The Crucible Research Paper

Puritans were extremely religious and sought to restore Christianity (Henrietta, James 83). The act of committing any sin including summoning the devil was frowned upon because it was seen as an act of turning away from God. The persecution of witches was viewed as a purge of sin for some. Witchcraft was a serious offense because it was believed that witches made pacts with the devil to charm or kill another. “…power of darkness …murdering witch.”

Puritans believed in the devil and his role as strong as they believed in God and his role. For many centuries, Puritans had the idea that the weakest individuals in society often committed diabolical acts and sins. Furthermore, Satan selected the most vulnerable individuals to do his bidding, among these individuals, women were often held responsible for many sins, including witchcraft. (Godbeer 12). According to Richard Godbeer, in his book, The Salem Witch Hunt, “it was Eve who first gave away to Satan and seduced Adam.” (Godbeer 12). In 1692, witchcraft became a panic among Puritan society. Even though both men and women were accused of witchcraft, women were seventy-six percent more likely to be accused in Salem than men. (Godbeer 12). Puritan society was a male dominate society and men looked down upon women. The reasons to why women in particular were often accused of being witches, was in regards to certain events that associated with accusations. These events were being of relatively low social status and income, being rich or financially independent and being a midwife or nurse.

The hysteria, craze, trials, and deaths, still rest an unsolved case. The theories of politics, rivalries, religion and the “circle girls” seem the most believable, in my eyes. However, as the happenings in Salem village still continue to mislead and amaze not only historians, but many others, the witch trials lie a great turning point for Salem, and the lives of many; let alone

The puritans had no toleration for the practice of witchcraft which is “the practice of magic, especially black magic; the use of spells and the invocation of spirits.” Puritans

In Salem, Massachusetts today, three more people were hanged at dawn. John Proctor, Martha Corey, and Rebecca Nurse lost their lives after not confessing about their apparent engagement in witchcraft. Accused by the word of the girls who were once their house helpers, and who have now become officials of the court, they each stood before hundreds of people of the town who witnessed the three. Each one standing in front of a rope as they recited the prayer in unison, and were hanged one after the other.

The Puritans were a group of fundamentalist people. This meant that they led a life that was to be followed as God put in the bible..For instance, in Exodus 22:18 (Doc A.) it is stated, “‘Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live’”,in the eyes of the Puritans this simple phrase translates into this idea that witches exist and that they must then be eliminated because they caused the Puritan life to be stained and impure.. Although, the Bible does not state how to identify a witch, in the eye of the fundamentalist Puritan anyone could be a witch. This caused the Salem Witch

Witchcraft to the Puritan people was one of the worst crimes committed and those who committed it were sentenced to death. Most of those who were believed to be witches were females. To the Puritans, witches were usually female because they were believed to have made a promise to Satan. The Puritans used witchcraft as a way to prove that Satan and his powers were real. The witch craze took over the small Puritan area of Salem Village, Massachusetts in 1692.

To begin with, Puritans were colonists who wanted to seek religious strength. It was a sin and against the law to not attend a church mass. It was also against the law to pursue any type of witchcraft because the was known to correlate

The Puritans followed the Bible as closely as possible. The magistrates referred to one scripture in the Bible time and time again as to see how to deal with the accused witches, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (Exodus 22:18). Since the Puritans followed

Women were expected to be submissive and follow the direction of their husbands, sons or family. Being an enlightened religion, women were taught to read the bible. They were expected to teach their children the bible from birth. Their roles in society were to pray, support and take care of their children. Puritan religion had little roles for women. Puritans believed that women were naturally weaker than men. This weakness made them easy target for the devil to possess. In other words, women believed they were more susceptible to Satan’s temptation than men were. Their bodies were regarded as Satan’s easy tools for sin and destruction. Most puritan women hated and punished their bodies because they feared it would betray them and give into sin. Women were taught that carnality, licentiousness and drunkenness were sinful and would lead the body astray, therefore letting the devil into the soul. The fear that the devil would try to attack their bodies kept people from engaging in sexual activities and drinking. Puritans named women who were allegedly under Satan’s attacks witches. They believed that witches had been convinced and agreed to be servants of Satan. Witches were considered evil and harmful to the puritan society. This belief motivated puritans to conduct witch hunts all over New England. These witch hunts led to the killing of several people in New

and many other reasons. The Puritans believed that the witches knew magic and could send

Community is important to how a civilization functions. People tend to act in the same ways as those around them and influence each other greatly. In The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, everyone and everything is owned by God or the devil. This leaves little to no room for individuality. Those people who do act for themselves were often seen as a threat to the community and were typically eliminated so they could not further harm citizens.

In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, he strongly outlines Puritanism and its effects on the village of Salem. The intensity of the Puritanism religion lead to an overwhelming sense of suspicion and paranoia coupled with personal issues in the tightknit community. It can easily be concluded that the witch trials started and quickly escalated due to the issues that branch off of Puritanism.. The most paramount of the effects from Puritanism include hysterical fear, personal grudges, and the struggle of upholding reputations.

Imagine the year is 1692. In a small Massachusetts town a culture of highly religious folk live in peace. Salem. It´s late January and the reverendś young niece Abigail and only daughter begin to act strangely. Rumors of witchcraft fly through town and fear runs rampant.In around a year 200 people are unjustifiably accused and 20 sentenced to capital punishment. Who is next? The strange widow down the road? The Coreys? In a time of obscured justice, line were crossed and innocent lives lost. In his breakthrough play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller spins a tale not far from the truth.Letting his readers explore a gruesome tale of blind hatred. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Abigail Williams embodies the wrongdoings of the Salem Witch Trials.

The fictional community portrayed in the film disregards some of the social standards that actual Puritans had established, circa the 1600s, in regard to societal gender roles, but does a good job in accurately presenting other social aspects. In The Village, women are portrayed as a more significant element to the Puritan lifestyle as they assume roles as towns elect. This can be spotted when Luscious, the protagonist, delivers his proposal to the town hall members when he wishes to venture out into the “forbidden” forest. Out of the twelve members at the meeting, five were females; proving to be completely contrary to real Puritan society. Massachusetts Bay Colony, for example, “was a man’s world” with extreme patriarchal social structures. It was understood among Puritans that women were not to assume positions at town meetings and were excluded from any decision-making in the church. Another good example of the prejudice against women was the Salem Witch Trials, in which ¾ of all convicted heretics were females. It was believed that women were more susceptible to Satan’s influence, and for that reason should stay out of the affairs of men and government as a whole. While Shyamalan fails to properly represent