In this sense, blacks are stereotyped harmful and wrong. Parris is asking Abigail if she has done anything wrong to anyone in the village who may be cursing her. Abigail answers incredulously, surprised that her close Uncle would ever say such a thing. We feel sympathy for Abigail as her closest family does not believe her lies and so she has few people to help her through the ongoing lies. There is a literary convention in the play.
Miller had to make Abigail older because at the time the play was written, Proctor was still alive and so he would have been prosecuted for molesting a child. Abigail is pleased to see John proctor, a local farmer, has come to visit her. He explains he only came to ask about the incident in the woods and says he is sure that Abigail would be in prison before long due to wickedness. Oblivious to this, Abigail loves John and believes the love is equally returned claiming that he sweats like a stallion when he sees her. John has to explain to Abigail that the affair they engaged was only lust, not love She becomes soft when he confesses that he may have looked up at her window. Proctor stays firm and calls Abigail a child. In her sadness, she becomes angry that her first love talks down to her. Proctor explains that they may have had sex
‘But I will cut of my hand before I will ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby.’ Although we can see that Proctor is almost harmless, Abigail begins to attack for this letdown in love. She is in bitter anger and sarcastically suggests that he has abandoned and cheated on his sick wife. Proctor threatens Abby should say no bad thing of his wife. She reasons what she says, in that she has the right to be bitchy as Goody proctor has blackened her name in the village and has fired her of service to the Proctor house with no justification to the neighbours. Proctors wife, Elizabeth, understands the mind of a young woman in a way that Proctor does not, explaining that there is a promise of love made in any bed.
In this situation, we feel strong sympathy for Abigail, as her true love expresses no love in return. He is not prepared to help and support Abby in such though times at which she needs guidance to the correct direction. She is left with no one to turn to and has to try to find her own way out of trouble. Proctor expresses that he does not want to hurt her yet fails to help when she is thrown out of the Proctor’s by Elizabeth. As a young girl, I would feel disappointed as all faith is put into your first love and it is thrown away with no responsibility of the love, Proctor. He is unaware of how much pain he is causing Abby. I feel that I would want him back and would do anything to get at him. This aim of need is so strong that a family could be destroyed if a member is lusted after. Knowing that Elizabeth is sick, Abby has more chance to get at Procter and will take the opportunity willingly with little thought of consequences.
Over a period, Abigail and the other girls accuse more people of witchcraft in order that know one finds out what really happened in the woods. They pretend to see the devil and say that the devil is ordering them to conjure people into the devils commands. At these times, they scream religious prayers at God, praying the devil to be destroyed. In her attack on proctor, Abigail accuses Elizabeth in dealings with the devil.
