Puritanism In The Crucible

The play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller recreates the events of the Salem Witch Trials in the past. The Salem Witch Trials of the late 1600s were mass killings, directed by a group of young women. This retelling features Abigail Williams, a smart and malicious girl, who wants John Proctor to be hers and only hers. But John Proctor, despite sleeping with Abigail once remains loyal to his wife. This makes Abigail curious on how to take his wife out of the picture. John’s wife, Elizabeth Proctor isn’t trusting of him right now. It’s understandable since he did cheated on her. Mary Warren is the Proctor’s house maid and is one of the accuser in the witch trials. She is the opposite of Abigail, timid, weak, easy to influence, and does the

Life in the 1600’s was arduous for members of Puritan society. Strict social rules, including defined gender-specific roles, mandatory attendance at church, no self-indulging activities, and limited personal freedoms, forced people to repress their feelings and opinions to maintain a good reputation. God was involved in every aspect of life, and punishment fell upon those who were seen as not doing God’s work and deviated from the norm. The Crucible, a play set during the events of the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts during this time, focuses on the mass hysteria which plagued the people and their reactions. A group of girls went dancing in the woods, and were caught by Reverend Parris. To avoid getting in trouble, the girls, led by Abigail Williams, claimed being the victims of witchcraft. John Proctor, who previously had an affair with Abby while she worked for his family, refused to believe the accusations of witchcraft. After Abby accuses his wife, Elizabeth, John does his best to prove her innocence, yet ultimately ends up being hanged himself. The events are tragic, and many people died as a result. Abigail’s “in the moment” survival is evident in her disregard for virtue in favor of reputation throughout The Crucible, whereas John Proctor ultimately decides integrity is more important than survival through his admission of guilt.

The play, “The Crucible,” includes a setting in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1600’s. The people of Salem considered faith and religion to influence every aspect of their life, causing suspicion and intolerance any time someone didn’t follow their religion. The faults and consequences of living in Salem, a Puritan town, were that any misfortune or illness could easily be associated with the act of witchery. What began the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, was in the home of Reverend Parris, who had a slave from the Caribbean who practiced black magic in the woods. These new and foreign practices were seen as dangerous, causing her to become a threat to the town and its own religion. Her name was Tituba, and she was the first woman to be accused of witchcraft. According to the play, Abigail Williams, a self-centered young woman, declared, “She made me do it! She made Betty do it!” (Miller 43). This quote is referring to how Abigail is fearful of being accused of witchcraft, so she claims that Tituba, the foreign, black slave, forced her into doing it. Abigail lies constantly throughout the play, blaming and accusing others of doing things that they never have, so she goes against Puritan cultures, but pretends to worship it. She would do anything to not be punished or hanged, and to get back her first love, John Proctor. To contrast, the Deputy governor of Massachusetts, Judge Danforth arrives in Salem to preside over the witch trials, by sentencing accused people

In the small town of Salem when it was engulfed in hysteria due to the accusations of children that many of the townspeople partook in witchcraft. “ Miller's play employs these historical events to criticize the moments in humankind's history when reason and fact became clouded by irrational fears and the desire to place the blame for society's problems on others. Dealing with elements such as false accusations, manifestations of mass hysteria.”Among the accused is John Proctor, a strong, steadfast farmer. John Proctor fulfills the requirements of a tragic hero by the way he is perceived in the beginning but how he changes throughout. During the Salem witch trials in the 1690s the situation of John Proctor, in which he shows in his disastrous

In the play Rev. Parris discovers Betty, his niece Abigail , and Tituba dancing in the woods and suspects witchcraft. The “dancers” coordinate a story they will tell to the people. Abigail and John has a lot of conflict because she accuses Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft but Elizabeth can’t go straight to the gallows she has to go to jail because she is pregnant and have to wait until she has the baby. Now that Abigail accuses Elizabeth she also accuses all these people for no reason so she doesn’t get hanged for witchcraft. In the play Elizabeth thinks she’s helping John by lying but she’s making him look more of a liar to all of Salem. In the play Giles Corey feels guilty because his wife Martha Corey has been accused of witchcraft because he said she reads

In addition to the vengefulness in the play, there was a lot of fear and self-preservation that led to the persecution of many innocent people. When the rumors of witchcraft first came about, Reverend Parris knew his daughter and niece had something to do with it. Earlier, he stumbled upon their dancing in the woods, but failed to mention it because he was scared of what people would think of him. The village was already at the verge of turning on him, and he couldn't risk sharing that information for the sake of his reputation. So many people had been accused before he finally admitted that his daughter and niece were two of the girls that started the trials. Lastly, Mary Warren succeeded at preserving her self-image by accusing John Proctor

Beginning in 1862 and ending in 1863, a series of events called the Salem Witch Trials occurred. These events consisted of several people, all members of the town Salem, Massachussets, being accused of witchcraft. Mass hysteria completely overthrew this town, creating panic and disruption. Envy and evilness spread rapidly throughout. Within the time period, twenty people had been convicted and hung for witchcraft. Arthur Miller wrote about these events in a form of a play called “The Crucible.” Amongst those accused in the play wer Abigail and Elizabeth. They are the complete opposite of each other because Abigail only cares about herself and she is purely evil; although they have one common trait: they borh are in love with Proctor.

