The Crucible Main Character Analysis

Abigail Williams

• Good liar- "endless capacity for dissembling."
• Authoritative- "Now look you. All of you."
• Controlling towards Danforth and the court- "I'll not have such looks."
• Lies to stop herself from being whipped, selfish- "Not I, sir- Tituba and Ruth."
• Influential and persuasive- "Let you beware Mr Danforth"- uses open threats to get what she wants.
• Threatening even when not speaking- "Staring down at her remorselessly."- manages to influence Mary to act like she is "infected."- this word helps portray Abigail as a disease.
• Good actress- she acts "truly frightened." when pretending to be afflicted by Mary's spirit. 

• Although John regrets the relationship, he still holds affection towards her, he looks at her with a "knowing smile".
• She is still shy around John even after the affair- she has a "nervous laugh" when talking to him. However this could be to do with the fact that she wants to downplay what Betty is going through.
• She is still in love with John and desperate for him- "feverishly looking into his eyes.", "Give me a word John. A soft word.", "you love me yet!"
• Even though John likes flirting with Abby, he knows what happened cannot happen again- "That's done with."
• The relationship was supposed to be a fling- he calls her "Child" which angers her greatly- "How dare you call me child!" She thinks of her as her lover even now, but he thinks of her as immature and too young.
• Later on in the play, John has lost all respect for her and does not think of her affectionately at all - "without warning or hesitation, Proctor leaps at Abigail." He calls her a "Whore" and a "lump of vanity"
• He does not think of her as a child anymore as she is not innocent anymore, and doesn't even think of her as a human- "It is not a child."

• She twists any questioning into a criticism or get the question turned away from her- "To be mistrusted, denied, questioned like a-"
• Abigail manages to change his feelings whenever he starts to doubt her- "Engaged and entered by Abigail." He begins to think that she is "false" when he is "struck by Mary Warren's story" but she turns the tables and Danforth starts "weakening" again.
• Eventually, Danforth realises that the previous 12 people should not have been hung- "I shall do my utmost." Realises this too late but cannot stop the deaths and it would show weakness of the court.

Relationship with Elizabeth

• She hates her- Abigal calls her a "bitter woman" and a "cold, snivelling woman". This is obviously said out of spite as her character is seen as good and honest woman by everyone else in the play. 
• Elizabeth is shocked by the lengths she'd go to spite her- "She must be ripped out of the world!"
• Elizabeth fears that she will be replaced by her- "she...thinks to kill me, then take my place."

• Not well liked- "Little good to to be said of him", "cut a villianous path"
• Paranoid- he says he has "many enemies" and feels persecuted all the time.
• Has twisted priorities (puts his position in the ministy before his daughter's life)- "The ministry is at stake, my ministry and perhaps your cousins life."
• Narrow-minded, confident and arrogant durig the start of the trial- "This is a clear attack against the court"
• Towards the end of the play, his mind isn't quite right and Abby's leaving has left him scarred and with doubts that the girl's were lying- he has "a mad look thse days"
• Tries to redeem himself with Proctor at the end- "I would postpone these hangin's for a time."

Parris and Danforth

• He irritates Danforth and Danfort doesn't try to hide his disdain- "Mr Parris I bid you be silent", "his contempt fot Parris is clear"
• Danforth doesn't think highly of him- "Mr Parris you are a brainless man"

• Miller thinks highly of Proctor and respects his character- "Powerful of body, even tempered, and not easily led." Although he does call him a "sinner" because of his affair.
• Doesn't think of himself highly at all- "has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud"
• Well regarded and respected in the town- "great weight yet in the town"
• Has a strong impact on people- Mr Hale sees him as an honest man even though he only just met him- "I believe him."
• Uses vivid imagery to help the audience understand his feelings- "Your justice would freeze beer"
• Thinks of himself as a bad man and is only slightly happy with his life when he stays true- "I see a shred of goodness in John Proctor"

Relationship with Parris

• Proctor feels Parris is a bad Reverend so he doesn’t go to church often as he feels the sermons are not related to God- “you hardly ever mention God anymore” 
• Strongly dislikes Parris doesn’t trust him as minister- “I see no light of God in that man”
• Parris doesn’t like Proctor- “I am not blind; there is a faction and a party” 
• Parris knows Proctor hates him “since I come to Salem this man is blackening my name”
• Parris tries to redeem himself- “If you desire a cup of cider”

• John tries to please Elizabeth- “I mean to please you”
• Elizabeth is quiet and hesitant around John “It is as though she would speak but cannot”
• He feels Elizabeth won’t let him forget the affair- “You forgive nothin’ and forget nothin’”
• She is suspicious of some of his actions and thinks he still lies to her- “You are not open with me”
• He values her higher than himself and still blames himself for the affair- "goodness will not die for me.”
• John says “my wife cannot lie” which shows he completely trusts her.
• Elizabeth still thinks John a good man even after all he has done- “Whatever you do, it is a good man does it”
• Elizabeth blames herself for John’s affair “ It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery”
• Elizabeth thinks no one is better or kinder than John and she still loves him dearly- "I never knew such goodness in the world” 
•  Elizabeth knows when John died his heart was at peace and he no longer judged himself- “He have his goodness now”

• At the beginning, Elizabeth is portrayed as a cold woman as she hasn’t forgiven John for his affair “You forgive nothin’ and forget nothin’”
• Elizabeth blames herself for John’s affair- “it needs a cold wife to prompt lechery”
• Danforth thinks she is “stone” when she doesn’t cry at hearing her husband’s execution.
• She is thought of as honest by many- “my wife cannot lie”
• At the end, she admits she had “suspicion” (pg 110) about John’s truthfulness but she does blame herself.

Danforth

• Danforth is originally portrayed as very stubborn- "exact loyalty to his position and his cause”
•  He is boastful “72 condemned to hang by that signature”
• Danforth is clearly scared and unsure around Abigail which shows how strong her influence is over others- “Danforth seems unsteady”
• Danforth is “frightened” (pg 92) of Abigail. This may be one of the reasons why Danforth didn’t realise she was lying sooner.
• Seems to be easily led he also is found “growing hysterical"

• He is proud of his work and eager to show it- “eager-eyed intellectual”, “he felt the pride of the specialist”
  
• He is good & respectable- “I heard you be a sensible man”
• Hale is eager to show off what he knows- “With a tasty love of intellectual pursuit” 
• He feels guilty about what he has caused/ had a part of- “a guilt about his mannerisms now”
• At the end of the play, Hale realises this has gone too far and Abigail and the girls are lying- “I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court!”