Salem Witch Chapter Summaries

The Salem witch trials was a story of envy, lies, and the danger of the people. Others wouldn’t defend those accused, and if they did, they themselves were eventually charged as witches. In many ways, defending others was condemning yourself. Such was the case for John Proctor in “The Crucible”. John Proctor was someone who had made mistakes, but through his own crucible made peace with himself and defended the honor of himself and the others that would not admit to witchcraft.

The Salem Witchcraft trials was an outrageous event that began in 1692, and ended May of 1693 seeing the execution of many people. Unfortunately most of the victims of this phenomenon were women. For the most part these women were accused for very trivial reasons, such as for being widowed, being of old age and living alone, or for simply collecting herbs and other plants. During this time in history women and men were treated very differently both as they should contribute in the home and in society, this would have presented reasons as to why women were predominantly accused of witchcraft, along with any religious beliefs. The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place at a time of a patriarchal society, the roles of men and women were different, along with how they were treated overall in society. This contributed to the stereotype of women being the ones predominantly associated with witchcraft.

These girls did not all show “symptoms” at one time. The first girl to start experiencing symptoms was Betty Parris. She was followed by Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam Jr., Mary Walcott and Mercy Lewis (History of Massachusetts). These girls were throwing tantrums, hiding under furniture and contorting to pain. Since panic and fear set in, witchcraft was the easy choice to make. In today’s medical science, these girls would have been diagnosed with boredom or epilepsy. Although at the time the cause was unknown, these symptoms were probably brought on from eating rye infected with fungus. The three victims were not the only ones accused. There were numerous cases of scapegoating running prevalent.

The largest outbreak of witchcraft in America took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. A group of girls, including the Parris’s Indian slave Tituba, gathered in the Salem village and were attempting to see the future by decoding “messages”. Shortly after this gathering the girls started showing signs of the possessed (pg. 73). To this day people all over America are still amazed with the events that took place in this time. But why is that? The fear of the village fell heavily onto the judicial system, which later made people focus on the proper separation of government and religious beliefs. Mass hysteria broke out amongst the village and many people were being accused, therefore leading to many innocent deaths. Although there could be many theories as to the reason the witch trials in Salem began, there are two points of view that are very commonly shared amongst people. Some believe that the Salem witch trials were women unconsciously searching for power, whereas others believe it was an encephalitis epidemic.

Over a few months, the girls then acted strangely: “getting into Holes, creeping under Chairs and Stools… uttering foolish and ridiculous speeches…” (Background Essay). Soon, their behavior showed in other young girls throughout Salem. Due to coercion from Betty Parris’ father, the girls confessed that two local women and Tituba were witches causing the odd conduct. One theory for all of this is simply that the children were looking for outlets. Children were expected to act like adults, for they were treated as adults. They were not allowed to play with toys or participate in games. Boys, at least, had a few creative outlets such as school, crafting, and exploring the outdoors. Because Salem, like most societies, was patriarchal, many girls were not sent to school and were expected to tend to the household. This was the world that Betty Parris and Abigail Williams lived in. There was little for them to feed their imagination with, so they may have decided to make up rumors and have some fun. Evidence of this is found in Salem Witchcraft when Charles W. Upham writes, “They soon … became intoxicated … by the terrible success of their imposture (acting), and were swept along by the frenzy they had occasioned…” (Document 7). Upham furthers his writing by talking about how the Devil and witches were fake and the girls were faking it for their own amusement the whole time. The historical context Salem Witchcraft is significant because Upham goes against the Bible, which goes against the Puritan belief. We possibly see more of this acting take place during Bridget Bishop’s examination. Whenever Bishop would move, her actions were influenced upon the afflicted girls. For example, when Bishop shook her head, the girls were tortured (Document 6). It would appear that Bishop was controlling the girls, but the girls could’ve mimicked Bishop to

The Salem Witch Trials were a series of accusations, trials, and executions based on the supposed outbreak of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. The trials began during the spring of 1692, and the last of them ended in 1693. It all started when two young girls, Abigail and Betty Parris, began experiencing violent convulsions and outbursts, which were thought to be brought about by witchcraft. Whether they were faking these symptoms, were afflicted with an actual sickness, or were experiencing them because of some sort of psychological reason is widely debated, though it is known that the sisters accused their maid, Tituba, of forcing them to participate in witchcraft with her. Some who theorize about the causes of the trials dismiss the Parris girls involvement in the beginning and instead attribute the outbreak of accusations to judgement upon the members of society who break social or religious rules, or who struck the upright members of society as ‘strange’ and ‘suspicious’, such as the homeless, the poor, and old or widowed women. The cause of the hysteria that went on in Salem after this is what is speculated by so many. There are probably hundreds of theories out there, but a few in particular are more widely known, accepted, and supported than others.

