Witch One Did it?
Lucca Mazzie
”I saw Goody Hawkins with the devil,” Abigail says. “I saw Goody Bibber with the devil,” Betty says. “I saw Goody Booth with the devil,” Abigail says. These accusations are just the beginning of the madness in this play, located in Salem, Massachusetts back in 1692. The Crucible is a play written in 1953 by Arthur Miller, describing how a small town descends into madness due to attempted witchcraft. Abigail Williams was the leader of it all, and led her peers to using witchcraft. The young women of Salem are very troublesome throughout the whole story due to their desire to shift blame to others.
One way they try to shift the blame is by evading conversation after they are spotted in the forest. Prior to the beginning of the play, Abigail, Betty, Tituba, Mary, and Mercy are spotted dancing in the woods one night without any clothes. Reverend Parris views the cousins and jumps out from behind a bush, scaring them, and causing Betty to faint. “We did dance, uncle, and when you leaped out of the bush so suddenly, Betty was frightened and then she fainted. And there’s the whole of it,“ she said. She said that to avoid suspicion around this topic. Later she admits to conjuring spirits that night in the woods, despite not actually doing so.
Abigail tries to use witchcraft on Elizabeth Proctor because she is jealous of her and John Proctor's love. While Abigail works for John, Elizabeth, and the rest of the Proctor family, she has an affair with John. She is jealous, and wants that to happen more. “I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I come near! Or did I dream that? It’s she put me out, you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out, and you loved me then and you do now!” (p. 40), Abigail said to Proctor. She drinks chicken blood to attempt witchcraft on Elizabeth. It doesn't work. This is important because she tries to use witchcraft, and blames it on others. She clearly causes lots of trouble throughout the story.
The girls cause lots of drama and trouble whenever possible. After Hale makes the girls confess to attempting witchcraft, they start to name suspects, and make more of a scene out of it. John Proctor brings Mary to court to expose the girls, who deny that they did anything that night. The girls then pretend that Mary is using witchcraft to make themselves look innocent. “It’s on the beam! Behind the rafters,” Mary Warren said. “Where!” Danforth asked. “Why?” Abigail gulps. “Why do you come, yellow bird?” “Where’s a bird? I see no bird!” Proctor responded furiously. (p. 114). Days after the trial, Abigail steals all of Reverend Parris’s money, and flees the area. Abigail clearly is crazy, and tried to use witchcraft on Elizabeth Proctor, but in the end she ended up saving herself by leaving.
As you can see, The girls of Salem are very troublesome, and cause lots of trouble throughout the story. They were untrustworthy and completely selfish, but no one really could do anything about the girls’ mistakes.
