Causes Of Witch Trials In The Crucible

The purpose of my paper is to compare and contrast Arthur Miller’s The Crucible with the actual witch trials that took place in Salem in the 17th Century. Although many of the characters and events in the play were non-fictional, many details were changed by the playwright to add intrigue to the story. While there isn’t one specific cause or event that led to the Salem witch trials, it was a combination of events and factors that contributed to the birth and growth of the trials. Some of these events included: a small pox outbreak that was happening at the time, the revocation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony charter by Charles II, and the constant fear of Native attacks. These helped in creating anxiety among the early Puritans that

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a historical play set in 1962 in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts. As you may know, you've all placed your trust in the words and actions of someone close to you. And what do they do? They betray you! It's rarely justified, and can happen to the best of us. Based on authentic records of witchcraft trials in the seventeenth-century this play explains how a small group of girls manage to create a massive panic in their town by spreading accusations of witchcraft. These rumors in turn are the causes that many citizens are hung for. This essay will show how the lies and betrayal of a few individuals eventually leads to the downfall of Salem and its society.

In 1692 the Puritans, colonists that believed in the bible, settled in America. They believed in witchcraft, and believed that people who study it should be executed. This led to many people being accused and executed. What made the Salem witch trials of 1692 such a threat and fear to the people of Massachusetts? The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 was caused by the fear of being possessed by the devil, by the fear of being accused and what your consequences would be, and lastly the belief of people being witches which was a crime worthy of death.

The year is 1692. Throughout the small, Puritan, seaside community of Salem, rumors and accusations fly like gusts of ocean wind. Neighbors turn on neighbors, and even the most holy church-goers are accused of being the devil’s servants. The Crucible details this real-life tragedy of the Salem witch trials, in which nineteen members of the Salem community were hanged for alleged witchcraft. Abigail Williams, a seemingly innocent girl, accuses dozens of Salem’s citizens of witchcraft through the support of her mob of girls and the complicity of the court officials. The title of this play gives significant insight into the experiences of several of these Salem citizens. Although a crucible is often used in chemistry for heating up substances, the title of the play carries a much greater weight. In his famous play The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the title of “crucible” to signify the severe and unrelenting tests of faith and character that many of the community members endure throughout the Salem witch trials, which he achieves through the use of figurative language and fallacies of relevance and insufficiency.

In Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, Arthur intrigues audience time and time again with the historical context, social implications, and the Salem, Massachusetts Witchcraft Trials of 1962. Most members in Salem feel the need to prove their authority in ways such as accusing those who have done nothing or hanging them without proving their innocence first. The thing is authority is not made up by an authority figure, but by society. Miller’s The Crucible, demonstrates how people misuse their authority for cruel purposes through a fascinating plot, well-crafted characters, and well-set theme. During the hysteria of witchcraft trials in Salem, there were multiple figures of authority or per say the community who abused their power, Reverend Hale, Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris and Judge Danforth.

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were considered to be a dark and difficult time in American history. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 19 were killed during the time of the trials.The Salem Witch Trials were a series of witchcraft cases brought before local magistrates in the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 17th century. The Salem Witch Trials officially began in February of 1692, when girls accused the first three victims, Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, of witchcraft and ended in May of 1693, when the remaining victims were released from jail.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a famous play which was written in the early 1950’s. The Crucible is a play based upon the events in 1692, which led to the ‘Salem Witch Trials’, a series of hearings before local magistrates to prosecute over 150 people accused of witchcraft. This was due to the hysteria caused by a group of girls accusing innocent people of witch craft. The play was set in Salem, Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. Salem was a very isolated and puritanical community, so their biggest fear was the devil and witchcraft. A person being accused of witchcraft was the worst thing possible in this society.

Most people have seen a court trial being carried out, but imagine if you see one where there are multiple people being charged for crimes that could cost their lives, and they have little to no evidence towards them. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, this happens to the people of Salem. Miller writes the play to resemble what is going on in the world and politics at that time. In Act 3, there are many accusations and pleads made such as Martha Corey being related to witchcraft, Rebecca Nurse being innocent, and Mary Warren and the other girls lying.

