Furthermore, people could now freely express their hatreds for neighbors and take vengeance under the the guise of an attempt to identify those who communed with the devil. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. Arrest warrants were also issued for Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. A " witchcraft craze " rippled through Europe from the 1300s to the end of the 1600s. After an outbreak of hunts in France in 158788, increasingly skeptical judges began a series of restraining reforms marked by the requirement of obligatory appeal to the Parlement in cases of witchcraft, making accusations even more expensive and dangerous. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. Like the Spanish colonies, the English colonies repeated the European stereotype with a few minor differences. On a more material level, the fact that the land charters to Salem had been revoked helped to create an air of tension about land ownership. The hunts were most severe from 1580 to 1630, and the last known execution for witchcraft was in Switzerland in 1782. The term 'witch-hunt' has become entrenched in our vocabulary and our consciousness to mean, metaphorically, any act which purposely seeks out to punish those who hold unpopular views or. The Salem witch trials of the 1690's portrayed by Millers the Crucible parallel The Red Scare of 1920's, both events revolve around the fear of foreign ideology causing hysteria. They believed that witches were quite real and a gateway into the dark side, the Devil and all that. But the events surrounding the witch trials of Salem in 1692 were not in any way unique or isolated. To find out what was causing the afflictions, a local doctor (presumably William Griggs) and a neighboring minister, Rev. "Tituba and The Salem Witch Trials of 1692." 2023. Who are the experts?Our certified Educators are real professors, teachers, and scholars who use their academic expertise to tackle your toughest questions. This tendency to believe in the certainty of one's convictions as well as the belief that their practices of exclusion were justified among the cultural conditions of Salem. https://www.thoughtco.com/tituba-salem-witch-trials-3530572 (accessed March 4, 2023). Proctor house. As a result of such ideas, by the late 15th century, witches were considered as followers of the Devil. The play is set in Puritan Society in the late 1600s in Salem, where most people are devout Christians and hold a strong belief of both God and the Devil. Miller argues that the fundamental nature of Salem's construction made it a community where the Witch Trials were inevitable. They were Christians who originally left England because they felt persecuted. Anyone who failed to subscribe to Puritan social norms could become vulnerable and villainized, branded as an outsider, and cast in the role of the Other. These included those that were unmarried, childless, or defiant women on the fringes of society, the elderly, people suffering from a mental illness, people with a disability, and so forth. eNotes Editorial, 4 Aug. 2011, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/in-act-1-what-explanation-does-miller-give-as-to-270640. The events in 1692 parallel the witch hunts in 1950s. John Proctor, as Miller portrays him, is a good man whos made a bad, but human, mistake. They believed in short that they held in their steady hands the candle that would light the world. However, the general consensus is that the witch hunts spanning the two continents resulted in the deaths of between 40,000 and 60,000 people. Witch hunts primarily target women and exploit India's caste system and culture of patriarchy. Parris. Parris promised to pay the fee to allow Tituba to be released from prison. Other peers of Miller's, such as playwright Clifford Odets and actor Lee J. Cobb, also testified. What was it about the time period that made such hysteria, and ultimately tragedy, possible. Again, the so-called witches made for the perfect scapegoats. Most accused children had parents who had been accused of witchcraft. Those who did believe saw witchcraft as something to be availed of at best and dismissed at worst. Explanations of the witch hunts continue to vary, but recent research has shown some of these theories to be improbable or of negligible value. She included in her confession complicated tales of witchcraftall compatible with English folk beliefs, not voodoo as some have alleged. []. But there was one entry in Upham in which the thousands of pieces I had come across were jogged into place. When Arthur Miller published The Crucible in the early 1950s, he simply outdid the historians at their own game.. Whether she was aware of the political conflicts around Massachusetts' status as a colony is not known. A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials - Smithsonian Magazine Let us know your assignment type and we'll make sure to get you exactly the kind of answer you need. Charges of maleficium were prompted by a wide array of suspicions. The girls accused a lot of people and got a lot of people of hang for being witches. Ultimately, 19 individuals who had refused to admit guilt were hanged and another was pressed to death. Miller presents the idea that vengeance ruins peoples lives or reputation so that you can get what you want and be