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The Salem witch hunt was a period of pain, suffering, and disorder that was a product of iniquitous desires. This period of prosecutions and hangings represents one of the most unfortunate eras in early American History, in which religious beliefs became extreme and hypocritical. In her article, “The Lesson of Salem,” author Laura Shafiro writes, “[The] witch trials represent more than just a creepy moment in history; they stand for the terrible victory of prejudice over reason, and fear over courage.” Accordingly, as demonstrated in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Puritan beliefs became radical during the Salem witch trials, eradicating logic and order and promoting trepidation. The court officials of Salem were intolerant of witches, and thus, …show more content…
they did not apply reason during the trials of the accused, granting those charged an unreasonable ultimatum between confession or hanging. Also, due to the fear that quickly surfaced in Salem, the witch trials were able to progress and worsen. To begin, the Salem witch trials were driven primarily by vengeance and land interest, yet authority figures were blinded by their prejudice toward witches.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Elizabeth Proctor states, “The Deputy Governor promise hangin’ if they’ll not confess, John. The town’s gone wild, I think. She speak of Abigail, and I thought she were a saint, to hear her. Abigail brings the other girls into the court, and where she walks the crowd will part like the sea for Israel” (Arthur Miller, 52). Elizabeth illustrates the manner in which the desire to purge Salem of witches paved the way for Abigail Williams, instigator of the witch trials, to be deified. Correspondingly, Salem officials’ belief that Abigail was God’s representative deprived them of reason. As a result, those who were accused did not possess the right to plead for their innocence, but rather they were forced to confess or be hanged. Additionally, in The Crucible, Reverend Hale speaks to Deputy Governor Danforth about the situation in …show more content…
Salem: Hale. But it does not follow that everyone accused is part of it.” Danforth. No uncorrupted man may fear this court, Mr. Hale! (Arthur Miller, 98). Danforth’s reply demonstrates his refusal to consider that injustice is occurring. Therefore, Danforth highlights how suspicion and unrest in Salem, as well as the multiple accusations, served to eradicate logic. Due to the irrational acts of the court officials, panic and cowardice dominated Salem. Furthermore, the fear that materialized in Salem served to exacerbate the Salem witch trials.
In The Crucible, John Proctor discusses the allegations and confessions of witchcraft with Reverend Hale, declaring, “And why not, if they must hang for denyin’ it? There are them that will swear to anything before they’ll hang; have you never thought of that?” (Arthur Miller, 69). Proctor illustrates that the confessions to witchcraft may not be a representation of what is truly occurring. Since those charged with witchcraft are confronted with the possibility of being hanged, they confess to witchcraft out of fear and they blame others, resulting in a concatenation of accusations. Moreover, in The Crucible, Deputy Governor Danforth makes the decision to arrest those who signed the paper that claimed that Rebecca Nurse, Martha Corey, and Elizabeth Proctor were all righteous women. In response, Francis Nurse states, “Mr. Danforth, I gave them all my word no harm would come to them for signing this” (Arthur Miller, 94). Francis’ promise illuminates the townspeople's fear of being falsely accused of sorcery and condemned. The citizens of Salem were aware of the injustices that were occurring. Nonetheless, their trepidation restrained them from voicing their disapproval and rioting, thus allowing the trials to
continue. During the late 1600s, intolerance and prejudice toward witches in Salem, Massachusetts paved the way for pandemonium. The illogical approaches of authority figures during the Salem witch trials evoked great fear in the townspeople. Consequently, the trials were prolonged, and a gargantuan amount of people were unjustly condemned. Accordingly, such injustices have continued to be observed throughout history. In modern times, radical groups behave similarly to the Puritans, ruthlessly murdering others with the belief that they are doing God’s work. These never-ending occurrences illustrate that the lack of reason and the unfortunate cowardice of citizens continues to pave the way for death and destruction.
The events that took place in Salem Massachusetts during 1692 through 1693, would forever define the colonial religious extremists, known as the Puritans. The Salem Witch Trials created a distinct nuance, that marked a dark period in American history. The dramatized version of the Witch Trials, The Crucible, resulted in a semi accurate representation of the historical events that occurred in Salem Massachusetts. The author Arthur Miller, wrote the playwright by incorporating factual content, as well as imaginary aspects that brought the characters of the Witch Trials to life.
In the Crucible there are two quotes Parris says “You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!” So what this means is that anybody accused of witch gets hanged. People really do not have a choice. Putnam says “This woman must be hanged! She must be taken and
Salem Witch Craft In 1962 the penalty for witchcraft was to be hung or smashed. There was a big outburst of witchcraft and spells that were going around among the people of Massachusetts in 1962. Some of the women of Salem began the witchcraft, many people started to catch on and follow them. A lot of these people were hung up to what the Bible said about the wrongs of witchcraft.
The statement,“The Crucible is essentially about courage, weakness, and truth,” is proven true numerous times, throughout the play. The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller, about the true events that happened in Salem, Massachusetts, between the years 1692 and 1693. The Salem witch trials consisted of many hangings, lies, and complete mass hysteria. The citizens of Salem followed the religion of Puritanism, and the ideas of predestination. The root of the mass hysteria comes from their belief in the sense that in something happens then it must have been planned by God. In Miller’s portrayal of the story, Abigail Williams was the ringleader of the witch trials, and she used the idea of predestination to cover up her own sins. Abigail was a very manipulative girl and ruined many lives. John Proctor, Mary Warren, and Elizabeth Proctor were just a few of the victims in Abby’s game. John, Mary, and Elizabeth exhibit the traits courage, weakness, and truth, whether it was in a positive or negative way.
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.