The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, takes place during the 16th and 17th century in colonial America. The play is based on the events of the Salem Witch Trials. During this period, many Puritans were executed or jailed on accusations of evil and witchcraft. Many false accusations came from others who were simply just trying to save themselves or cast revenge upon their enemies. The play presents readers with an example of the evil through characters like Abigail Williams, Abigail’s friends, and the officials of the court. Abigail, the girls, and the court are all equally responsible for the deaths in Salem.

Beginning in 1245 in France and peaking in the late 1670s, witch trials become one method by which to subdue and control social deviance--beggars, drunkards, outspoken women, and even the mad. Control was placed in the hands of the church, which began to wane the Enlightenment took hold. Yet, twenty years after the “zenith” of these trials, in 1692, witch trials found new life within a small Puritan community of Salem, Massachusetts (Cockerham 2014: 10-11). Scholars have returned again and again to this event, demanding that “Salem must be about something other than witches, demons, superstitious clergy, and hysterical children. Otherwise it simply does not make sense” (Rivett 2008: 495). So how do we begin to make sense of what seems to be a bizarre example of mass hysteria? Did these people simply go mad? I believe Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, holds the answers. In order to fully grasp the trials, first we must look to the broader social context of Salem. Using popular scholars of the time and the works of Weber and Durkheim, I will expose the social causes behind the deaths of these people, illustrated by Miller’s text. Then I will briefly explore the social context within which Miller himself was writing, exposing a pattern of paranoia and anxiety evolving out of isolation and individualism, a pattern which did not end in 1692.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” The Salem Witch Trials occurred back in 1692, yet they were brought to life once again during the 1950s by Arthur Miller in his play “The Crucible.” Here, he retells the famous story in which a Puritan town falls victim to witchcraft. Although Miller retells the facts of the trials, he made some history changes in the play in order to make it more of a suspenseful drama and to incorporate other writing aspects into the story. Manipulating key factors in the play brought about different literary aspects that Miller used to send his message to the people of the 1950s to today. In “The Crucible” Arthur Miller made changes to history that developed the theme that lying and deceit can negatively impact a person and their community.

The play focuses on the fact that, once accused, a person would have little chance of acquittal, given the irrational and circular reasoning of both the courts and the public. One of the aspects that prompted Miller to write The Crucible; was exploring ‘the tragedy of people who, under social pressure, lose their integrity’. The Crucible explores this theme in the context of the Salem witch trials. Many citizens of Salem lost their sense of decency and community when they went along with the crowd to continue the persecution of the innocent.

In the 17th century a group of Puritans migrated from England to America - the land of dreams - to escape persecution for their religious beliefs. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is based on the real life witch hunts as well as his own experience with the anti-communist campaign in the United States during the 1950s. In the 1692 Salem, Massachusetts the superstition of the existence of witches existed and the inhabitants of the town were Puritans who followed the Bible in a very strictly. A small group of powerful people wrongly accused and killed many people out of their own fear, ignorance, jealousy, or vengeance is a main point in the play. An abundance of people in Salem believed or pretended to believe the show the girls put on from what they felt was the Devil’s work.The Salem witch hysteria would not have occurred if the people of the town did not follow the rules of their religion as severely as they did.

Arthur Miller’s 1953s drama The Crucible is the story of the Salem witch trials in 1692. The people’s reputation in the village of Salem is represented by the accusing of one another to protect their social standing. A bad reputation in the time of the Salem witch trials could have resulted in a social or even physical punishment.

In 1692, 20 people were executed for being witches or warlocks during the Salem Witch Trials. There was rumors from neighboring towns of witchcraft as there was in Salem. The main contributing factors for those 20 people being killed was the religion, superstitions, rivals, boredom, economics, rumors, and how women were seen in that time period. These people were Puritans, a form of Christianity. Part of their superstitions was the ability for someone to be possessed by the devil or in cahoots with the devil or practicing witchcraft. The women in this time had a status almost as low as slaves. Rivals between Salem Village and the Town of Salem were big as the village tried to break off and the town would not let them. When little girls are bored they make up games, this may have been just one big sick game. The rumors would spread around from the other towns and fuel the accusations as proof that there was witchcraft.