Salem Witch Trial In The Crucible

The Salem Witch Trials brought havoc among the citizens of Salem, Massachusetts starting in 1692. Many of the people within the town continued to have strong loyalties to their new Puritan religion and their old king back home. The church of England had moved away from the Catholic religion with the help of King Henry VIII and the Puritans were a new group of people who accepted the split from Catholicism but still believed that the church of England had a lot of aspects that remained with the Catholic religion. Despite this, loyalty to the king remained strong because the Puritans were not looking to break off from the Church of England instead they wanted to reform the religion and make it their own. These loyalties stretched to such an extent that any sin committed was also considered an act of treason and thus punished. The Salem community was constantly searching for evil within their town to prove their righteousness to God which lead to high rates of fear and paranoia in their daily lives. The strict Puritan religion soon became the root cause of the monstrous imagination that started to form within the community of Salem. Many people still feared the presence of Catholic ideas within their communities and in response were willing to go to any extent to irradiate these views. Some historians also account the beginning of the trials to divisions within the two towns of Salem that lead to tensions and turmoil between the townsmen. But without the increased belief in their new religion, women around town wouldn’t have been persecuted. The strict belief in the Puritan religion and culture was the root cause of fear and paranoia that led to the mass execution of many women and townspeople during the Salem Witch Trials.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play that takes place in Salem Massachusetts in the 1600s, where a theocracy was in place at the time. The book is a fictional retelling of the Salem witch trials which took place during 1692 and 1693. The story follows a farmer named John Proctor who cheated on his wife with a young girl named Abigail Williams. John’s infidelity to his wife causes him to feel guilty about it throughout the events in the play. Another significant character in the book is Reverend Hale, who came from Beverly to Salem so that he could give his expertise on the topic of the witchcraft. When Reverend Hale arrived, he sparked the fear of witchcraft in the people of Salem. Once the trials began and the amount of people accused of witchcraft increased, Hale started to feel guilty because he was part of the reason why the trials started in the first place. In Act 4, the final act of the play, both Reverend Hale and John Proctor were trying to resolve their inner conflicts.

Salem was an unstable community in the 1690’s. People had this new idea of witchery in the community, and they believed that the devil was constantly trying to infiltrate. Neighbors were accusing one another, man or woman, of witchery. Although some argued that the witch trials were a result of hysteria, the accusations were caused by social feuds and class conflicts, the puritan worldview, the role of women in the settlement, and wars and anxiety. The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller attempted to demonstrate these themes, but there was some parts that were not depicted to the truth.

The Salem community was rife with latent hostilities and the witch trials provided an outlet for the expression of those hostilities in a society which had little opportunity for speaking out. The society was so confined and ordered so when people had a small chance to experience freedom they went to far to the other extreme and suspicions and envy burst into revenge. Individual disputes were considered immoral because they meant 'breaking charity' with's one neighbours. There was much unexpressed, unexpiated guilt in the community. For example Abigail had a grudge against Elizabeth Proctor because Elizabeth fired her after she discovered that Abigail was having an affair with her husband, John Proctor. Abigail used the witchcraft craze to accuse Elizabeth and have her sent to jail.

Puritan laws were extremely strict and the community needed to follow this laws, so everyone who went against the laws or did something that was against the law was viewed as a sin and that they deserved to be punished, this is why the community took the trials seriously and accused harshly the “witches”. There was hysteria because of the “witches” was among the streets of colonial Massachusetts, so the government and the judicial court, that were heavily influenced by puritanism, started a special court in Salem to hear the

In Salem, there is very little tolerance, and everything and everyone belongs to either God or the Devil. This dichotomy functions as the basic underlying logic behind the witch trials. Reverend Hale states in regard to the witch trials, “We cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise.” (Miller 31). He says this because he is trying to communicate his religious views and is exerting his opinion on others, whether it is truly accurate or not. As Danforth says in Act III, “But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between. This is a sharp time, now, a precise time—we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. Now, by God’s grace, the shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it.” (Miller 87). This statement accurately sums up the attitude of the authorities toward the witch trials. In his own right, Danforth is indeed an honorable man, but, like everyone else in Salem, he sees the world in black and white. Since the court is conducting the witch trials, anyone who questions the trials, such as Proctor or Giles

Meaning each claim forced the accused to accuse others in order to save themselves, leading to more charged of witchcraft. In addition to Salem being a small community the outcome would be catastrophic. Thus dividing the people of Salem against each other. For instances the Salem witch trials proved the division that existed within the community by uncovering the hatred and selfish interest fostered between some of the different individuals. In one case, the jealousy harbored by Mrs. Putnam towards Rebecca Nurse’s family shown through. When Mr. Putnam tries to seize land belonging to Giles through the witch trials. Furthermore people suffered from mental and emotional trauma. Illustrated in most of the cases for those who witnessed the murder of loved ones based off of mass hysteria. Due to these reasons, after the witch trials ended and the people that were accused were found innocent, different parts of the community fostered hostilities against each

