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Social aspects of the Salem witch trials
Social cause for salem witch trials
Disscuss five themes in the crucible by arthur miller
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The Criminal
In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is based on a true event called the Salem Witch Trials in Colonial Massachusetts, this event started in February 1692 and ended in May 1693. During this event it all started when a group of girls from the Salem village were claimed that they were possessed by the devil and then the hysteria started from then on. Many people were accused of witchcraft not just women it was also men even children, so women weren’t the only one accused; 19 people were executed and more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft which is awful. One theme Arthur Miller explores in The Crucible “false charges harm the accuser as much as the accused.”
One example proving the theme is when Mary Warrens says that
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she was choked and attack by spirits in court when the people who were accused of witchery confronted her. She thought her lies were imperceptible and now Parris is asking her to prove to him on how she faked her fainting, Parris says “Then you will confess, will you not? It were attacking spirits made you faint!” (Act III, Parris pg.83), Mary Warren tells him “I—I used to faint because I—I thought I saw spirits” (Act III, Mary Warren pg.83). It is obvious that Mary is lying, before she said that she is getting attacked by spirits and now changes it to I thought I saw spirits, Hathorne was confused when she said that, he was very incredulous on why she thought she saw the spirits. It gets back at her for not telling the truth, Mary doesn’t have a back up to help her explanation on how she was attacked by spirits while being confronted with the accused “witches” now she doesn’t know what to do if she tells the truth she will also die because Abigail has threatened to kill her if she told what really happened. Another example proving the theme is when Abigail is in the woods with Tituba drinking blood that was beguiled, made to kill Elizabeth John Proctor’s wife; Abigail of course did not tell the truth and lied, she blamed it all on Tituba making her in the wrong, in which she is not and there is no deposition to accuse Tituba, she was asked by Abigail to make the charm so she can kill Elizabeth.
Abigail threatens Mary Warren and Betty’s life if they don’t keep their mouth shut about what really happened in the woods “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 of 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…” (Act 1, Abigail pg.30). Now that Abigail knows that she is in the wrong she ran away taking her uncles money with Mercy “There is news, sir, that the court must reckon with. My niece, sir, my niece---I believe she has vanished” (Act IV, Parris pg.94). This example shows false charges harm the accuser more than the accused because she kept the truth hidden inside and only letting out the lies to save herself, her life now is even more threatened then Mary’s and Betty’s life. Everyone in court is getting close to finding the answer to this whole situation and Abigail is scared for her
life that soon vengeance will take over and kill her, to save her own life she runs away before wrath takes her over with Mercy taking her uncles money so she can start a new life elsewhere. In conclusion, lies will cause a major impact on life especially if the lying is about something that is serious and not telling the truth will haunt for the truth to come out. Abigail was the main problem to this hysteria, if she didn’t lie and just told the truth many people in the village wouldn’t be accused of something they’re not or even get executed for the wrong reasons. Many of the people in the village were indictment of something there not and they had to be kept in prison, waiting to get executed and not just adults were in prison there were also children too; she basically killed and hurt so many lives all because she wanted to be with the man she had an affair with and that man is John Proctor who has a loving wife and four kids, he was executed for refusing to give up his name and let history know that he confessed in something he didn’t do wrong; Proctor will not be able to live happily with his wife and kids after all.
The focus of Miller’s The Crucible is an appalling witch trial that morfs the once-peaceful town of Salem into a cutthroat slaughterhouse. As a lucrative playwright and a not-so-subtle allegory author, Miller is a seasoned wordsmith who addresses people akin to himself, and is not secretive about that information. The Crucible best serves its purpose as a learning device and a social statement, especially at the time of its publishing. Miller‘s piece showcases the appeals in an easy-to-identify manner that is perfect for middle or high school students who are new to the appeals, or for English majors who have no problem pinpointing them, making this play ideal for a classroom setting.
In “The Crucible”, the author, Arthur Miller, conveys what he believes Senator Joe McCarthy is doing during the Red Scare. The Salem Witch Trials were true events, while this play uses these trials and adds a fictional twist to show a point. Witchcraft was punishable by death during this time. Once names started flying in town it was like a chain reaction, people were accusing others of witchcraft because they were not fond of them or they had something they wanted. Some definitions state mass hysteria as contagious, the characters in this play deemed it true. In this play, innocent people were hung because some of the girls in town cried witch.
