Anyone In The Crucible Faced Witchcraft Accusations?

In The Crucible, witchcraft accusations are primarily driven by fear, religious fanaticism, and personal vendettas. Abigail Williams manipulates the situation for her own benefit, leading a group of young girls who claim to be afflicted by witchcraft. Elizabeth Proctor is accused of witchcraft by Abigail Williams, who previously had an affair with John Proctor. She believes that removing Elizabeth from John’s life will bring her and John together.

The Salem witch trials in Massachusetts Bay were a time of great hysteria and witchcraft. Elizabeth Proctor, John’s wife, is also accused of witchcraft by Abigail Williams, who believes that removing her from John’s life will bring them together. The Salem witch trials ended up being a crucible, as the descendants of Salem’s “witches” are all around us.

In Act 2, Elizabeth Proctor is accused of witchcraft by Abigail Williams, who manipulates the situation for her own gain. She is spared the death penalty due to being pregnant. To avoid punishment, Abigail accuses Tituba of being a witch, who then accuses Goody Osburn of witchcraft. Abigail also threatens Mary Warren, Mercy, and Giles Corey, who realizes he accidentally accused his wife of witchcraft and repents by sacrificing his life to seek justice.

The Witch Trials and McCarthyism are significant themes in The Crucible, as they highlight the consequences of witchcraft accusations and the impact of witch trials on individuals and society.

Who is blamed in The Crucible?

In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”, Abigail Williams is credited with causing mass hysteria in Salem due to her desire for John Proctor. She manipulates the community through her charm and deceit, including attempting to kill Elizabeth and save her name. Abigail, who worked as a maid in the Proctor home, had an affair with John, leading to her firing. Abigail’s obsession with Proctor led to her actions, including murdering innocent people. She also engaged in physical relations with John, which led to her falling in love with him. Abigail’s manipulation and deceit contribute to the hysteria in Salem.

Who accused Mrs Proctor of witchcraft?

Mercy Lewis accused Elizabeth Proctor of being tormented by a spectre on March 26, 1692. William Rayment, a local, heard rumors about Elizabeth Proctor being questioned in court the next day. One girl went into a trance, threatening to hang her, but later explained it was for “sport”. Abigail Williams and Mercy Lewis also reported being tormented by Elizabeth’s spectre. In April 1692, 31 men from Ipswich, Massachusetts, filed a petition attesting to the upstanding character of John and Elizabeth and denying any evidence of witchcraft.

In May 1692, a similar petition was filed on behalf of John and Elizabeth, containing signatures from 20 men and women, including wealthy landowners. The petition questioned the validity of spectral evidence, testified to their Christian lives, and stated that they were always ready to help those in need.

Who is accused in Act 2 of The Crucible?

In The Crucible Act 2, Elizabeth Proctor is accused of witchcraft during the mass hysteria and witch trials in Salem Village in 1692. The main events involve the Proctors’ maid, Mary, making a poppet in court and Abigail pretending to have been stabbed in the stomach with a needle. The court clerk finds Elizabeth Proctor with Mary’s poppet and accuses her of harming Abigail. Rev. Hale visits the Proctors to speak with everyone whose name has been mentioned in connection with witchcraft, including Rebecca Nurse.

He also questions the Christian character of the Proctor home. Elizabeth wants John to convince Abigail to tell the court that her accusations were fake, and Rev. Hale intends to interrogate those accused from higher social classes.

Who is the most guilty in The Crucible?

Abigail Williams is primarily responsible for the Salem witch trials, as she is the first to accuse innocent people of witchcraft. Judge Danforth is also responsible for the trials, as he is not concerned with justice but only focuses on correcting the trials. The girls of Salem, particularly Abby, are heavily controlled by their greed, with Abigail enjoying immense power and being seen as a saint. They are members of the court and can be put to death for bewitching others.

Thomas Putnam, the first character to blame unnatural causes for the illness among the children, is also involved in initiating the witch hunt. He firmly believes in the witches and their power, causing people to give in to their desires. The trials forced people to give in to their desires, highlighting the human flaws in the Salem witch trials.

Who confessed to witchcraft in The Crucible Act 2?

Mary Warren enters town, and Proctor threatens to whip her for disobeying his order not to go to town that day. Mary gives Elizabeth a poppet she sewed during court proceedings, which Elizabeth accepts. Proctor asks if it’s true that fourteen people are in jail, but Mary tells him that now thirty-nine are: Goody Osburn has been convicted and will hang, while Sarah Good confessed to witchcraft and saved herself. Hysteria feeds itself, as people have confessed to non-existent witchcraft.

Sarah Good’s confession was the only way for her to save herself, as the Fifth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution is designed to eliminate forced confessions. Proctor dismisses Sarah Good as a “jabberer”, but Mary reveals that Good had tried to kill her in the past. Judge Hathorne asked Sarah Good what she mumbled, and she claimed she was reciting the Ten Commandments.

Who confessed to witchcraft in The Crucible act 4?

Proctor, struggling with his conscience, agrees to confess his alleged crimes, which is overjoyed by Hathorne and Danforth. Cheever writes the confession, which is to be hung on the church door. The men bring Rebecca to witness the confession, but Proctor denies seeing Rebecca Nurse in the devil’s company. Danforth pressures Proctor to name other guilty parties, but he refuses.