In the modern day it’s hard to believe there’s even still ‘’witch hunts’’ as you can say where a group of people are stereotyped as something without them doing the actual stereotypical thing. We live in a world where blacks are getting shot for no reason when they were just walking down the street unarmed and not harming anyone. Blacks and Latinos are always looked down upon in any shape or form. They could be driving a nice car they get pulled over for suspicion of a stolen car, they can get pulled over in an old broken car and they will get pulled over for suspicion of ‘’criminal activity’’. But if it’s a white person the cops will NOT bat a single eye at them despite being in the same situations as the black. And you know what the problem
Throughout The Crucible, Miller is concerned with conscience and guilt. Through the character Abigail Williams, he shows how people are willing to abandon their firmly-established values in order to conform with the majority and protect themselves. Those who refuse to part with their conscience, such as the character of John Proctor, are chastised for it. For this reason, the Salem witch trials raise a question of the administration of justice. During this time in the late 1600’s, people were peroccupied by a fear of the devil, due to their severe Puritan belief system. Nineteen innocent people are hanged on the signature of Deputy Governor Danforth, who has the authority to try, convict, and execute anyone he deems appropriate. However, we as readers sense little to no real malice in Danworth. Rather, ignorance and fear plague him. The mass
The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations. The confession of Proctor would convince others in the town to confess to their
In 1692 everyone was sure that the Devil had come to Salem when young girls started screaming, barking like dogs and doing strange dances in the woods. The Salem Witch Trials originated in the home of Salem's reverend Samuel Parris, who had a slave from the Caribbean named Tibuta. Tibuta would tell stories about witchcraft back from her home. In early 1692 several of Salem's teenage girls began gathering in the kitchen with Tibuta. When winter turned to spring many Salem residents were stunned at the acts and behaviors of Tibuta's young followers. It was said that in the woods nearby they danced a black magic dance, and several of the girls would fall on the floor screaming uncontrollably. These behaviors soon began to spread across Salem. This soon led to ministers from nearby communities coming to Salem to lend their advice on the matter. Many believed that the girls were bewitched. It is believed that the young girls accusations began the Salem witch trials, and they would gather at reverend Parris's house to play fortune-telling games with magic and with Tibuta. One of the games was for them to crack a raw egg into a glass of water and see what shape it made in the glass.
Even though The Crucible is not historically correct, nor is it a perfect allegory for anti-Communism, or as a faithful account of the Salem trials, it still stands out as a powerful and timeless depiction of how intolerance, hysteria, power and authority is able to tear a community apart. The most important of these is the nature of power, authority and its costly, and overwhelming results. “But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or against it,” says Danforth conceitedly. With this antithesis, Miller sums up the attitude of the authorities towards the witch trials that if one goes against the judgement of the court they are essentially breaking their relationship with God. Like everyone else in Salem, Danforth draws a clear line to separate the world into black and white. The concurrent running of the “Crucible” image also captures the quintessence of the courtroom as Abigial stirs up trouble among the people that have good reputation and loving natures in society. In a theocratic government, everything and everyone belongs to either God or the Devil.
The Salem Witch Trials took place in the summer and into the fall of the year 1692, and during this dark time of American history, over 200 people had been accused of witchcraft and put in jail. Twenty of these accused were executed; nineteen of them were found guilty and were put to death by hanging. One refused to plead guilty, so the villagers tortured him by pressing him with large stones until he died. The Salem Witch Trials was an infamous, scary time period in American history that exhibited the amount of fear people had of the devil and the supernatural; the people of this time period accused, arrested, and executed many innocent people because of this fear, and there are several theories as to why the trials happened (Brooks).
During the early winter of 1692 two young girls became inexplicably ill and started having fits of convulsion, screaming, and hallucinations. Unable to find any medical reason for their condition the village doctor declared that there must be supernatural forces of witchcraft at work. This began an outbreak of hysteria that would result in the arrest of over one hundred-fifty people and execution of twenty women and men. The madness continued for over four months.
During the late 1600’s, Salem, Massachusetts, there was a period of time where a society, known as the Puritans, created a hysteria of witchcraft and other satanic like fears. During this “witch trials” panic, just fewer than twenty people were killed due to the accusations of them being associated with witchcraft. These trials were unjust and there was no real way to determine whether the person was innocent or not, due to the defendant having to either confess publicly that they were associated with the devil or be hung on the towns scaffold. Two novels are associated with these events that took place during this time period, Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter. Both
People are often wary of things that they find to be different than what they are used to. In 1692, a series of witch trials occurred in Salem, Massachusetts, where Puritan religion was heavily practiced. A group of girls, including one named Abigail Williams, were caught dancing and singing in the woods, which is not allowed in the Puritan religion. This situation is described in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. To take the focus off of getting caught, Abigail Williams and the girls accuse innocent people of being witches and conjuring with the devil, and claim that these people practicing witchcraft cause them to act differently. In the 1950s, Senator McCarthy acted similarly by accusing many different people of being communists, although his claims were false. Arthur Miller based his play on the Salem witch trials because he was similarly accused of being a
Arthur Miller’s book The Crucible, based on historical people and real events demonstrate the witch hysteria that unfolded in Salem, Massachusetts in the seventeenth century. The story is set in a Puritan community, where the belief that witchcraft is Satan’s work and that there are people serving him amongst the Puritans creates a paralyzing fear of witchcraft. This eventually leads to the witch-hunts that take place in order to cleanse Salem and reaffirm their devotion to God. Since the events that took place are acknowledged as some of the most tragic events in American history, it is fitting, then, that the book follows the classic model of a tragedy. In Bennett and Royle’s book An introduction to literature, criticism and theory, tragedy