The Crucible...abigail williams, a girl of questionable morals.

A Girl of Questionable Morals

Merriam-Webster defines the word moral as "conforming to a standard of right behavior." Abigail Williams is a girl of questionable morals. In the story The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail acts as if she cannot tell the difference between right and wrong. Abigail Williams was not a nice person, but no one realized her true nature except for a select few. The people who challenged her ended up being hanged or accused of witchcraft. Abigail would let no one get in her way. Abigail would not even let her "love", John Proctor, stand in the way of her masquerade.

Abigail started trouble even before the story even began. Salem was a calm and peaceful town until the children started to get bored. One night they snuck out of their houses and ran to the woods with Tituba, the slave from Barbados. All of the girls danced as she sang including Abigail. Abigail went one step further, she drank a potion to kill goody Proctor. She decided to try and kill goody Proctor in order to be with John Proctor. John Proctor had an affair with Abigail while she was a servant in his house. This is breaking one of the ten commandments and is against common moral standards of any society. In a highly conservative Puritan society, anything done against the bible is not tolerated. Abigail continued to pursue John Proctor after he stopped the affair and ignored her. The book shows that she will do anything to get what she wants. Proctor decided to confess his sin in order to save his wife, but Abigail accused him of witchcraft. Abigail is also a hypocrite. She danced in the woods and wanted to learn about witchcraft but then accused others of witchcraft to the Salem court. The accusations were no more than a way to protect herself from being accused and a poor attempt at gaining power. Abigail was a nobody before she became a "court official". Not many people liked her before she was an afflicted child. Now people respected her because if they didn't, then they were at risk of being accused. Abigail was the person who tried to use witchcraft and was probably the one of the only ones who did come into contact with magic. She insisted on accusing innocent people for her own personal gain. She had no compassion for the accused and insisted that they hang for their sins.

Lying is wrong in all cultures and societies. Abigail lied to the court and the town of Salem throughout the entire story. She lied to protect her own life and reputation. She also lied to win over John Proctor, but it did not go the way she had planned it. Because of her lies, her love died. She killed him when she realized that he was about to expose her as the liar she is. Abigail said that he was the devil's man and that he signed his name in the black book. This is morally wrong and against all laws of Salem.

Abigail shows no compassion or remorse throughout the entire book. She doesn't even stay to watch John Proctor hang. She supposedly ran off on a boat and went to England where she turned into a prostitute. I felt sympathetic towards Abigail in the beginning of the book, but after reading it I realize that she is not a good person and a girl of questionable morals.