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Early historical interpretations on the Salem witch trials
Explain the social and religious Salem of the witch trials
Early historical interpretations on the Salem witch trials
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Today’s society can be related to the days during the Salem witch trials. We are so quick to judge people without really knowing the truth. We believe what other people say, not knowing if they are lying or not, and we do not seem to care if they are lying. In our world today, we tend to believe most everything that is on the internet or what the media pushes on us to believe. Does witchcraft really exist? Yes, it is a type of pagan religion. Were those accused during the Salem witchcraft trials really innocent? It is very possible and most likely. I will discuss my research information on modern day witchcraft, as well as the correlation between The Crucible and today’s society.
In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, witchcraft was the major storyline depicting the tale of the Salem Witch Trials, where “more
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than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft—the Devil's magic—and 20 were executed” (Blumberg 2007). What is witchcraft? According to Webster’s dictionary, witchcraft is “magical things that are done by witches: the use of magical powers obtained especially from evil spirits” (Merriam-Webster, 2015). During the Salem witch trials and depicted in the story, The Crucible, there were several girls who allegedly became ill and began displaying strange behavior. Many people then started to speculate that these girls were being targeted by witches. Some people even suggested that the girls were poisoned, which made them show signs of ergotism. What is ergotism? Webster’s dictionary list ergotism as “a toxic condition produced by eating grain, grain products (as rye bread), or grasses infected with ergot fungus…” (Merriam-Webster, 2016). However, this theory seems to have been debunked, according to an article written in Science magazine, where the author stated that “there is no evidence either in the trial records or in eyewitness accounts to indicate a high rate of convulsive symptoms in the young children of Salem Village during the witch crisis” (Spanos and Gottlieb, 1976). One of the biggest social factors, regarding the response to witchcraft, was that many people had a lot of superstition, in which they believed strongly in supernatural beings.
Around the 16th and 17th century, superstition grew among the people during the time that witches were thought to be real. Because of the lack of knowledge and misconceptions, many people became superstitious and afraid, causing harsh punishments to be given to the accused “witches.” Another factor was those certain people who would go around accusing their enemy of being a witch, just for an easy way to get rid of that person.
The main religious factor, regarding the response to witchcraft, was the rise in Christianity. Witchcraft was thought of as a plot against the churches, as most of the people in these churches believed that witches worked for the devil, who is known to be an enemy of God. Some people view witchcraft as a religion and there is a religion known as Wicca, in which witchcraft is practiced and performed. Even the Holy Bible, which is recognized as the best selling book of all time, states that “no one should engage in witchcraft, or cast spells…” (Deuteronomy
18:10-11). The Wicca religion is the most well known form of modern witchcraft. There is even a church and school for the religion of Wicca, which is “a religion that is characterized by belief in the existence of magical powers in nature” (Merriam-Webster, 2015). The Church and School of Wicca was founded in 1968 by Gavin and Yvonne Frost. It appears that modern society has moved beyond the superstition and fear, and today, witches are able to practice their rituals of witchcraft openly and without fear of being persecuted. The correlation between The Crucible and the world we live in today is very similar. The main relatable aspect of this story is that people in our modern day society do tend to point fingers and accuse people of things, before having all of the facts of the situation. Even the character of John Proctor, in Act II of The Crucible, stated that “we are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!” (Miller, 1953). Our judicial system is supposed to provide the right that everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty; although, it seems to be the complete opposite, not only during the witch trials but even in today’s society.
Witchcraft was relentlessly thought as the work of the devil with only sinful and immoral intentions. Julio Caro Baroja explains in his book on Basque witchcraft that women who were out casted from society and unable to fulfill their womanly duties became witches as a way to compensate for her failed life. They were thought to be a threat to society as they dwindled in evil magic. This misunderstanding may have originated from the literary works of Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, in their published book, “Malleus Maleficarum”. Accusations of being adulterous, liars and dealing with the devil materialized because of the...
