wife. Abigail convinced a lot of people that witchcraft was real or intimidated them into going along with it. She also convinced the girls and herself to send many to their deaths. The first reason I believe Abigail is guilty is that she had an affair with John Proctor and tried to kill his wife. The affair happened when Abigail was in service as a maid to John and Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth was sickly and bedridden at the time. Then later in the story she stuck a needle in the poppet that Mary was making in the court house and accused Elizabeth of witchcraft so that when they go to search Elizabeth Proctor’s house, they would find the poppet with a needle stuck into it and then Abigail stabbed her self in the gut with a smal l needle to make it appear like voodoo. So then Elizabeth would get arrested and tried as a witch. If she wouldn’t confess then she would hang witch is exactly what Elizabeth wanted. She also approached John when he was alone multiple times trying to convince him to leave Elizabeth and run away with her. The more John ignored her and told her it wasn’t going to happen the more irritated and desperate she got driving Abby to get Elizabeth hung as mentioned above. The second reason I believe she is the guiltiest person in the novel is that she convinced a lot of people that witchcraft was real or intimidated them into going along with it. Such as when Parris sees them dancing in the woods she tries to cover it up and insists that nothing happened in the woods. But after continuous questioning and pressure she says that Tituba and Ruth were conjuring the spirits of Putnam’s dead babies. Mercy then shows up when Parris leaves and Abigail tells Mercy to say that they were dancing in the woods and that Parri s saw her naked. Abigail then tries to wake Betty to talk to her but she keeps faking ill. Abby tries to tell Betty that she admitted everything to Parris and that it’s ok now. But then Betty suddenly  wakes and tells Abby that she didn’t admit to drinking blood and drinking a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife. And then later when Mary tries to get Abby to confess she says â€Å"Witchery’s a hangin’ error! You’ll only be whipped for dancin’, and the other things!† But Abby tells her that they all took part so all of the girls would be whipped. Abby then tells the whole group of them that if anybody tells she’ll kill them in their sleep. And tells them you all know I can because my parents were killed by Indians in front of me when I was very young. The Final reason I believe that she is to blame is that she convinced or used the girls and herself to send many to their deaths. One of the first examples is how she used Mary Warren to get at Elizabeth Proctor by shoving the needle in Mary’s poppet that she was making for Elizabeth so that she could accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft and have her hung. Another good example is how she acted as if Mary Warren was sending her sprit out as a bird with talons and huge wings to make Mary seem like a witch when she was going to confess the truth behind the girls’ lies, and also how the girls were influenced by Abby’s actions. So in conclusion, Abigail had an affair with John Proctor and tried to kill his wife. She convinced many that witch craft was real or intimidated and threatened them into going along with it. Abigail also got or used the girls to send many people to jail and many to their deaths. Those are the reasons I am forced to believe that Abigail is to blame and it the guiltiest person in the story. Work Cited Mary Warren’s Quotes pages 18-19 Act One