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Effects Of Salem Witch Trials In The Crucible

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The 1962 Salem witch trials occurred in Massachusetts. The Salem community was mainly composed of Puritans. In New England, Puritans had immense influence in the late seventeenth century, but their influence soon diminished due to the opening of frontier settlements. For centuries, Christians thought they were at war with witches, whom they called servants of Satan. In Europe, the execution of witches climaxed in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. However, there were multiple trials in New England prior to Salem, but only the Salem witch trials boasted such a large number of the accused and condemned. Nineteen of the thirty-six witch executions in America under the early colonial laws occurred in Salem in 1692, and it is almost certain that some witchcraft accusations were the result of economic and social strife that already existed in Salem Village. However, at the time of the play America feared the spread of communism. This is because at the end of World War II Korea split into two zones, the north, which is communist, and the south, which is democratic. Additionally to the communist North Korea, America was in a cold war with Russia, the communist power house, and enemy number one for America. During the scare, America turned to wrongful accusations and sentencing which lead to the creation of The Crucible. Therefore, in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Massachusetts forgoes vigorous witch trials and accusations that corresponds with the McCarthy trials era (Colton). The witch trials of Salem in 1692 were wild, outrageous offenses against justice. Martin explains the 1953 term witch-hunt as synonymously depicted in the public mind with the congressional investigations. Miller’s plays have been closely identified with contemporary issues, mirroring the parallel between the witchcraft trials and the Congressional hearings as the main issue of the play. The play is an authentic allegory of the red scare deciphering parallels in setting, characters, and the pervasive paranoia of the two horrific societies. However, Miller’s addition of an adulterous relationship between Abigail Williams and Proctor serves primarily as a dramatically imperative motive for Abigail’s later accusation

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