The Crucible Power Quotes

In this situation Parris acts as if he is extremely concerned with Betty; however the only thing that worries him is the way others perceive him. If others find out that Betty is sick from witchcraft and Abigail danced with the devil; people will think that Parris, along with his house, has been afflicted by

For example, Reverend Parris was concerned about his reputation, which caused him to listen to the doctor, and allow Hale to check Betty for signs of witchery. Reverend Parris did this to take the blame of witchcraft away from him. Mr. Parris knew if he called Mr. Hale to investigate witchcraft, then the people of Salem would not think he practices witchcraft. Reverend Parris’s plan did allow

All the horrified villagers and upperclassmen saw the witches in action they saw the monstrous effect that black magic was apparently having on poor little child Abigail and twelve year old Ann Putnam Jr., a spell bounded choreography of outburst and spasms. “Look to her! She will have a fit presently,” one girl would cry out, pointing to another, who would promptly commence convulsing. “At other times they warned, ‘We shall all fall!’ and about seven girls would pass out, babbling to the floor. The head of the courtroom on that day was Thomas Danforth, deputy governor of Massachusetts and Harvard’s longtime treasurer, one of the several senior colonial officials . Betty's father called in more authorities to decide if witchcraft was the reason for the girl’s illness. Seeing that nothing was working not the praying or the vigils nor the sermons. Reverend decided to call in the doctors. Being puritan they did not believe in science but there were no options left. Betty was sent away, and did not participate in the trials; the other girls were joined by other young women in staging publicly putting on displays of their distress when in the presence of accused

After Abigail Williams and the girls are discovered dancing in the forest by Reverend Parris, there are rumours of witchcraft among them, when Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam are found "witched". Once the girls discover this, they become more and more frightened of being accused of witchcraft. Abigail is the first to "admit" to seeing the devil, and all the other girls join in, so

The fear of being affiliated with or even being a witch and the shame and dishonor that comes along with it. Reverend Parris is a very paranoid but victimizing character misguided by fear. His daughter Betty becomes ill and he is afraid it’s regarding witchcraft, however he is not fearful for her health. He is concerned with keeping his reputation and position as the Church’s minister. This selfishness is not only a characteristic Parris demonstrates but other people in the town as well. A lot of characters of characters share this interest in saving their own skin under the influence of fear and shame. This will sooner than later contribute to the downfall of the town as a whole. Another reactive character includes Ann Putnam. Another paranoid woman in the town, ready to throw around accusations regardless of how logical or faulty they are. This may be due to the loss of 7 of her 8 children she’s given birth to. On account of this, she is convinced they were murdered by supernatural means, particularly witchcraft. For example she is immediately use Tituba as a scapegoat and blame her for the death of her babies. Other characters within Salem, not only Parris and Ann, will use any opportunity they can to assure their own safety and to save face in front of others. Their lack of consideration for the wellbeing of others will get others into danger and cause a load of anarchy and

Betty Parris is one of the main reason why they had the witch trials. She laid in bed and not moving or opening her eye giving her a lot of attention. Reverend Hale is brought to Salem to check her out. She would randomly burst out yelling at the people around her bed. Betty and another girl laid in their beds not moving or talking to people. Even when people tried to make Betty wake up, she would act limp and unable to move. This cause attention to be brought upon her. The called Reverend Hale to town to look at her. He decided from her acting strange that there must be a witch possessing her. In one scene, she randomly woke up and started screaming witch like things to the people in her room and the people outside her window. The Salem Witch

Reverend Hale, a man called by the town to investigate witchcraft, glared to his left and stared into poor young Betty lying in bed, lifeless and still. A sense of panic rifled through his body, he frantically grasped

The play begins in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris, whose daughter, Betty, lays ill. Parris lives with his daughter and his seventeen-year old niece, Abigail Williams, an orphan who witnessed her parents' murder by the Indians. Parris has sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly, believing his daughter's illness stems from supernatural explanations. Betty became ill when her father discovered her dancing in the woods with Abigail, Tituba (the Parris' slave from Barbados) and several other local girls. Already there are rumors that Betty's illness is due to witchcraft, but Parris tells Abigail that he cannot admit that he found his daughter and niece dancing like heathens in the forest. Abigail says that she will admit to dancing and accept the punishment, but will not admit to witchcraft. Abigail and Parris discuss rumors about the girls: when they were dancing one of the girls was naked, and Tituba was screeching gibberish. Parris also brings up rumors that Abigail's former employer, Elizabeth Proctor, believes that Abby is immoral.

