How does Miller present the character of Abigail in the opening pages of ‘The Crucible’
How does Miller present the character of Abigail in the opening pages of ‘The Crucible’
In the opening lines of the play Abigail is portrayed as a “strikingly beautiful girl” of seventeen. But this does not seem the case as you get further into the act. In fact she is seen to have an extremely ugly heart and only care about herself. Although the audience may feel sorry for her as she says “I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine” her cruelty cannot be overlooked.
Miller presents Abigail as a compulsive liar as she blatantly lies about what she and all of the other girls were doing in the forest. This is shown where she says “we never conjured spirits”. This is a lie as they were not just dancing they were contacting the devil. She is also seen to be very selfish as she blames everyone else for what happened when she was confronted with the truth. She says “Not I Sir- Tituba and Ruth”. This is extremely selfish of her as Tituba and Ruth were meant to be her close friends.
When things do not go right for Abigail she can be seen a cruel bully. This is portrayed when Betty awakes and tells the truth about what happenened and Abigail says “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 has used some very strong words here to give the audience the impression that she is an extremely violent person. She also slaps Betty around the face and furiously shakes her.
Abigail is also presented as an extremely secretive and sly person. She has been keeping the secret about her affair with Proctor and even when questioned about it she will deny it. She says to Parris “There is nothing more. I swear it uncle”. She is also portrayed as a flirt towards John proctor, a married man. She says “John-I’m waitin’ for you every night”
In conclusion Miller presents Abigail as a horrible girl who
In the opening lines of the play Abigail is portrayed as a “strikingly beautiful girl” of seventeen. But this does not seem the case as you get further into the act. In fact she is seen to have an extremely ugly heart and only care about herself. Although the audience may feel sorry for her as she says “I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine” her cruelty cannot be overlooked.
Miller presents Abigail as a compulsive liar as she blatantly lies about what she and all of the other girls were doing in the forest. This is shown where she says “we never conjured spirits”. This is a lie as they were not just dancing they were contacting the devil. She is also seen to be very selfish as she blames everyone else for what happened when she was confronted with the truth. She says “Not I Sir- Tituba and Ruth”. This is extremely selfish of her as Tituba and Ruth were meant to be her close friends.
When things do not go right for Abigail she can be seen a cruel bully. This is portrayed when Betty awakes and tells the truth about what happenened and Abigail says “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 has used some very strong words here to give the audience the impression that she is an extremely violent person. She also slaps Betty around the face and furiously shakes her.
Abigail is also presented as an extremely secretive and sly person. She has been keeping the secret about her affair with Proctor and even when questioned about it she will deny it. She says to Parris “There is nothing more. I swear it uncle”. She is also portrayed as a flirt towards John proctor, a married man. She says “John-I’m waitin’ for you every night”
In conclusion Miller presents Abigail as a horrible girl who