The Crucible Rebecca Nurse Character Traits

Reverend Parris, worried for his own job, explains to Abigail that her “punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it.” Even the idea of witchcraft in Reverend Parris’s house could ruin his reputation in the town and therefore risk his job. By Betty being ‘afflicted’, she is holding power over her own father and his position in the town. She knows that the longer she is asleep, the more desperate her father is going to be blame someone for the witchcraft who is not her. Putnam claims that “There is a murdering witch among us, bound to keep herself in the dark. Let your enemies make of it what they will, you cannot blink it more” (16). Putnam is yet another powerful male figure in Salem Betty has taken a grip over in the town. He, in this quote, truly believes that the devil is among the town of Salem based on Betty’s current condition. Reverend Hale, encouraging Tituba to give more names of witches, tells her to look at Betty’s “god- given innocence; her soul is so tender; we must protect her; Tituba; the Devil is out and preying on her like a beast upon the flesh of a pure lamb. God will bless you for your help”. (47) Betty has convinced Reverend Hale and the others that she is the

John Demos’s nine point portrait of a witch is one way to analysis the case of Rebecca Nurse. To do so, one must first evaluate and understand the history of Rebecca Nurse and her role in the Salem in the late 1600’s. Rebecca Nurse was the wife of Francis Nurse, a farmer who became wealthy after buying and tending a large plot of land between Salem Village and Salem Town. Together they had eight children, and as a family they were prosperous. Connecting this information to Demos’s portrait of a witch, Rebecca Nurse falls under the first four points made in his sketch. These first two points are that she was “female” and that she was of “middle age”. However, the latter point is slightly inaccurate because Nurse was older than sixty years. The final two points that Rebecca Nurse falls under in Demos’s portrait of a witch are that she was of “English” and “Puritan” descent and culture, and that she was “married”, with little or no children. Again, the latter point is not fully accurate because Rebecca Nurse, while married, had, in fact, eight children in her lifetime. The significance of these traits of Rebecca Nurse agree, for the most part, with the

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

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

Their actions of illness actually help cause even more hysteria throughout the town because the villagers believe that the girls are being plagued by a witch. Fear is seen once again in Act I when Tituba admits to witchcraft and tells Reverend Hale whom she saw with the devil. During this scene, Tituba is afraid of being hurt so she continually denies it, until finally, she realizes that nobody wants to hear denials, so she gives them what they want: a confession. After Tituba gives names Abigail sees she must do the same *insert quotes* Betty then gives them names because she believes she saw witches because authority figures like her father and Hale believe her, which becomes a vicious cycle of hysteria. The girls’ “confessions” also end up throwing the witch trials into full action. In The Crucible, many are surrounded so much by hysterical fear that their perception of reality are altered. A prime example of this is Mary Warren. *insert quote* Mary was never lying when she said she saw spirits during the trials. As she explains, she was

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

Rebecca Nurse then proves herself an honest character that is well respected through the plot of the story. She is so well respected that even male figures throughout the play respect her advice. This is shown when Rebecca gives honest advice to John Proctor saying “No, you cannot break charity with your minister. You are another kind, John. Clasp his hand, make your peace” (Miller 181). This is important to Rebecca Nurse as a character because it entails an honest opinion that John should just make peace with Reverend Parris rather than fight fire with fire against him. In addition, when Goody Nurse is convicted of witchcraft, Reverend Hale knows that Rebecca is a very honest and trustworthy person and that in the end she would not be convicted in a trial of witchcraft. This evidence is essential when analyzing Rebecca considering the fact that she was able to Justify in the short time she was with Reverend Hale the honest and trustworthy women she is. All in all, Rebecca Nurse manifests herself as an individual who is can always give her honest opinion and is well respected.

Within today’s society, an individual’s morals determines how one is scrutinized, judged, and reprimanded. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams is a character with compelling moral principles. Abigail’s disoriented moral constitution allows the theme, the detrimental effects of mass hysteria, to be constantly reassured throughout the play. Through the egotistical, manipulative, and deceitful rhetoric of Abigail Williams, Arthur Miller is successful in conveying how the spread of misinformation can tear apart a small town.

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

Rebecca Nurse was a good person at heart. Her image changed when she was accused of witchcraft and people started to consider her as an evil person. "As for Rebecca herself, the general opinion of her character was so high that to explain how

Betty wakes up and is uncontrollable. Rebecca Nurse enters and calms her. Rebecca then warns Parris that identifying witchcraft as the cause of Betty 's illness will lead to further problems in Salem. Mr. Putnam asks Rebecca to visit Ruth and attempt to wake her. Ruth is the only Putnam child to survive infancy, and Mrs. Putnam is jealous of Rebecca because all of Rebecca 's children are healthy, whereas Mrs. Putnam had lost seven infant children.

Also, Rebecca Nurse was treated unfairly in court due to suspicion of being involved in witchcraft, but should have been judged based on solid evidence. Rebecca is a positive individual who suggests to solve everybody’s problem: “let us go to God for the cause of it. There is prodigious danger in the

Rebecca Nurse was one of the most respected people in town and known for being a good person. In the play, Rebecca shows good pride when she was accused of witchcraft. When Rebecca Nurse was accused of killing Putnam’s babies she said, “let us go to God for the cause of it. There is prodigious danger in the seeking of loose spirits. I fear it, I fear it. Let us rather blame ourselves and—” (Act I 26). Rebecca prided herself in believing that Goody Putnam’s accusations of her were false. Throughout the play the accusations of witchcraft became more and more serious once they started punishing people. Though if one confessed and turned in other people, they would be safe from hanging. Goody Nurse prided herself into not giving up people’s names and lying just to save herself, “why, it is a lie, it is a lie; how may I damn myself? I cannot, I cannot” (Act IV 129). Even though Rebecca Nurse was put to hang, she kept with her morals and did not give up other people’s names. She stuck with what she truly believed in even when her life was on the line. Miller showed good pride through the acts of Goody Nurse because she held pride in her beliefs and did not give up on them even when her life was at stake.

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

Another example of vengeance dictating a characters' actions would be the dispute between Mrs. Putnam and Rebecca Nurse. In a scene at Parris's house, Mrs. Putnam asks Rebecca to take a look at her daughter, Ruth, who is also ill. Rebecca dismisses her anxiety and explains that she is just going through a silly season and will tire of it and wake up. Rebecca's optimistic interpretation of Ruth's condition is not favorably received by Mrs. Putnam. She comments that, "You think it God's work you should never lose a child, nor grandchild either, and I bury all but one" (Miller 1249). Shortly after, one might conclude Mrs. Putnam suspects Rebecca of murder, when she asks Hale, "Is it a natural work to lose seven children before they live a day" (Miller 1256). Since every child Rebecca delivered that belonged to Goody Putnam died, she believes that Rebecca is using her spirit to kill