Laura Linney’s portrayal of Abigail Adams in HBO’s John Adams highlights the strength and moral clarity of an ISTJ 1w2 personality type. This analysis examines how her ISTJ structure and Enneagram 1w2 principles guide her steadfast support, ethical judgment, and unwavering sense of duty.
ISTJ 1w2 Characters
Why is Abigail Adams from John Adams an ISTJ 1w2? Continue reading for my argument using cognitive functions! The headers for each section are clickable, so you can easily access more information about the dominant function and the Enneagram type, or discover more characters who share the type.
The only ads you will ever see on this page are for my books. If you want to learn more about MBTI or Enneagram types, please support my work. Book sales are how I keep this site ad-free!
Introverted Sensing
Abigail Addams is more grounded than her husband in terms of practicality; when he takes on defending the British in Boston after they fired into a crowd and killed a few civilians, she points out that this may have negative consequences for his reputation and lead him to lose more business in the future, destabilizing their financial income. Her concerns are all based on immediate consequences (his reputation, the fall-out of his controversial opinions, his prolonged absence’s impact upon his children and their parenting abilities, etc.). Abigail prefers being at home to any other life, because it is most “familiar” to her, and holds her children, which are the center of her life.
She often compares what is around her now to what she is used to from previous interactions; moving to France is a huge culture shock for her, because it is so different from life in the Colonies (full of extravagance, decadence, and “immoral” behavior). Abigail becomes good friends with Thomas Jefferson for a time, and then is “shocked” to talk with him a few years later, and to notice how much his views have changed on politics; she says she has seen a “change” in him, and that she does not like it (he has become more callous about bloodshed watering the tree of liberty).
Extraverted Thinking
Because of her straightforward, impersonal approach to politics, Abigail is an invaluable resource to her husband – able to criticize his faults, extol his virtues, and effectively help him maneuver through a world of politics, philosophy, and idealism. Her feelings about separation from England come from the facts of the situation: they are not being treated fairly, their taxes are high, and so forth. But she also talks about the consequences of the war, such as how women suffer as much as men, because while men may be off fighting on the front, the women are doing all the work at home. She does not like to go to her cupboard and find it empty, with no tea, no sugar, and no flour.
Abigail cannot control what happens outside her house, so she tries to contain what happens inside it, by scrubbing her home to within an inch of its life, disciplining her children, and assertively making decisions on their behalf. (When the doctor asks if she should inoculate them against smallpox by infecting them with the disease, since it could kill them, Abigail firmly says that she is making the decision on his behalf, since he is not here.) She also takes decisive action aimed at long-term benefits (inoculating her children against disease, sending her son abroad with his father to further his education, and pointing out how it will benefit him in the future) and easily handles the responsibilities and duties of handling the farm in her husband’s absence. She supports her husband’s political career for its strategic advantages even when it threatens her present happiness.
Introverted Feeling
She is intensely private about her emotions, only expressing them to her daughter under duress (“he has not written to me in months?! Has he never thought about how that will make me feel?”) but also mourns the loss of her husband and laments his inability to express his love for her in his absence. She also prioritizes individuality and supports John in his decisions; when he decides to defend the British, she knows it may hurt them financially, but has such respect for his need to stand by his convictions and do what is right, she does not mind bearing the consequences.
Abigail has strong views that she refuses to compromise on, sometimes leading her to decisive moments that frame the family dynamic; she will sacrifice her personal happiness for causes she feels strongly about (the new government, her husband’s political career, etc.), but she will also angrily assert herself when necessary. Her absolute love and loyalty to John means cutting off her former friendship with Jefferson when she discovers he has sabotaged her husband’s attempts at reelection.
Extraverted Intuition
Abigail is much less likely to leap to a conclusion or assert her views without first considering them than her husband. She withholds opinions, uncertain that she can predict outcomes; her opinion of the French Revolution is non-committal. She would rather wait and see what happens. She cautions her husband to be careful in his decisions, because she cannot see all the ways they may play out
The Enneagram 1
Abigail is decisive, principled, and certain of her convictions. She is forever lecturing her husband out of his vanity. She points out when he is being arrogant, when he has overstepped himself, and when he has done something wrong. She strives to improve him in all ways, and also notices misbehavior in other people, such as when she makes a passing judgment on Franklin’s libertine behavior in France (she sees him with his French mistress, and says “that must be an inconvenience to Mrs. Franklin”). She confesses she felt embarrassed to watch “intimate emotions” on display in Paris. She refuses to speak to Jefferson again, after he betrays her husband and uses scurrilous attacks against him in the papers.
Many times, we see her angry at incompetence or things that offend her; she is annoyed that women are not given the same rights as men, that the Congress is dragging their feet (she says John should send her down there to deal with them, and she would whip them into shape), that the press is attacking her husband, and that he has not written to her in a long time, while expecting her to do all the work at home. Her thinking is, “I am doing hard things too, so why have I been abandoned?” 1s often feel resentful in this way; that they are doing their duty, and others are not noticing.
The 2 Wing
But this also ties into her 2 wing. 2s are rejection types, meaning they give themselves a self-narrative of being a good person, and can ignore or cut off any part of the self that does not fit this image. They also get resentful when they are not appreciated, which manifests a lot in John’s absence. Here she is, doing everything, cleaning his house, tending his farm, raising his children, and where is he? Where is his gratitude? Where are his loving declarations, her reward for all that she is doing for him out of devotion?
Abigail also shows the loving side of 2 in how warm, devoted, supportive, and affirming she is of him; she will correct him, then tease him, and remind him he is cherished. And even her severing of friendship with Jefferson is a 2 trait; they can cut someone out of their heart forever, if that person hurts someone they care deeply about.