The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, focuses on the Salem witch trials and the extreme behavior that follows the trials. Miller shows how the dark desires and hidden agendas provokes such extreme behavior. The Crucible was written in a time when the anti-communist movement was strongly protested. During the Salem witch trials, a person was guilty until he proved himself
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
During the early years of the colonies, there was a mad witch hunt striking the heart of Salem. Anger, reputation, and even religion play an important part during the play of The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. The author allows us to witness the vivid idea of the hysteria taking place in Salem, Massachusetts, and why it was so vulnerable during the time.
...ion. The Salem tragedy, which occurred in 1692, makes us feel sympathetic towards the innocent people that died. It almost brings tears to our eyes because these people gave in to death in order to maintain humanity on this Earth. Although the deaths of these people were very tragic, it clearly demonstrates that good deed will always over power evil. The people, who reinforced this statement, were people like John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse. These people uprooted the seeds for evil from the ground, to lay the seeds for goodness. Throughout history citizens have branded people as witches, and warlocks. Maybe, a person act's different than us, or they have strange habits, does this make them a witch? In the Massachusetts Bay Colony in January of 1692, you would be branded a witch for these odd doing's. Being accused of witchcraft had serious consequences (spark notes).
Witchcraft has always fascinated many people and been a very controversial topic in North America during the seventeenth and 17th centuries. Many people believe that witchcraft implies the ability to injure or use supernatural power to harm others. People believed that a witch represented the dark side of female presence and were more likely to embrace witchcraft than men. There are still real witches among us in the Utah who believe that witchcraft is the oldest religion dealing with the occult. However, the popular conception of a witch has not changed at least since the seventeenth century; they still caused panic, fear and a variety of other emotions in people.
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.
Religious influence, the manipulation of fear, and the frightening aspects of witchcraft all are very influential to the popular belief of witchcraft during this time period. The popularity of witchcraft in this time period is important because it has shown how in the past when there is no logical explanation they would automatically blame Satan and say it was Satan’s doing. It also shows that history repeats itself because during the Cold War many individuals were accused of being communist even though there was no hard evidence proving this accusation; however, out of fear people will still be convicted, just like during the witch trials. Moreover, witch trials were not only influenced by many things but they have been influential; therefore, showing that they influenced things in our time
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 was written in the early 1950s as an exploration of events which took place in Massachusetts in 1692. What does the play have to offer an audience in 2014?
Suddenly people seemed very paranoid and soon residents were placing blame on one another and accusing each other of witchcraft. In a fifteen month period between 1691 and 1692 nearly twelve dozen people were accused of witchcraft in or near Salem (Norton, p8).
People during these time periods were very superstitious, and blamed unfortunate occurrences on witchcraft because it was easier and more convenient to explain. A few examples were poor crops, death of a child, and failing businesses. Additionally, people blamed cases of the bubonic plague on witches, because there was not a cure and nobody could
For many centuries to the present day, Christians have lived in fear of witches. They were known as to be the devils child who only practiced black magic and thought of as the Christians “persecution”. Witches have been known to mankind since the 1200’s. Throughout the 1400’s, the examination of witches was more focus and moved from the Jews. In the church’s law, it was stated that the belief of existence and practices of witchcraft was “heresy”. Because of what the Christians believed, churches would then torture and hunt down anyone who they thought were witches and killed the many women and only a few of the men. They even made them make the confession of flying through the midnight sky, being in love with the devil himself, practicing black magic and even turning into animals.
Women in the 1950s are portrayed in a bad light, such as being the stay-at-home mom that doesn’t work and has to do the dishes and laundry and cook and not talk back to the husband, etc. In the Crucible, this idea is reinforced. Such as how women are treated differently both in the crucible and the 1900’s by their gender specific roles, the lack of respect compared to men, and social discrimination.
In 1953, Arthur Miller, commonly referred to as the greatest American playwright of the 20th century, wrote The Crucible upon being prompted by the events of McCarthyism. He wrote the play to serve the obvious allegorical purpose of relating the absurd Salem witch hunts to the Red Scare. What he likely didn’t intend was the controversy that would ensue his play regarding the race constructs of the 17th century Puritan society, and how racial conflicts have been present throughout history and still are in the modern day. In The Crucible there is only one character that may display the racial situation of the Puritan society (the slave Tituba), but perhaps the lack of racial diversity within the society also speaks numbers of the cultural disparities.