In Act One after Abigail has lied to her uncle Parris about what happened in the woods, she threatens Betty, Mercy, and Mary Warren after slapping Betty.
She says, “Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge or a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it; I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine, and I have seen some reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!”
This is where we first begin to see Abigail’s true colors. Here she is threatening the other girls with violence if they do not keep silent. Abigail is not above lying, threatening, and possibly even murder to protect herself. At the end of Act Two after Cheever and Hale come to investigate allegations made against Elizabeth for Witchcraft and she is taken away to jail, Proctor and Mary Warren speak about Abigail.
Proctor: You will tell the court how that poppet come here and who stuck the needle in.
Mary Warren: she’ll kill me for sayin’ that! Proctor continues toward her. Abby’ll charge lechery on you, Mr. Proctor!
Proctor, halting: She’s told you! Mary Warren: I have known it sir. She’ll ruin you with it, I know she will.
This is proof that Abigail is so selfish that in order to appear blameless and get rid of Elizabeth, she has accused Elizabeth of witchcraft and had Mary plant the evidence. She has Mary Warren so scared for her life that she is willing to lie to plant evidence. Abigail knows that the penalty for witchcraft is death, so she is willing to get Elizabeth killed in hopes she can be with Proctor or for revenge because he does not love her. She is also willing to ruin Proctor’s reputation, which was very important to the Puritans. These are just two of many instances where Abigail is selfish.
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