There is much one can learn about this tragic blemish on our history as the United States of America. The Salem Witch Trials have been sensationalized as of late, becoming a highly popular television show, and an event that many movies have been loosely based upon. Without doing the proper research, one would think that the trials were more violent than they became. There were no witches burning at the stake, or daily hangings, or drownings, but people of the time were frightened nonetheless. The acts of just a few key people drove a whole town to hysteria and fear. Throughout the trials over a hundred people were accused of witchcraft, and nineteen people were executed solely based on the claims of others that they were using the Devil’s Magic. Many were accused without any evidence of proof. The fingers of two little girls, driven by the urging of one powerful man created a butterfly effect that caused a wake of destruction within the walls of Salem. It can be shown through research that the Reverend Samuel Parris was the driving force behind the hysteria to which the townspeople of Salem were subjected.

The Salem Witch Trials took place during a time when families were turned against each other, for fear that they would be held in association with the accused and be outed as” devil worshipers”. Many used this “Witch Hunt” as a reason to settle rivalries. The Salem witch trials in American history was a series of investigations and prosecutions that caused 19 convicted “ witches” to be hung, and many other suspects to be imprisoned in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony. Although teenage boredom and books played a part in the Salem witch trials, a combination of economics and personal rivalries were real reasons for these trials , so strong accusations developed among the community.

Mr. Alden asked me if I could have a conversation with two of his students that were involved in a fight during dismissal time, yesterday. He informed me that the mother of one of the students (Fares) wanted to talk to the other student involved (Salem), but he didn’t allow it to happen. He asked me during the flag ceremony and later when they went back to class, Fares mom was upstairs and talked to Salem, as soon as he saw that happening he stopped it.

Are the salem witch trials a heavily talked about subject? Does society even know what the salem witch trial is? The salem witch trials started in 1692 and lasted roughly two years before people stopped making false accusations. The salem witch trials was a very bad thing that can be argued whether there was any truth behind any of it. The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller.

The Crucible is a play that was written by Arthur Miller and draws parallels to the Salem Witch Trials and ‘Communism witch-hunts” in the 1950s. The play is set in 19692 in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. One night, a black slave named Tituba takes a group of young girls dancing in the woods. A few nights later, Betty Pariss, one of the dancers fell into a mysterious coma-like state. The ring-leader of the girls, Abigail along with a various number of girls are accused of witchcraft and communicating with the devil. After Abigail admits to nothing beyond dancing, she urges the other girls to do the same. John Proctor, a local farmer soon speaks to Abigail alone .Not known by anyone else, Abigail and John had an affair the previous year that

The Salem witch trial is fully of mystery and suspense. It every man for themeself. People are controlling each other so they can hurt one another and see their enemy crush in life. Everything that is going on is the cause for attention the teenagers want to be the center of attention and get what they want. Salem witch trial has affected everyone in “The Crucible’ family and the government they do not know what to believe. Everyone is full of lies and guilt but who is there to believe if inconet people are getting blamed and killed for things they have not done. During this time people minds are brainwash who knows what is the next step. In this time period the “ laws of God” is important to everyone or if they don’t follow these laws

“The Crucible”, by Arthur Miller, took place during the Salem witch-trials in 1692. The trials started when Abigail Williams and a few girls got caught dancing in the woods leaving one of the girls “possessed”. During the trials the people of Salem were out for revenge and the witch-trials were a great way to take revenge on those they disliked. Many people in Salem are concerned about their reputation, Reverend Parris, John Proctor and Abigail Williams go to extreme lengths to keep their reputation.

The Salem Witch Trials in the late 1600’s were an outburst of irrational chaos and paranoia that lead to the execution of about twenty people in the Puritan town of Salem Massachusetts. First, the Witch Trials begin with Abigail Williams and a few of her accomplices, who affirmatively participate in witchcraft, but when given the power to make accusations, she utilizes Tituba as a scapegoat for her deranged actions. Secondly, the witch-hunt escalates due to hysteria, past grudges, animosity, jealousies, and self-interests which ultimately causes the collapse of the town. Lastly, the Puritan society of Salem enables the witch trials to advance because the status of one’s religious life and moral laws are a concern to the town; if Salem’s Tree of Knowledge, religion, is threatened, then the culprit is associated with the devil. Salem is torn apart by accusations lead by irrational fear which are fueled by self-interests.