One reason is the fact that she witnessed some pretty cruel stuff before she moved in with Parris and Betty. In Act One Abigail quotes “... I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ head on the pillow next to mine…” Before she moved in with Parris and Betty she has already witnessed the death of her parents which can leave her traumatized. When a person is traumatized they can go through emotional symptoms like depression, numbness, anger, and a feeling of being out of control. When going through these emotions your mind can be in a weak state, which means that she couldn't possibly make any rational choices. Abigail also points out in Act One “... I have seen some reddish work done at night…” Again not only has she witnessed the death of her parents, but she probably witnessed the death of many other people. Which again could cause trauma and affect the way her brain hurts. In the 16th century there was no such thing as therapy and on top of that, it seems like no one ever asked Abigail if she was ever okay. Without help or guidance, she would, of course, make wrong …show more content…
Parris thinks that there was witchcraft involved in this whole thing and wants to know the truth since he caught Betty and Abigail dancing in the forest like “heathens”. “I would never hurt Betty. I love her dearly.” Abigail in a way is trying to tell Parris that she did not do witchcraft in the forest because it would possibly involve someone getting hurt and she would never put Betty in a situation like that. However, Parris does not believe her since he keeps on questioning her which leads her to be very distressed. “Why, I am sure it is, sir. There be no blush about my name.” When Abigail claims “There be no blush about my name,” she is trying to say that her reputation in town is good and she hasn’t been fooling around. Again she is feeling pressure to keep a clean name by declining these false accusations. It seems to be that she does this so everyone in town can view her as normal and not get