Ann Putnam, Mercy Lewis, who is her servant, and Mary Wilcott, who was Ann’s best friend, were the first to accuse people. Mercy, Ann, and Mary Wilcott would listen to Tituba, an Indian servant, and her tales of voodoo and supernatural events in her native Barbados. They reported seeing a ghost by a coffin and started having strange symptoms, such as pain, would speak gibberish, became contorted into strange positions, and crawl under tables and chairs. Abigail Williams and Ann Putman became the most active and youngest of the accusers. “The accused witches were brought before the magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne and questioned, even as their accusers appeared in the courtroom in a grand display of spasms, contortions, and screaming and writhing” (history.com). Ann claimed to be afflicted by sixty two people. In 1706, Ann Putnam offered a public apology for her participation in the witch trials at Salem. She stood in church while her apology was read: “I desire to be humbled before God. It was a great delusion of Satan that deceived me in that sad time. I did not do it out of anger, malice, or ill will” (history.com). Putman was the only one of the afflicted girls to make an apology. Mysterously, she never married and devoted her life to raising her

Stacy Schiff’s national bestseller The Witches highlights the suspicions, betrayals and hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. In 1692, the commonwealth of Massachusetts executed five men, fourteen women, and two dogs for witchcraft. One might wonder how and why this Puritan colony became so caught up in this witch frenzy. In this book she is able to paint a clear picture of the panic that occurred among the people of Salem.

In Rosalyn Schanzer book Witches! The Absolutely True Tale Of Disaster In Salem a story is told about a time when Salem, Massachusetts was flooded with witchcraft accusations. In 1692 Betty Parris and Abigail Williams started having mysterious fits. After a doctor examined the girls he diagnosed them with being bewitched! The people started a hunt for all witches in the new land. The first cause are the accusations, the second cause, the fits and the third cause is anger.

The witch trials of Salem are often thought to be a hysteria that can be categorized as fake and sometimes “crazy”. The trials started by the belief of the supernatural and the practice of the devil’s ability to grant people the ability to hurt others. Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams are the two young ladies that began the stereotypical beliefs in witchery. Williams and Parris started having hysterical fits and “uncontrollable” tantrums filled with screaming and crazy-like seizures. The result of all the insane opinions and conclusions to society were nineteen hangings, and one pressing. The Salem witch trials were a result of hasty decisions and the fear of God’s anger on the people of society. Today, the trials would be seen as crazy or fictional.

In late winter and early spring of 1692, residents of Salem Village, Massachusetts, a thinly settled town of six hundred began to suffer from a strange physical and mental malady. Fits, hallucinations, temporary paralysis, and “distracted” rampages were suddeny occuring sporadically in the community. The livestock, too, seemed to suffer from the unexplainable illness. With the limited scientific and medical knowledge of the time, physicians who were consulted could only offer witchcraft as an explanation. Psychiatric disorder is used in a slightly different sense in the argument that the Witchcraft crisis was a consequence of two party factionalism in Salem Village in this account the girls are unimportant factors in the entire incident. Their behavior “served as the kind of Roschach test into which adults read their own concerns and expectations.” Possessed individuals exhibited learned behavior patterns and that words and actions varied only slightly among them. The affected women experienced an inner conflict which was explained by the ministers as a struggle between good and evil. As to the physical symptoms: the fits, trances, and paralyzed limbs, among others, Karlsen attributes them to the afflicted girls’ actual fear of witches as well as the idea that once they fell into an afflicted state they were free to express

In 1692, a town in Massachusetts by the name of Salem Village found itself in one of the most well-known cases of mass hysteria. This saga started with three girls Elizabeth Parris, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam a neighborhood friend. Abigail Williams, the niece of the town’s minister, began to display weird and questionable behavior. The town’s physician William Greggs, was called to determine the cause of this sporadic behavior. The town’s physician determine that the three girls were under “the Devil’s influence” and they had been bewitched. What started as a silly game between children, slowly brought the town of Salem to the edge of insanity. This insanity lead to the killing of 25 innocent people due to their crimes of witchcraft. When scholars look back at the Salem Witch Trials they often time ask the question “What were the key factors in the spread of hysteria throughout the town of Salem?” Most scholars contribute the widespread of hysteria to three important factors; these factors include social, political, and religious tension that occurred in Salem Village. Each one of these factors played a key role in the start of the Salem trials and why it spread so rapidly throughout Salem Village.

National Geographic writer Rosalyn Schanzer has written a terrifying but true story known by the name Witches!; The Absolutely True Tale Of Disaster In Salem. In the town of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 two girls started to have unexplained fits and lead the town into chaos. The answer that the people came up with was witchcraft. Everyone starts to accuse their friends and family, making them go to trial and it already has lead to the deaths of many people. The trials were very unfair using spectral evidence, the close-minded judges, and the false accusations.

The central issue at stake for people during the Salem witch trials were a series of hearing and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft. It all started in Salem Village, in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. A man by the name of Richard Godbeer, the author of “The Salem Witch Hunt” and several other books is a professor at the University of Miami. Godbeer’s research and teaching interests center on colonial and revolutionary America. Also, his fields of interest are in gender, sex, witchcraft and religious culture.

I chose to do my book reviews on the Salem Witch trials during the 16th century. I wanted to learn about women’s right’s, the prominence of religion, and punishment during this time. The book I choose is “The Story of the Salem Witch Trials” 2nd Edition by Bryan F. Le Beau. I believe this was an excellent book and that he was very well qualified to write this book.