In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”, a classic play set during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, young girls, led by Abigail Williams, claim to be afflicted by witchcraft. The accused are various townspeople, including John Proctor, who wants to save her and others in the community. Proctor confesses verbally to witchcraft, but Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife, is sent to prison. Mary Warren, Proctor’s former servant, testifies that she saved Elizabeth’s life when other afflicted girls turned on her.
The Salem Witch Trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In “The Crucible”, the court forced false confessions by threatening to hang them. Witchcraft is the most obvious symbol in the play, representing the fear and paranoia of the characters during the Salem Witch Trials.
In the 17th century, the Salem witch trials charged innocent villagers of practicing witchcraft. Victims from the McCarthy hearings were isolated and ruined, and witchcraft history can be traced back centuries. In “The Crucible”, Abigail Williams, the niece of Abigail Williams Parris, instigates the witch trials by falsely accusing others of witchcraft. She pretends to see spirits and instructs the other accused.
Abigail Williams’ actions in “The Crucible” drive the Salem witch trials, stemming from personal motives. The Salem Witch Trials occurred in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the late 1600s, and most of those accused of witchcraft, not just in the Salem area, were victims of the witch trials.
📹 What really happened during the Salem Witch Trials – Brian A. Pavlac
This was the choice facing those accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts in the 17th century. How did this happen?
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 did Sarah Good accuse?
Good, a prominent witch, accused Sarah Osborne of afflicting the girls after witnessing their fall down infits in the courtroom. This accusation was one of the first and strongest legitimizations of the witchcraft trials. Good was condemned to hang but was pardoned until the birth of her child, Dorcas, who was accused of witchery and imprisoned for over seven months. Good’s infant died in prison with her before Good was hanged on July 19, 1692. According to local tradition, Good was asked by Rev. Nicholas Noyes, assistant minister in the Salem church, to confess and save her immortal soul.
Good is often depicted as an old hag with whitehair and wrinkled skin, often claiming to be sixty or seventy years old. This misconception arises from her physical effects from her hard life, which made her appear extremely aged. Witches are often described in literature as being old wicked women, and Good was considered a marginal woman and an anuisance to her neighbors. However, the Salem trials were conducted unfairly, with a presumption of guilt and little evidence.
Marginality is not worthy of hanging, and Good was never proven to be a witch or confessed to be one. Good’s execution occurred on July 19, 1692, and her constant refusal to confess led her to the Gallows.
Who are the witches accused in The Crucible?
Reverend Hale arrives to investigate the witchcraft accusations against Rev. Parris, Abigail, and Tituba. Abigail claims Tituba forced her to drink blood, while Tituba counters that she begged her to conjure a deadly curse. Parris threatens to whip Tituba to death if she doesn’t confess. Tituba falsely claims that the Devil is bewitching her and others in town. She accuses Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good of witchcraft, with Mrs. Putnam identifying Osborne as her former midwife.
Abigail plays along with Tituba to prevent others from discovering her affair with Proctor, whose wife she had tried to curse out of jealousy. She tries to dance with the devil, and Betty mimics her movements and words, accusing George Jacobs. Hale orders the arrest of the named people and sends for judges to try them.
The narrator compares the Colony to post-World War II society, presenting Puritan fundamentalism as similar to cultural norms in both the United States and the Soviet Union. Fears of Satanism and Communism are compared to fears of Communism following its implementation in Eastern Europe and China during the Cold War.
The rest of Act Two is set in the Proctors’ home, with John and Elizabeth incredulous that nearly forty people have been arrested for witchcraft based on the pronouncements of Abigail and the other girls. John knows their apparent possession and accusations are untrue, but Elizabeth is disconcerted to learn her husband was alone with Abigail.
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.
Who else was accused of witchcraft?
In 1692, Mary Warren, Sarah Wilds, Ruth Wilford, Haverhill, and John Willard were accused of witchcraft in Salem Village.
Who did Tituba accuse?
Tituba, an Indian woman, was enslaved by Samuel Parris, the minister of Salem Village in Massachusetts Bay. She was crucial in the Salem witch trials, confessing to witchcraft and accusing two other women, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, of the same crime. She was imprisoned for over a year but never tried. The only records of Tituba pertain to her central position in the trials.
Tituba’s birthplace is not known, but Thomas Hutchinson wrote in 1764 that she was brought into the Country from New Spain. Later historians have taken this to mean the Caribbean or Barbados, but this is speculation. Elaine G. Breslaw identified her with a “Tattuba” born circa 1662-1666, who was documented as enslaved to Samuel Thompson in Barbados in 1674. Other historians have suggested that Tituba was born in Africa.
Bernard Rosenthal objected to both lines of argument as compounded speculation, stating that Barbadian slaves were generally African, but Tituba was universally described as Indian in Puritan sources.
Who were the 3 accused witches of Salem?
The Salem witch hunt began in 17th-century Puritan New England when a minister’s daughter, Betty, began to exhibit strange symptoms. The doctor suggested supernatural causes, and by March 1, 1692, three women were accused of witchcraft: Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba, an Indigenous woman from Barbados. The witch hunt resulted in the deaths of 20 people, including one who was accidentally killed during torture. The Salem witch trials are still fascinating to people today because 17th-century Puritan New England was a highly codified patriarchal society.
Young women seemed to be on the same page for reasons that nobody really understands, even to this day. They may have dabbled in fortune telling to ease their anxieties about their marriage prospects, which determined their futures and financial stability. Many of the women were servants and nieces, who may have experienced heightened anxiety about their marital prospects due to lack of money and family connections. Many of them were orphaned during skirmishes with Native Americans on Massachusetts’ northern frontier and had recently experienced bloodshed, loss, and trauma.
Who was the girl accused of witchcraft?
Dorothy Good, the youngest person to be arrested and jailed in 1692, was accused of practicing witchcraft at the age of four. She was confined to a dungeon-like prison for nearly eight months, initially with her mother and infant sister. However, her comforts were later removed when her sister perished in the prison conditions and her mother was convicted of practicing witchcraft and taken away for execution. Dorothy’s father described her as “chargeable having little or no reason to govern herself”.
Historical accounts of the Salem witch trials often reference Dorothy’s status as the youngest person to be imprisoned and her story with reference to the reparation payment awarded to her father in 1712. Recent research by the Director of Education has revealed more information about Dorothy’s adult life, including her straying and rambling life, and her birth of two children without a husband to claim them as his own.
Who was accused of witchcraft in The Crucible Act 3?
In Act 3 of The Crucible, a considerable number of individuals in Salem are accused of witchcraft, including Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor, Mr. and Goody Corey, Goody Nurse, Tituba, and Mary Warren. This leads to a series of events.
Who all was accused of witchcraft in The Crucible act 2?
Elizabeth was accused of witchcraft by Abigail subsequent to Parris’s discovery of a needle in her abdomen.
Who lied in Act 2 of The Crucible?
Proctor and Elizabeth were cognizant of Abigail’s purported witchcraft and suspected her of intending to remove Elizabeth from the situation. Scene 2 substantiated their concerns, while the innocent poppet bestowed upon Elizabeth foreshadowed Elizabeth’s subsequent arrest in Scene 4.
📹 I Was There: The Dark History of the Salem Witch Trials (Season 1)
In Salem, Massachusetts the witch trials have begun and many of the accused must confess, in this clip from Season 1, “Salem …
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