Hysteria in Salem
Yes, Abigail Williams could have prevented the outbreak of witchcraft hysteria in Salem by telling the truth of what actually happened on the night that she was caught in the forest. This would have eliminated the need for her to lie and make false accusations. The reason that the witchcraft hysteria began was because of Abigail’s false accusations, this was all in attempts to protect herself from the punishment of dancing in the forest, and committing witchcraft.
Abigail Williams was involved in the beginning of the witchcraft hysteria, as she was caught in the forest, dancing and casting spells alongside other girls from the Salem community. The girls were dancing in the forest, which in a Puritan Community is strictly forbidden. Whilst dancing in the forest, the girls are caught in the act by the local minister, Reverend Parris. After this incident, Betty is found sick and unresponsive. As both Abigail, Betty and Tituba live with Reverend Parris, he questions Abigail, and she denies that she or Betty were involved in committing any act of witchcraft, but does admit to dancing in the forest with Tituba. Initially, Reverend Parris believes the children, but shortly after Ann and Thomas Putnam come to the Parris home after hearing that Betty Parris has similar symptoms to their only daughter, Ruth Putnam, they tell Reverend Parris that they hired Tituba, the Parris’s Barbados slave to talk to the spirits of their dead children in attempt to find out why they all died. Reverend Parris is horrified that his slave, Tituba was used to talk to the dead. While Reverend Parris is away, Abigail threatens to kill any of the other girls who were also caught on the night of the forest incident.
Concerned, Reverend Parris contact Reverend Hale, a well know witchcraft expert in an attempt to diagnose his sick daughter, Betty. As Reverend Hale attempts to diagnose Betty Parris, he questions Abigail Williams, while doing so, she changes her story, and claims that Tituba summoned the devil. Tituba denies this, but when Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris question her, she finally confesses after being whipped. Tituba told both, Reverend Hale and Parris that she has committed witchcraft along with the many other people in Salem, including Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good. After Tituba accuses Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, the girls caught dancing in the forest soon follow her footsteps, including Abigail Williams. The first to be accused is Mary Warren, John and Elizabeth Proctor’s maid. Annoyed, Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife tells John Proctor to tell others that Abigail’s accusations are fraudulent. But John Proctor fears that Abigail will accuse him of adultery, as John and Abigail had an affair a few months prior.
After a long period of suspicion in the Salem community, a trial breaks out, involving those who were caught in the forest incident. During that trial, Abigail Williams comes bursting through the door with a nail stabbed in her abdomen. This creates a concern of witchcraft in the salem community. After coming home from attending the trials all day, Mary Warren gives Elizabeth a poppet that she stitched during her time at the trial. At this moment, Reverend Hale arrives at the Proctor home. Hale is going around and investigating the households of those involved in the forest incident in the search of signs of witchcraft. After searching the Proctor household, Reverend Hale finds Mary’s poppet that she stitched during the trial. He points out that the poppet has a needle stuck in the abdomen. Although Mary Warren was the one who stitched the doll, Elizabeth was taken away by the police for committing witchcraft.
Angry, John Proctor arrives at the courtroom, along with Francis Nurse and Giles Corey, all of which have had their wives taken away for accusations of committing witchcraft, all fabricated by Abigail and the girls who were caught the night of the forest incident. The three men all arrive at the courthouse in attempts to disrupt the court hearings to try and expose Abigail Williams on account of her fake accusations, so John Proctor brings Mary Warren to confess that she never saw the devil while dancing in the forest, in response, Abigail turns on Mary Warren and accuses her of witchcraft. As Proctor sees his plan is failing, he decides to tell the truth and uncover that he and Abigail had an affair and committed adultery in attempts to prove that Abigail is a promiscuous liar. John tries to use his wife to confirm the act of adultery in attempts to show the lack of Abigail’s credibility, but Elizabeth lies and denies any act of adultery between the two. After many accusations of witchcraft, Mary Warren breaks down and lies by saying that John Proctor made her sign to the devil, this gets Proctor arrested.
Those who confess of witchcraft, will be set free from jail, which is the route that many of those who were accused took, except a few people, one of those being John Proctor, who refuses to confess because he doesn’t want to ruin his reputation for him and his family, so John Proctor, along with the other who refused to confess were hanged. It was found out shortly after that Abigail Williams had taken all of Reverend Parris’s money and fled Salem.
Abigail Williams is the main reason that the Salem Witch Trials were conducted. She was caught along with many other girls, dancing in the forest, but she didn’t want to face the consequences of dancing in a puritan community, so she lied. This started an uproar of false accusations by those who were caught in the forest on the night of the initial incident. The reasoning behind the mass amounts of false accusations was the act of fear. Fear is a human characteristic that plays a large role in the Crucible. According to Alex Niles, “Fear is an emotional response induced by a perceived threat, which causes a change in brain and organ function, as well as in behavior. Fear can lead us to hide, to run away, or to freeze in our shoes. Fear may arise from a confrontation or from avoiding a threat, or it may come in the form of a discovery.” (Niles, Alex. “What Is Fear.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/recovery-road/201405/what-is-fear.) The act of fear in Salem only led to the introduction to mass hysteria, another human characteristic that played a major role in the behavior of those involved in the Salem Witch Trials. According to Micaela Cooper, mass hysteria is “a condition affecting a group of persons, characterized by excitement or anxiety, irrational behavior or beliefs, or inexplicable symptoms of illness” (Cooper, Micaela R. “Mass Hysteria In The Salem Witch Trials.” The Odyssey Online, 28 Aug. 2017, www.theodysseyonline.com/mass-hysteria-salem-witch-trials.) Examples of mass hysteria are found in the crucible repeatedly, such as the mass fabrication of lies and accusations by Abigail Williams.
In conclusion, the mass hysteria and fear that plagued Salem during the Salem Witch Trials that greatly affected the length and the severity of the the trials were introduced by the wave of fake accusations made by Abigail Williams along with the girls that she threatened to kill if they said otherwise, caused immense damage to Salem during the Salem Witch Trials, all because Abigail was too afraid of the consequences of her actions on the night that they were caught dancing in the forest. In the end, Abigail realized what she had done, and refused to assume responsibility, so she fled town, according to Reverend Parris, “I think they be aboard a ship. My daughter tells me how she heard them speak of ships last week” (Miller, The Crucible 162; Act 4 )