satisfied. How Does Arthur Miller Use Witch Hunts In The Crucible In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, witch hunts empowered towns and consumed people's lives with fear. Why did Arthur Miller write The Crucible? As Headley points out, he cites his relationships as instrumental to his writing of The Crucible in an essay he wrote about his process for The New Yorker: I visited Salem for the first time on a dismal spring day in 1952; it was a sidetracked town then, with abandoned factories and vacant stores. Students can make very profitable comparisons between the two tragic heroes: The Manchurian Candidates Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw, and The Crucible's John Proctor. Biography of Elizabeth Parris, Accuser in the Salem Witch Trials, A Brief History of the Salem Witchcraft Trials, Biography of Rebecca Nurse, Victim of the Salem Witch Trials, Profile of Elizabeth How, Persecuted Salem Witch, Rev. Tituba would not likely have been directly involved in the growing church conflict involving Rev. They viewed their difficulties through a theological lens, and rather than attribute the blame to chance, misfortune, or simply nature; they thought that they were the Devils fault in collaboration with witches. By 143550, the number of prosecutions had begun to rise sharply, and toward the end of the 15th century, two events stimulated the hunts: Pope Innocent VIIIs publication in 1484 of the bull Summis desiderantes affectibus (Desiring with the Greatest Ardour) condemning witchcraft as Satanism, the worst of all possible heresies, and the publication in 1486 of Heinrich Krmer and Jacob Sprengers Malleus maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches), a learned but cruelly misogynist book blaming witchcraft chiefly on women. Young women were sometimes accused of infanticide, but midwives and nurses were not particularly at risk. In The Crucible, what message is Arthur Miller trying to get across to the reader? Tituba served as a housekeeper. Tituba was among the first three people accused of being a witch during the Salem witch trials of 1692. Arthur Miller in the play, The Crucible, suggests that people of society create a separation between outsiders and insiders of the town, often prosecuting the outsiders to make them stand out even more from society. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Essential Quotes by Character: John Proctor, Critical Context (Masterplots II: Juvenile & Young Adult Literature Series), Critical Context (Comprehensive Guide to Drama). A bizarre set of accusations, including the sacrifice of children, was made by the Syrians against the Jews in Hellenistic Syria in the 2nd century bce. The accusations were usually made by the alleged victims themselves, rather than by priests, lords, judges, or other elites. Successful prosecution of one witch sometimes led to a local hunt for others, but larger hunts and regional panics were confined (with some exceptions) to the years from the 1590s to 1640s. All three of the accused were examined the next day at Nathaniel Ingersoll's tavern in Salem Village by local magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne. Children were often accusers (as they were at Salem), but they were sometimes also among the accused. B.A. Current PhD Biblical Studies, BA Classics and Religion. Salem was a pressure-cooker ready to explode. Many teachers use The Crucible alongside their discussion of McCarthyism. Those include fear, personal motives, unfair treatment of the accused, and accusers. The latter was the greatest evil of the system, for a victim might be forced to name acquaintances, who were in turn coerced into naming others, creating a long chain of accusations. Miller argues that the fundamental nature of Salem's construction made it a community where the Witch Trials were inevitable. Sometimes this magic was believed to work through simple causation as a form of technology. Sermons and didactic treatises, including devil books warning of Satans power, spread both the terror of Satan and the corresponding frantic need to purge society of him. Accusations originated with the ill-will of the accuser, or, more often, the accusers fear of someone having ill-will toward him. Historical Context Essay: Arthur Miller and the Red Scare In the play "The Crucible," Arthur Miller uses a great trial in the Salem witch trials to describe how he felt during the Red Scare in the 1950's. The Red Scare was a national hunt for Communists, or "Reds" as they were called. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is based on the true events of the Salem witch trials. With tensions running high, many turned to inculcate the more vulnerable members of society. Fear, hatred, guilt, jealousy, pain, grief, confusion, lust, and hunger are all feelings with one thing in common: They were the driving force that caused a witch-hunt amongst early modern Europeans. Understanding the Salem Witch Trials | NEH-Edsitement Miller wrote. One theory which could explain the apparent madness of the trial and judicial hangings may be found in the bread the settlers were eating. (Include at least one play by an American dramatist.). Judicial torture, happily in abeyance since the end of the Roman period, was revived in the 12th and 13th centuries; other brutal and sadistic tortures