A Psychological Analysis of Abigail Williams

A Psychological Analysis of Abigail Williams

     Arthur Miller's The Crucible is a depiction of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. The play is complete with real life characters from the Salem Witch Trials, including a very pertinent figure during the Salem Witch Trials, Abigail Williams. In the play, Abigail Williams is a seventeen year old girl who is one of the main accusers during the witch trials. Just as her role in the trials, Abigail's personality is quite chaotic. For this reason, I have become intrigued in why Abigail Williams is the way she is and how this information is important. 

Now, let's list the possible influencing factors and then go more in depth:

• Society
• Trauma
• Those surrounding her

Society(Strict Religion/Fear of Punishment):

     Abigail was born into a Puritanical society, an extremely religious environment with an excessive amount of rules which, if not followed, would lead to severe punishment. This environment has to have been a prime factor in Abigail's personality and behavior. First, let's discuss the general effects of a strict environment on individuals. Strict environments with harsh punishments are a breeding ground for psychological issues and intense behavioral problems. Strict rules cause individuals to develop a habit of lying, resentment, and aggressive behaviors. As well, harsh punishments, specifically the physical punishments people of puritanical society underwent, cause individuals to solve situations with violence, their control of behavior is not learned (rather it is only controlled under surveillance), and they may develop poor self esteem. Now, let's see how these present themselves in Abigail. In The Crucible, Abigail is known for lying, accusing anyone who she is vengeful towards. As well, she can be interpreted as resentful of society as she partakes in "witch" activities that completely go against the puritanical values she was raised with. Abigail is constantly seen being aggressive and using violence as solution. When Betty starts to cause an uproar, Abigail "(smashes her across the face)"(Miller 144). Because violence was instilled in her as a solution because of her society, she responds this way as well. Furthermore, Abigail only acts properly when she is in front of authority figures or people who have the ability to punish; however, when they are not present, she acts against them just as she did when she drank chicken blood and danced. Lastly, Abigail's poor self-esteem can be seen when she is with John Proctor. Abigail becomes desperate for his attention and will do whatever she can to be with him, instead of being content alone and respecting his wishes. In all, the society in which Abigail was born has had an enormous impact on her character.

Trauma:

     In the beginning of the play, Abigail mentions in a long rant that she witnessed her parents death right in front of her as a child. It is pretty apparent that such an occurrence would cause PTSD and long lasting psychological effects on a child. Again, let's go over the general effects and how these apply to Abigail. Witnessing a traumatic event such as Abigail did would have clear effects on an individual, some which might include emotional numbness, having a "fake self," a clinginess to others who have shown affection, and manipulation. Now, let's see where these show up in Abigail. First, Abigail shows signs of emotional numbness or lack of empathy towards other in many instances. A prime example is when she blames all of the witchcraft on Tituba, without showing any signs of guilt or remorse. As well, Abigail blatantly shows her "false self" when she says "I never sold myself! I'm a good girl! I'm a proper girl!"(Miller 156). She clearly wants to be seen as this type of individual when her actions and behavior prove her to be otherwise. Abigail's clinginess is seen with John Proctor. She refuses to believe that he is over her, and goes as far as to accuse his wife of being a witch. She is aware of how serious accusations of witchcraft are, so for her to do this is representative of the extent of her problems. Lastly, manipulation seems to be something that Abigail holds in her tool belt. I believe that because Abigail was unable to control her parents death and couldn't prevent it she feels that if she does not control every aspect of her life now that everything will fall apart. Overall, the trauma that Abigail has faced in her life is most likely a key aspect in her personality.

Those Surrounding Her

     This may not be as pertinent or obvious as other ones, but everyone that Abigail interacts with has impacts on her character. Her interactions with her peers are probably the most obvious influential one. Without the support of Abigail's "witch" activities by her peers, Abigail would probably not partake in such activities, however, her peers also partook in the activities. As well, living with her uncle who is a reverend was probably very influential. To not only be surrounded by the strictness of Puritanism, but then to also live with the reverend was probably very intense for her. Within this, I'd also like to bring up her age. Abigail is only seventeen years old when this occurs, so for her to be in this position is probably tremendously stressful for her. Teenagers undergo many physical and mental changes that causes issues alone, so to have this added to what she was going through was probably just detrimental to her well-being.

     After looking through everything, it is very fascinating to see and understand Abigail Williams better. It gives more humanity to these characters who are displayed at the will of Arthur Miller. I think that this not only helps us to understand characters of The Crucible better, but also paints a bigger picture. Often, we overlook why individuals act a certain way and what could have caused such behaviors, when this knowledge could not only be important in understanding the person, but also in preventing others of acting in such a way. Overall, the psychological analysis of Abigail Williams was very interesting and revealed a lot of information about Abigail!