crucible bickering diagram

Giles feels sorry to his wife of being relate to the witch. On the other hand, Ann Putnam knows that Giles Corey has a big land, which she wants to have his land by telling judge that he is relate to the

    During the later acts of The Crucible, despite how vastly other characters have changed, Rebecca Nurse remains truthful and highly respected, in spite of being accused of witchcraft and arrested. In act four, Reverend Parris even testifies for her good character, which contradicts his earlier accusations of her witchery, by expressing to the judge that if they “let Rebecca stand upon the gibbet and send up some righteous prayer, [he’ll] fear she’ll wake a vengeance upon [the town].” The people of Salem see Rebecca as such a saintly woman that if she were unjustly killed, God himself would be angered. Reverend Parris recognizes this and feels that if someone so christian could be accused of witchcraft, then there is a serious flaw in the witch trials. This realization also reveals how most of the arrests were based on jealousy and paranoia, not actual evidence.

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.

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

Mr. Putnam is a very wealthy and influential man in Salem. As a result of him being driven by power and wealth he uses the witch trials to his advantage. In the past, the Nurses and the Putnams have had disputes: “Thomas Putnam’s man for the Salem ministry was Bayley. The Nurse clan had been in the faction that prevented Bayley’s taking office” (Miller 27). Thomas Putnam would have gained power by having his choice for the Salem ministry chosen. He would gain status and the favor of the leader of Salem, but the Nurse family stood in his way. This incident sparked anger in Mr. Putnam against the Nurse family and now he is out for revenge and he is using the trials to get it. Another grudge he has against the Nurses is connected to land: “Another suggestion to explain the systematic campaign against Rebecca, and inferentially against Francis, is the land war he fought with his neighbors, one of whom was a Putnam” (Miller 27). The Putnams have a history of fighting over land with the Nurse family and this gives him a motive to go after them and their land. Putnam’s desire for land and wealth also gives him the motivation to take the land from the Nurse family in any way he can, including blaming them for witchcraft. This dispute is important because it gives motive to the Putnams and shows their determination to get what they want.

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

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

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

The marshal of in early 30's. Herrick is a nice man and gives Sarah Good some cider. Judge Hathorne- 60 year old Prosecutor. Hathorne is remorseless and presides over the Salem witch

The affected girls were accusing the most likely culprits. Powerful and wealthy families were blaming the less fortunate. According to Jenrette, one well-known family feud at the time was of the Putnam family and the Nurse family. Ann Putnam, age twelve, accused Rebecca Nurse of being a witch. The Nurse family was working towards owning about three hundred acres of land while being targeted by the Putnam family (Jenrette n. pag.). The family’s progress stopped abruptly after Rebecca Nurse was accused of being a witch. Jones stated by the time the trials were over, more than one hundred and fifty people had been accused of being witches. Looking back in history, most of the colonists were accused because they were older, poor, and in family

Several characters that accused others seemed to have other motifs than to cleanse the town of witchcraft. One, for instance, was Thomas Putnam. Putnam was a wealthy and greedy citizen of Salem. During the play, he accuses people of witchcraft to acquire more land. In the play, Giles Corey states that Putnam told his daughter to accuse George Jacobs of witchcraft. If Jacobs were to hang, the only citizen in Salem wealthy enough to buy his land was Putnam. Giles reported this and when he would not name the man who told him, Danforth arrests him for contempt of court. They torture Giles by placing large stones on his chest, making it hard to breathe, until he confesses. The only words Giles spoke were “more weight”.

In 1687, Hathorne was asked to mediate a dispute whether Salem Village should break away from Salem Town. The next time Hathorne returned to Salem Village in 1692, he was Chief Examiner of the Salem Witch Trials and became local Salem Magistrate. (John Hathorne:The Salem Witch Judge) He was chosen by Governor Sir William Phips to be a judge in the Salem Witch Trials. Hathorne took the role of a prosecutor of the witch trials rather than an impartial judge. Hathorne’s questioning began with the presumption of guilt rather than innocence, and he was on the side of the accusers. Hathorne encouraged the people under examination to confess to being witches and also snitch out others that might be witches. Hathorne’s first ever examination was March 1st ,1692. (Salem Witch Trials) Hathorne questioned Sarah Osbourne, Tituba and Sarah Good at the Salem Village meetinghouse. After the Salem Witch Trials ended, everyone regretted who they accused of witchcraft. But Hathorne did not show any remorse at all. John kept his seat on Boston’s Governing

Giles Corey’s real life is similar to Giles Corey’s play. Giles Corey is an interested character in the Crucible, he is a naive and rich farmer who lives with his wife in the Salem Village. During the Salem Witch Trial, he accidentally sets up his wife to be arrested when he tells the judge that he finds his wife’s behavior’s difference. In Giles Corey’s real life, it shows that he is a faithful man with honor and churchman who marries three times. When he is 80 years old, he moves to live in the Salem Village with his third wife(Martha Corey).

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Rebecca Nurse played a prominent and appreciated older woman in Salem. She was drawn into the witch trials because of Mrs.Putman’s beliefs about her. Although Rebecca Nurse is introduced in Act 1 and does not appear again until Act 4, she is an important character because of the moral ideas that she represents. Rebecca made an attempt to help the society regain order by not accusing anyone of witchcraft and carrying out the madness.

As the trials go on, many more accusations are made. Giles Corey accuses Putnam of trying to get other landowners hanged for witchcraft so that he can have their land for himself. Marshall Danforth asks for a source and the person’s name. Giles says that he cannot give out the person’s name. Giles is in the court because his wife, Martha Corey had been arrested and accused of witchcraft. She gave away a pig to a man, and the pig became ill and died shortly after the pig was acquired. Francis Nurse is in the court because his wife, Rebecca Nurse was arrested too. He along with Giles continue to confront Danforth about Putnam’s doing, but Danforth responds with that they will have to put their thoughts into writing