occurred but were usually against the law. No one was safe from persecutions, and the witch hunts for communism began. Salem Witch Trials | The First Amendment Encyclopedia Presumably, whoever paid the fine had become Tituba's enslaver. In both The Crucible and in modern day witch hunts, witch hunts are caused out of fear or for personal gain. They may evaluate how each version interprets the source text and debate which aspects of the enacted interpretations of the play best capture a particular character, scene, or theme. My basic need was to respond to a phenomenon which, with only small exaggeration, one could say paralyzed a whole generation and in a short time dried up the habits of trust and toleration in public discourse. Its interesting to look at this in the context of what was happening in Millers real life. These courts reduced the number of witch trials significantly by 1600, half a century before legal theory, legislation, and theology began to dismiss the notion of witchcraft in France and other countries. While the European witch hunts had more or less declined by the mid to late 17th century, they increased in the American Colonies, particularly in Puritan societies. How do you think Miller uses setting to help create mood in Act I? Already a member? Latest answer posted December 16, 2019 at 7:31:02 AM. In counties divided along religious lines, such as Germany, however, there were many trials and executions. In the spring of 1692, two young girls from a seemingly inconsequential village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony began to display increasingly disturbing behavior, claiming strange visions and experiencing fits. For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as Latest answer posted November 22, 2020 at 12:05:25 PM, In The Crucible, explain what Elizabeth means when she says, "He have his goodness now, God forbid I take it from him. In his telling, witch hunts are perpetrated by the marginalized rather than upon them, since, when sex is involved, women are inclined toward group-malice, sexual irrationality, and wholesale. and Quakers; and between American Indians and Englishmen on the frontier. In the play some girls get in trouble for dancing in the woods. Any source of witchcraft must be destroyed . While the theocracy attempted to create unity, what it did was encourage simmering emotions of greed and envy that had no sanctioned outlet. Like the Inquisition, the Parlement of Paris (the supreme court of northern France) severely restrained the witch hunts. Although some people undoubtedly practiced sorcery with the intent to harm, and some may actually have worshiped the Devil, in reality no one ever fit the concept of the witch. Nonetheless, the witchs crimes were defined in law. ", EDSITEment is a project of theNational Endowment for the Humanities, Salem Witch Trials: Understanding the Hysteria, Origins of Halloween and the Day of the Dead. In about 1689, Tituba and John Indian seem to have married. Most of the factors influencing the widespread witch hunts over the course of the early modern period can be summarized under two headings; salvation and scapegoating.. But since the controversy included withholding salary and payment in firewood, and Parris complained about the effect on his family, Tituba probably would also have felt the shortage of firewood and food in the house. Many social and religious factors triggered . The witch-hunt provided the perfect opportunity for the settlement of old scores. The doctor diagnosed the cause of the afflictions as "Evil Hand.". I had not approached the witchcraft out of nowhere or from purely social and political considerations. Indeed, Germany, one of the central countries of the Protestant Reformation, is often referred to as the focal point of the European witch hunts. Men who brand women as dakan capitalize on deeply rooted superstitions and systems built on . One of these women was Tituba, who was there at the. In each paragraph these traits will be further explained. Miller supports his claim by describing how the young girls of Salem blame the outsiders of their town of witchcraft. This is also the place Arthur Miller has written about in his book The Crucible. In a piece over at The Daily Beast, Maria Dahvana Headley writes about Arthur Millers history with Marilyn Monroe, and how that affected his plays, which perpetuated very specific ideas about women through the American literary canon. Women were certainly more likely than men to be economically and politically powerless, but that generalization is too broad to be helpful, for it holds true for societies in periods where witchcraft is absent. Parris in the Salem Village church conflict. Among others, it argued that those guilty of witchcraft should be punished, and equated sorcery with heresy. Tens of thousands of supposed witches mostly womenwere executed. While she enjoys any topic relating to history, culture, and the humanities, she is most interested in Ancient Greece and Rome, the Ancient Near East, Irish history, colonization and de-colonization, Jewish and Christian history, and the Early modern period. What is a quote said by John Proctor in Act 3 in which he reveals his sin of adultery? It drew upon preexisting rivalries and disputes within the rapidly growing Massachusetts port town: between