Proctor reluctantly signs the confession, but snatches the sheet from Danforth. Danforth demands the confession as proof of Proctor’s witchcraft. Proctor refuses to nail the confession on the church door and tears it in two, renounces it, and calls for the marshal. Herrick leads the seven condemned prisoners, including Proctor, to the gallows. Hale and Parris plead with Elizabeth to remonstrate with Proctor, but she refuses to sway him from doing what he believes is just.

Who accused Giles Corey of witchcraft?

Giles Corey, born in England in 1611, was one of the six mento be executed during the Salem witch trials of 1692. He was pressed to death with stones for refusing to “put himself on the country”, meaning he refused to be put on trial. He emigrated to Salem and remained there until 1659 when he relocated to Salem Farms, where he owned an extensive plot of land, appearing as a prosperous farmer. However, his personality, reputation, and relationships with others tainted this picture. Corey’s reputation as a “scandalous life” and lack of consideration for others in the community led to further suspicion of his guilt during the witch trials.

By the time of the trials, Giles was 80 and married to his third wife, Martha. On March 19, 1692, Martha was arrested for witchcraft. Giles decided to testify against his wife, but eventually tried to recan this deposition, leading to greater suspicion of his involvement in witchcraft due to the stigma surrounding perjury. One month later, on April 19, 1692, Giles Corey was accused of witchcraft and a warrant was out for his arrest.

Two primary accusations were filed by Abigail Hobbs, who named Giles and Martha Corey as fellow witches, and Exekiell Chevers and John Putnam, Jr., who filed an accusation on behalf of Ann Putnam, Marcy Lewis, Abigail Williams, Mary Walcott, and Elizabeth Hubbard.

Who was accused of witchcraft in Crucible?

The individuals designated as witches, namely Tituba, Giles Corey, Martha Corey, Rebecca Nurse, Goody Osborne, Goody Good, and John Proctor, are scheduled to be executed in accordance with the sequence of their accusations. Notably, Elizabeth, John Proctor’s pregnant wife, is not among those to be executed.

Who got accused of witchcraft in Salem?

The trial of the original Three Witches in Salem involved three witches: Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne. Tituba, a slave from Barbados, was identified as the witch responsible for their suffering. Sarah Good, an impoverished, lower-class woman, was also implicated. Both witches were questioned and examined by magistrates in Salem Village. Tituba’s ethnicity is debated, with some suggesting she was South American or Native American. Sarah Good was pregnant with her third child during the trials.

Who were the first 3 woman accused of witchcraft in Salem?

The first three to be accused of witchcraft were Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborn. Tituba was an obvious choice (LINK TO TITUBA’S EXAMINATION). Good was a beggar and social misfit who lived wherever someone would house her (LINK TO GOOD’S EXAMINATION) (LINK TO GOOD’S TRIAL), and Osborn was old, quarrelsome, and had not attended church for over a year. The Putnams brought their complaint against the three women to county magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne, who scheduled examinations for the suspected witches for March 1, 1692 in Ingersoll’s tavern. When hundreds showed up, the examinations were moved to the meeting house. At the examinations, the girls described attacks by the specters of the three women, and fell into their by then perfected pattern of contortions when in the presence of one of the suspects. Other villagers came forward to offer stories of cheese and butter mysteriously gone bad or animals born with deformities after visits by one of the suspects. The magistrates, in the common practice of the time, asked the same questions of each suspect over and over: Were they witches? Had they seen Satan? How, if they are were not witches, did they explain the contortions seemingly caused by their presence? The style and form of the questions indicates that the magistrates thought the women guilty.

The matter might have ended with admonishments were it not for Tituba. After first adamantly denying any guilt, afraid perhaps of being made a scapegoat, Tituba claimed that she was approached by a tall man from Boston obviously Satan who sometimes appeared as a dog or a hog and who asked her to sign in his book and to do his work. Yes, Tituba declared, she was a witch, and moreover she and four other witches, including Good and Osborn, had flown through the air on their poles. She had tried to run to Reverend Parris for counsel, she said, but the devil had blocked her path. Tituba’s confession succeeded in transforming her from a possible scapegoat to a central figure in the expanding prosecutions. Her confession also served to silence most skeptics, and Parris and other local ministers began witch hunting with zeal.

Soon, according to their own reports, the spectral forms of other women began attacking the afflicted girls. Martha Corey, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Cloyce, and Mary Easty (LINK TO EASTY’S EXAMINATION) (LINK TO EASTY’S PETITION FOR MERCY) were accused of witchcraft. During a March 20 church service, Ann Putnam suddenly shouted, “Look where Goodwife Cloyce sits on the beam suckling her yellow bird between her fingers!” Soon Ann’s mother, Ann Putnam, Sr., would join the accusers. Dorcas Good, four-year-old daughter of Sarah Good, became the first child to be accused of witchcraft when three of the girls complained that they were bitten by the specter of Dorcas. (The four-year-old was arrested, kept in jail for eight months, watched her mother get carried off to the gallows, and would “cry her heart out, and go insane.”) The girls accusations and their ever more polished performances, including the new act of being struck dumb, played to large and believing audiences.

Who did Putnam accuse of witchcraft in The Crucible?

Ann Putnam and her husband Thomas accused Rebecca Nurse of witchcraft due to their jealousy and belief that her healthy children could be explained by witchcraft.