The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, was written during the early 1950s.It was the time of The rise of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s.All throughout history, accusations of witchcraft have been used as an excuse for the discrimination of people who cultures, traditions, race, and ideas were not easily accepted nor understood by the society even if it was untrue.In today’s society students are taught this because it show’s how important “The Crucible, and McCarthyism were and what changes they went through because of the human condition.It is extremely important and appropriate because it allows students the opportunity to respond in terms of their own experiences .The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism had many similarities. In The Crucible Abigail
In Arthur Miller’s story The Crucible (1953), he asserts that deadly rumors and false beliefs lead to innocent deaths. These deaths total up to 19 souls hanged away from Salem, MA due to “witchcraft”. All the witchcraft talk began when Reverend Parris, Salem’s minister, caught his very own slave, Tituba, dancing in the forest along with many other girls one evening. These girls are known to be Abigail Williams, Mary Warren, Susana Walcott, Betty Parris, and plenty other wild girls of Salem. These young women seem to praise Tituba during the dance which lead them to act in an insane and unwomanly manner. They run around like psychos, yell from the top of their lungs, get undressed, and place
Witchcraft started in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Superstition started when women were accused of acting strangely. These superstitions turned into trials, and later lead to mounds of hanged people. Most of the people accused were innocent, but the harsh judge rulings left them with nothing to live for. The only options for the tried, no matter if guilty or not, were to claim guilty, living the rest of their life in prison, or to plead not guilty and hang. Due to both consequences being equally as punishable, many people isolated themselves from society. Unfortunately, some people caused the uprising of the salem witch trials more than others did. In the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams single handedly attributed to the
The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, is based on the actual people of the Salem witchcrafts trials. Arthur Miller wrote the Crucible in the early 1950s in response to experiencing his own modern “witch trials” in the United State. During this time, the panic of Communism has arisen in the United Stated and Senator Joseph McCarthy convinced himself that the American government was slowly being taken over by communists. He began hunting them out, forcing them to confess, and getting them to name their associates, which is very similar to the events in Salem witch Trials. Although Miller researched on the historical records of the Salem witch trials, The Crucible displayed many historical inaccuracies regarding
During the 1690’s in Salem, Massachusetts, one of the most disgraceful events in American history took place. 20 innocent people were sentenced to death on charges of witchcraft (Kortuem). At the time there was a witch scare sweeping across the North East of America in a time we know today as the Salem Witch Trials. The witch trials was one of the most shameful events in American history. In fact, it was compared to another event by a man named Arthur Miller. Arthur Miller was a playwright from New York who wrote many famous plays like Death of a Salesman, All my Sons, and of course The Crucible (Kortuem). In The Crucible, Miller was comparing the McCarthy Hearings at the time to the events hundreds of years earlier in the
Arthur Miller’s political allegory of McCarthyism, in the form of The Crucible, has been adapted into a faithful companion to the play that is able to incorporate the emotions and atmosphere that may not have been available to some in the play. Miller’s screenplay is very faithful to the book, having many of the same lines and situations the character in the play experience. Because of this, we are able to make an active connection to the play, thus expanding our understanding of the play. Lead by Daniel Day-Lewis, The Crucible’s plot is portrayed by a solid cast, who, for the most part, are able to engross the viewer into the story. The film contains many captivating scenes that exemplify hysteria meant to be depicted in the play, that demands the viewers attention while also immersing them in emotions. The film adaptation of The Crucible is a well produced version of the play that not only serves as a companion to the play, but an entertaining and though provoking experience.
Great events, whether they are beneficial or tragic ones, bring change in a person. These scenarios can give one an entirely new perspective on life, and turn around his way of thinking. Events such as the Salem Witch Trials show the people involved what they could not see before. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend Hale, and John Proctor gain valuable insight into themselves, as well as others.
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is set in Salem village where an atmosphere of enmity and mistrust has been created through the conflicts and disagreements many villagers experience throughout the play. Many of these are caused by or, similar to the conflict between Parris and Proctor, are inflated by the many accusations of witchcraft occurring in the village.
In Arthur Miller 's famous play The Crucible, innocent people are falsely accused of witchcraft and are killed as a result. Even the thought of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1600s would put the whole village into mass hysteria. Mass hysteria refers to collective delusions of threats to society that spread rapidly through rumors and fear. This is the main cause of why so many people were arrested and killed for witchcraft. One way people could save themselves was by falsely confessing to have performed witchcraft. Many people did not do this though. This is because the townspeople were held to very strict moral values and must uphold their good name in society. They did not want a bad reputation. In The Crucible, by Arthur
The Crucible: Hysteria and Injustice Thesis Statement: The purpose is to educate and display to the reader the hysteria and injustice that can come from a group of people that thinks it's doing the "right" thing for society in relation to The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I. Introduction: The play is based on the real life witch hunts that occurred in the late 1600's in Salem, Massachusetts. It shows the people's fear of what they felt was the Devil's work and shows how a small group of powerful people wrongly accused and killed many people out of this fear and ignorance.
Arthur Miller's classic play, The Crucible, is about the witch-hunts and trials in seventeenth century Salem, Massachusetts. What starts with several girls practicing European white magic in the woods escalates to a massive hysteria, with the "afflicted" girls falsely accusing even the respected women in the community of being witches. Eager to "utterly crush the servants of the devil", church leaders and townspeople insist on trying the accused. The punishment for failing to confess to witchcraft is death by hanging. In the end, many are hanged for imaginary crimes, for which no actual proof is ever presented, the only evidence being the word of a handful of girls.
The Crucible is a 1953 play by Arthur Miller. Initially, it was known as The Chronicles of Sarah Good. The Crucible was set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. It talks of McCarthyism that happened in the late 1600’s whereby the general public and people like Arthur Miller were tried and persecuted. The Crucible exemplifies persecutions during the Salem Witch Trials. The people were convicted and hung without any tangible proof of committing any crime. Persecutions were the order of the day. When a finger was pointed at any individual as a witch, the Deputy Governor Danforth never looked for evidence against them or evidence that incriminated them; he ordered them to be hanged. This can be seen through his words “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for those, weeps for corruption!” (1273), the people were persecuted aimlessly. The four main characters in the play, John Proctor, Abigail Adams, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris, are caught in the middle of the witchcraft panic in the religious Salem, Massachusetts in late 1690’s. Persecution is the most important theme in the Crucible, the leaders and citizens of Salem attacks and persecutes one of their own without any tangible evidence against them.
The Crucible is a famous play written by Arthur Miller in the Early 1950’s. It was written during the “Red scare, when McCarthyism was established. Many anti-communists wanted to prevent communism from spreading just like in The Crucible many wanted to get rid of witchcraft. Many would accuse others of witchcraft in order to not be accused just like many would accuse people of communism. In The Crucible witchcraft would be punishable by death. Many were scared to be accused; therefore many would admit practicing witchcraft in order to save their lives. The Crucible is considered a good play because it is based on real life events during the Salem witch Trials and shows how fear played a role in the individual’s life just like during the “Red” scare.