Abigail Williams

For the character, see Abigail Williams (As the World Turns). For the black metal band, see Abigail Williams (band).
Abigail Williams
Born July 12, 1680
Died Unknown, possibly by 1697
Known for First accuser in the Salem witch trials
Home town Salem, Massachusetts
Relatives

Abigail Williams (July 12, 1680 – possibly by 1697) was one of the initial accusers in the Salem witch trials of 1692, which led to the arrest and imprisonment of over 150 supposed witches.[1]

Salem Witch Trials

Abigail and her cousin, Betty Parris, were the first two accusers in the Salem Witch trials of 1692. Williams was eleven years old at the time and she was living with her uncle Samuel Parris in Salem after a raid by Native Americans resulted in the death of her parents . According to Rev. Deodat Lawson, an eyewitness, she and Betty began to have fits in which they ran around rooms flailing their arms, ducking under chairs and trying to climb up the chimney. It is noted that her body contorted into apparently impossible positions.

This troubled the villagers of Salem. Samuel Parris, who was the local minister, decided to call in a doctor to determine whether or not these afflictions were medical. The physician, William Griggs, had difficulties understanding the actions of the two young girls. Griggs believed it was not a medical issue, rather, he suggested it must be witchcraft. One of Parris’ slaves, Tituba, was then asked to bake a witch cake— rye mixed with the afflicted girls’ urine— and feed the mixture to a dog. The theory was that if Abigail and Betty were bewitched, the dog would exhibit similar symptoms and prove that witchcraft was indeed present and being practiced.[2]

Because of Abigail and Betty's claims to be possessed, false accusations would soon be made, resulting in 20 deaths. On February 29, 1692, three women were arrested for suspicion of witchcraft: Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba herself.[3] They were all found guilty, but the only one to confess was Tituba. Since the other two women did not confess, Good was hanged, and Osborne died in prison. Tituba was released out of jail a year later, when an unknown person paid her fees for release.[4] Nonetheless, Abigail and Betty’s trend of accusing innocents rapidly spread throughout Salem and nearby villages (especially Andover), leading to the death of at least nineteen people.[5] Martha Corey was hanged, and her husband Giles was pressed to death for refusing to plead. John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse were also executed.

In 1976, Linnda R. Caporael[6] put forward the theory that these strange symptoms may have been caused by ergotism, the ingestion of fungus-infected rye. This explanation has never been widely accepted.[7]

Legacy

Nicole Ehinger portraying Abigail Williams in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"

Abigail Williams is a major character in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, but she is portrayed as 17 years old. It is gradually revealed that she has been dancing in the woods with the girls of Salem and performing voodoo rituals with her uncle's slave, Tituba. When rumors begin to circulate that there is witchcraft in the town, Abigail and Betty Parris start to name people as witches in order to divert suspicion from themselves. Additionally, in The Crucible, Abigail has previously worked as a maid at the Proctor household and had an affair with John Proctor. Hoping to marry John, Abigail accuses John's wife Elizabeth of witchcraft in the hopes that Elizabeth will be executed. In the 1957 and 1996 film adaptations of the play, Abigail was portrayed by Mylène Demongeot and Winona Ryder, respectively.

A "sequel" to The Crucible called Abigail / 1702 by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa debuted in 2013.[8] The play depicts the life of Abigail Williams 10 years after the events of The Crucible.

Abigail is also featured in the 2010 film The Sorcerer's Apprentice as a minor antagonist. Horvath, the film's main antagonist, releases her from a magical prison called "The Grimhold" and uses her to kidnap the love interest of the main protagonist, Dave. After the kidnapping is complete, Horvath absorbs Abigail's powers and steals her pentagram amulet which channels her power. By doing so, Horvath becomes more powerful and is finally able to free his master, Morgana.

In the novel Deliverance from Evil by Frances Hill, Abigail is told by her uncle that she is going to be sent away like her cousin Betty Parris, so for a while she becomes depressed and accepts that she is being tormented and attacked by spectres and witches to the point where she takes a rope and licks it all over herself in a field near the Parris parsonage. It is unknown if this piece of writing in the story was actually true; others say that she died in 1697.

In 2010, a musical, Abigail: the Rock Opera, was performed in San Francisco. The story is told from the perspective of 12-year-old Abigail as she finds personal redemption.

The American black metal band Abigail Williams is named after her.[9]

The metalcore band Motionless In White wrote a song called " Abigail," inspired by The Crucible and written from the perspective of John Proctor.

A Spanish punk rock group named Abigail's Cross depicts Abigail on both of their album covers. [10]

Abigail's ghost appears in the 2014 video game Murdered: Soul Suspect.

References

  1. ↑ Yost, Melissa (2002). "Abigail Williams". Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project. Charlottesville, Virginia: University of Virginia. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  2. ↑ Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974. Print. (pp. 2-3).
  3. ↑ Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974. Print. (p. 3).
  4. ↑ Games, Alison. Witchcraft in Early North America. Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2010. Print. (p. 176).
  5. ↑ Hall, David. Witch Hunting in Seventeenth Century New England. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1999. Print. (pp. 280-281).
  6. ↑ Ergotism: The Satan Loosed in Salem? - Science, vol. 192, April 1976
  7. ↑ "Were the witches of Salem a result of poisoning with ergot fungus?".
  8. ↑ "1702, Exploring Aftermath of The Crucible, Will Play Cincinnati".
  9. ↑ Bowar, Chad (19 November 2008). "Abigail Williams Interview: A Conversation with Thomas G. Plaguehammer and Ken Sorceron". About.com: Heavy Metal. About.com. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  10. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/ca/artist/abigails-cross/id339669017