Crucible Epilogue

The town of Salem. Never again will it be the thriving Puritan village it used to be, not after the trials. I stood on a hill overlooking the town I single handedly destroyed, shivering out of fury in the cold evening air. The man I loved was dead, I’m known as the taker of innocent lives, and my white name in the village had been blackened. All because of Elizabeth Proctor. As I start to walk down the hill towards Salem I thinks to myself of how I should have destroyed Elizabeth when I had the chance but how my love for John Proctor had gotten in the way. My twisted mind had remade the trials in my head. In my eyes Elizabeth was the reason for John’s death not I and it was not John who had called me a whore, it was Elizabeth. Elizabeth caused the problems, Elizabeth is the reason I’m no good in Salem, and she killed the man I loved. These thoughts have been rolling over in my head for five years. Now, at the age of twenty-three, I have come back to Salem for my revenge. Slowly and sulkily I shuffle down the main road gazing through darkened windows into a black abyss like my heart. Five years, I thought, five whole years to think and wonder what happened to that woman. As I look out onto the horizon and sees my old workplace- the Proctor House. It seems to be the only house with smoke coming out of its chimney or candle light flickering through the windows, making them glow in the night. As my demonic thoughts about Elizabeth begin to brew I attempt to repress them. Revenge on Elizabeth is not the reason I have come back to this God forsaken town, no I came to forgive, to forgive all of those who hurt me and to receive forgiveness from those who I had hurt. But Elizabeth deserves to die! The difficulty of repressing my hatred to Elizabeth is strengthening; it’s as if the closer I get to her the more I want her dead. I am less than ten feet from the house now and Elizabeth’s silhouette is as plain as day in the window. I watch as she bends over to pick up what looks like a small child. I walk closer to the house, step by step my rage increases until I cannot hold it in any longer. I scream a horrifying yell that would frighten those in the Devil’s grasp. Elizabeth’s silhouette hastily puts down the child and runs outside. She bursts through the front door and stops immediately when she sees me. Our expressions match each other. A stunned, resentful look hardens our faces. Elizabeth’s everlasting beauty that I remembered so vividly has been washed out of her face. She is old and looks as if she hasn’t slept since I ran away to Boston.

“What are you doing here Abigail?” she asks in a stern motherly tone.

“I’ve come back,” I say. “I’m…I am trying to forgive and be forgiven.” Yet the thought of this wretched woman who I have plotted the death for for so many years now forgiving me seems almost impossible.

“Abigail, there is no one left to forgive you. No one can forgive you. You killed innocent people, people who's lives were the only luxury they had. With all due respect, did you rally think you could come back and just pretend that none of this had ever happened?”

“Because I have forgiven! Because I forgave you for stealing the man I loved! I deserved him Elizabeth not you! He loved me, he said so himself. He denied it because of you. You’re the reason he is dead!” Elizabeth paused and looked at me with almost concern. She stands there shaking her head. When she looks up at me there are tears rolling down her cheeks.

“You silly, silly girl. You think he loved you? Where in the bible does it say that adultery is equivalent to love? You have confused the bond you two made for something much greater than you could ever imagine. You don’t know what love is.”

“How dare you say that he never loved me! How dare you! John and I had something real and you were the one obstacle that was in the way and refused to budge!” I yelled violently back at her. “But now that’s about to change isn’t it?” I draw my hands behind my back and pull out a kitchen knife. “I didn’t want this to happen today Elizabeth. I thought you would admit for what you did. John died because he loved me! He died so that my name would still be pure in the village!” As I begin to walk towards her she makes no movement back or to run away.

“Abigail, listen to me. Before John died I took the blame for his affair. Now I am the one to carry the weight on my shoulders of the mistake you made. John died a good man and for a reason he believed in, not because of me or you.” She pauses. “Don’t do this Abigail. You know you’ll regret it someday. I have four children to raise now. I have a husband who needs me-.”

“You mean Johns replacement!’ I yell back at her. “If you loved him Elizabeth there would be no reason for you to try and have another man in your life!”

“Well if Patrick is such a great man then he can do perfectly fine without you.” I walk towards her, knife in hand. “I loved John everything that happened at the trials was for him and you had to go and change his mind on me. I know it was you who told him to tell the court of our love. If you could have just stayed out of this you would have already been dead and John and I would have been together!”

“I did it because I love John! He died for his name not for me. I would do anything to see him again-.”

“Well then today is your lucky day!” I walk towards her and bury the knife deep into her heart. She crumples over and falls to her knees. She looks up at the sky as blood trickles from her mouth.

“Forgive me John,” She says, “I tried.” And as she took her final breathe she looks up one last time clutching the knife and whispers, “I will always love you,” then falls to the ground. She is dead. I walk over to her corpse and pull the knife out of her body. I have gotten what I always wanted, I thought, and yet it doesn’t feel right. I am a murderer. I did kill the innocent people of Salem and now Elizabeth is dead adding onto the list of the innocent who I destroyed. As I look down at Elizabeth my eyes well up with tears. I turn around and starting walking back the way I came. There is no need for me here. I will only cause more damage. I walk back up the main road I have walked hundreds of times. It is time for me to leave, it is time for the people of Salem to start anew and not let me, Abigail Williams, destroy them again.