Girls in their teen years and younger were accusing people of witchcraft to distract the church from the fact that they danced in the woods. Betty and Abigail had started it in the end of the first act saying, “I saw George Jacobs with the Devil” and “I saw Goody Sibber with the Devil” along with many more (Miller 1234). Once these accusations were taken they were sent out to try these people. Cheever was sent to find these people and bring them in. One of which was Mr. Proctor’s wife. When he arrived he asked who charged her and Cheever had said it was Abigail Williams (Miller 1245). At the end of the story Mary Warren had betrayed God and Proctor by telling the court he threatened her to overthrow the court (Miller 1262). The power within salem was shown in all of these ways. The girls killed people of forced them to lie to save their lives. They also ruined lives by having people taken from their families to be put on

Arthur Miller bases the play on the historical account of the Salem witch trials. Miller creates an atmosphere and mood within the play recreating the historical period of Puritan culture.The Puritans demonstrated their faithfulness, honesty, and integrity of physical labor. The Puritans did not tolerate inappropriate behavior. Those with inappropriate behavior were punished publicly and severely if needed.Miller’s exploration of human psyche and behavior makes the play an interesting masterpiece. On one hand, Miller addressed a particularly dark period in American history a time which people believed the devil walked the streets of Salem and could manifest in anyone.The play continues to affect audiences by allowing them to see how dark desires and hidden agendas can be played out.Abigail is a young woman who takes the opportunity to reverse fate, she had affair with Proctor so Abigail takes advantage of the chance to eliminate proctor’s wife by accusing her of witchcraft.The Putnam also seize the opportunity the royal charter was taken away in 1692 and land titles became invalid. Mr. Putnam like Abigail had hidden agendas he will stop at nothing for his own desire even if reaching his goals means falsely accusing his neighbors of witchcraft so he can get their lands.A man by the name of Giles Corey tries to tell the courts he has proof that Putnam is accusing his neighbors of witchcraft but Corey does not want to reveal the name so the court arrests him.After mary warren

In the late 17th century, women in puritan societies were viewed as subservient beings created for the sole purpose of obeying the men around them. They were powerless in most situations, and women who chose to claim some of their power back were viewed as witches who could only have had these ideas with the help of the devil. The women in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible are able to successfully take power from a male-driven society on a grand scale, within their family lives, and on a personal level.

In the 17th century, the early settlers, called the puritans, were best known as very religious settlers as they had hardship for there religion. Based on the puritans early ages, if you were to lie, you were granted a greater punishment. Which could result to death by stone, or being put in the stock or getting hanged. The early puritans were strictly all about being very religious and being all about the man upstairs. In massachusetts bay colony, it was a man's town. The men did not appreciate anything that the woman did. But it would be really different if the men were to lie, or want a divorce or do bad.

In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller a series of events having to do with the Salem Witch Trials occur. A group of girls are trying to do witchcraft in order to find out what had happened to Mrs. Putnam’s babies because all but one of them had died. However, the Reverend who preached at the church there Reverend Hale was looking for them in the woods and found them doing a strange dance and saw one of the girls naked. One of the girls was in love with another character who had already had a wife, John Proctor.

At the beginning of the book Tom has just been released from prison after being in there for killing a man in a fight. Tom feels he was just defending himself. He is in denial, because he feels he did nothing wrong, and he would do it again if he came in contact with the same problem again. His morals made him feel the killing was justified and not unreasonable in any way what so ever. Those morals were imprinted on him by his family.

Puritans in Salem, with reference to “The Crucible” The action of the play ‘The Crucible’ takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692. Salem is shown as a Puritan community and its residents are extremely restrictive of thoughts. The Puritans left England in fear and to avoid religious punishment, they established a society in America founded upon the religious intolerance. The government and religious authority were inseparable and any individual found questioning their authority and power was accused of questioning the holy divine authority which was intolerable and punished.

Theological and humanistic forms of thought have been used long before the first Pilgrims set foot in the Americas. These forms of religious verses nonreligious thoughts have shaped the literature of the early Puritans. The sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, the novel, The Scarlet Letter, and the play, The Crucible, all represented the reoccurring theme of perfection, through the way in which the people must live in order to maintain the standards placed upon them by society. The people of this time were too busy shaming others for their sins, when little did they know that they were just as much a sinners as the accused.