Abigail Williams
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Abigail Williams played a significant role in the Salem witch trials of 1692. She was born in Hadley, Massachusetts and died in Mansfield, Connecticut.
After her cousin Betty Parris became ill, Abigail quickly caught the affliction, gaining the attention that had settled on her young cousin. She began to have fits and to shout obscenities. She and other girls began to accuse neighbours of bewitching them. Little is known of what happened to Abigail after the trials finished.
Betty Parris was 9 years at the time of the trials; Abigail Williams was 11 at the time of the trials.
[edit] The Crucible
Williams is one of the central characters in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Although the play is based on true events, certain historical facts and events were altered or omitted for dramatic purposes. The affair between Abigail Williams and John Proctor, for example, is entirely fabricated; historically, Williams was only eleven years old at the time of the trials, while John Proctor was 60. Miller reduced Proctor's age to about 40 and raised Abigail's to 17 so as to make the affair more plausible.
| Salem witch trials | |
|---|---|
| Authorities | Thomas Danforth | John Hale | Increase Mather | Samuel Parris | William Phips | William Stoughton |
| Accusers | Elizabeth Hubbard | Mercy Lewis | Betty Parris | Ann Putnam, Jr. | Susannah Sheldon | Mary Walcott | Abigail Williams |
| Accused | John Alden | Edward Bishop | Sarah Bishop | Mary Black | Mary Bradbury | Sarah Cloyce | Rebecca Eames | Mary English | Phillip English | Abigail Faulkner | Dorcas Good | William Hobbs | Mary Lacy | Sarah Morey | Benjamin Proctor | Elizabeth Proctor | Sarah Proctor | William Proctor |
| Confessed and Accused Others | Dorcas Hoar | Abigail Hobbs | Deliverance Hobbs | Margaret Jacobs | Tituba | Mary Warren |
| Executed | Bridget Bishop | George Burroughs | Martha Carrier | Martha Corey | Mary Eastey | Sarah Good | Elizabeth Howe | George Jacobs, Sr. | Susannah Martin | Rebecca Nurse | Alice Parker | Mary Parker | John Proctor | Ann Pudeator | Wilmot Redd | Margaret Scott | Samuel Wardwell | Sarah Wildes | John Willard |
| Died in Prison | Lydia Dustin | Ann Foster | Sarah Osborn | Roger Toothaker |
|
Died During Interrogation |
Giles Corey |