Reverend John Hale is summoned to look upon Betty and the research the incident. He is an expert in occultic phenomena and he is eager to show his knowledge. He questions Abigail who accuses Tituba as being a witch. Tituba, afraid of being hanged, confesses faith in God and accuses Goody Good and Goody Osborne of witchcraft. Abigail and Betty, who has woken up, claim to have been bewitched and confess faith in God. They name several

Mrs. Putnam quickly decides her daughter’s, as well as Betty’s condition, without further analysis, when she says: “Her soul is taken, surely” (Miller 13). Mrs. Putnam models a hasty generalization because she promptly declares Betty and Ruth taken by the Devil without any consideration for another explanation. Mrs. Putnam moves the scene along when she acts illogical, yet persuades others to believe her- setting up the plot for the rest of the play. She wants to believe in the supernatural to rationalize her children’s death, so she quickly chooses witchcraft as the cause for the strange recent occurrences. Miller utilizes Mrs. Putnam’s personality to support the idea that the entire play revolves around hasty generalizations, as she easily convinces most Salem residents of witchcraft, with little

That Little Betty Parris was sick, and that the Dr. Griggs (who was too proud to say that he could not diagnose Little Betty illness) claimed she was bewitched (Richardson 7), were enough reasons for court authorities to suspect witchcraft was the cause of the illness. In addition, several young girls in the village had participated in 弎lack magic?experiments ?harmless adolescent games ?in the company of Tituba, Reverend Parris slave. The restless young girls allegedly met in Parris shed, and created and listened to Tituba incredible tales of sorcery and black arts, which were doubtless an outlet for their repressed feelings. Soon, faulty cause-and-effect relationships sparked delirium.

People in Salem thought that there was witchcraft going on when people were acting weir. One piece of evidence that the people of Salem used to prove that there was witchcraft was Mr. Collins saw Betty fly over the barn. “Mrs. Putnam glancing at Betty: How high did she fly, how high?” Page 12. Word about Betty flying over the barn spread through the town. The Revere is worried that people will think that his daughter Betty will be accused of witch craft. Abigail was caught dancing with Tituba by her uncle. “Abigail: Uncle, we did dance; let you tell them I confessed it and I’ll be wiped if I must be. But they’re speaking of witch craft. Betty not witched.” Page 9. The people of Salem are blaming people of witch craft if they are acting

Reverend Hale believes in his second thoughts of the devil not being such a thing, and sees that Abigail has been setting this all up and framing John Proctor to have his love. Pointing at Abigail, Hale says, “I believe him!...This girl has always struck me false!...”(Act III, 50) After Abigail over-exaggerates and makes the girls believe the devil is in their presence, and the people of the court believe them, Reverend Hale walks out in frustration. People of the court and town don’t know what else to believe because they always thought the girls were saying the truth about what they saw. Hale begins to see that a lot of people in the town of Salem, are corrupted in result of the witchcraft trials.

9. What happened between Abigail and John Proctor prior to the opening of the play?

During the trials, fear was prominent throughout the town due to the thought of a witch being among the townspeople. This is the fuel of the soon to become fire that will spread throughout the town. When Parris found all the girls dancing in the woods, he was fearful of what they were doing due to the lack of knowledge of what the girl were doing. After Parris saw this he later asked Abigail” What did you do with her in the forest?” Parris also said “I cannot blink what I saw, Abigail, for my enemies will not blink it.” With Parris’s reputation on the line, he made sure that the girls did not introduce witchcraft into Salem. Another representation of fear growing through the town is when one of the girls wasn't waking up from that day. After the girls were found in the woods, everyone panicked and ran away except for Betty who froze in place from fear. When she was brought to town and wasn't waking up, Abigail noticed her waking up and told her “ I’ll beat you, Betty! Betty whimpers. My, you seem improving. I talked to your papa and I told him everything.” With Betty being scared of Abigail she tries to yell out the window for her mama and get the attention of the town but is then smacked by Abigail and is flung to the floor but still causes panic and fear through the town.