urban and rural residents; between wealthier commercial merchants and subsistence-oriented farmers; between Congregationalists and other religious denominationsAnglicans, Baptists, and Quakers; and between American Indians and Englishmen on the frontier. Whereas womens sexuality has long since been tied to the idea of personal hysteria, Miller updated that by singling out womens desire for love and sex as a direct cause of mass hysteria. Arthur Miller's The Crucible: Witch Hunting for the Classroom What happened, we should ask, that enabled such widespread, fallacious, and at times frantic persecution and prosecution to take place? It was also, and as importantly, a long overdue opportunity for every-one so inclined to express publicly his guilt and sins, under the cover of accusations against the victims.'. Why were the leaders of Salem's clerical and civil community ready to condemn to death 19 people who refused to acknowledge being witches based on spectral evidence and the hysterical words of young girls? As exemplified in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, witch trials took place. The emphasis on personal piety exacerbated the rigid characterization of people as either good or bad. It also aggravated feelings of guilt and the psychological tendency to project negative intentions onto others. The story of that peripheral village is one that has lodged itself into the cultural mindset of people everywhere as a cautionary tale against the dangers of extremism, groupthink, and false accusations, perhaps calling to mind Arthur Millers The Crucible or Cold War era McCarthyism. Another approach would be to have students read and analyze the following informational text by Miller, which recollects his personal experience with the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1956 when he refused to name names. Miller was convicted June 1, 1957 for contempt of Congress. What is the setting for Act 2? What are the reasons Miller gives for the Salem witch hunts? Countries that were predominantly Catholic such as Spain, did not endure the scourge of witch-hunting to the same extent as those that experienced religious unrest. In the 1960's few individuals primarily a band of girls accused innocent people of practicing witchery. The ultimate purpose of such a system was to create unity and, therefore, to fight any force that sought to break it. Those who were unhappy with their lot and envious towards of who were not now had the chance to voice their suspicions and take revenge against them. PDF The Crucible and the reasons for the Salem witch hunt The Salem Witch Trials and Ergot: Mushroom Madness? Instead, they were just one very small chapter in the much longer story of the witch hunts that took place all across Europe and America in the early modern period, with the European witch hunts reaching a height between 1560 and 1650. The witch roused Samuel, who then prophesied. In 1689 Parris was formally called as the minister, given a full deed to the parsonage, and the Salem Village church charter was signed. In response to the mass hysteria over this communist infiltration, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible. The Crucible shows how fear can inspire hysteria, intolerance, and paranoia and mirrored what was happening in America in the 1950s when a different kind of witch hunt was afoot. An author named Arthur Miller wrote the play The Crucible based of the true events of the Salem witch trials. The first hanging for witchcraft in New England was in 1647, after the witch hunts had already abated in Europe, though a peculiar outbreak in Sweden in 166876 bore some similarity to that in New England. Four-year-old accused witch Dorcas Good went insane after spending months in prison and watching her baby sister die while in jail with their mother, who was later hanged. One of the most known is The Holocaust that happened during WWII. These allegations would have important implications for the future because they were part of a broader pattern of hostility toward and persecution of marginalized groups. To prove that the promise of salvation served as a reason for the sudden flare-up of witch hunts during this period of religious turmoil, we only need to look to the notable absence of witch trials in Catholic strongholds. The dramatic changes of the characters show how people in late 1600s managed to get through the accusations of witchcraft and moreover how the accusers and or condemners were able to handle the chaotic event. It was from a report written by the Reverend Samuel Parris, who was one of the chief instigators of the witch-hunt. This helped to feed the paranoia that people felt about one another. According to author Carol F. Karlsen . 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Essential Quotes by Character: John Proctor, Critical Context (Masterplots II: Juvenile & Young Adult Literature Series), Critical Context (Comprehensive Guide to Drama). The play results in a mob mentality and hysteria taking over because people believed a lying girl. (2021, January 5). Although accusations of witchcraft in contemporary cultures provide a means to express or resolve social tensions, these accusations had different consequences in premodern Western society where the mixture of irrational fear and a persecuting mentality led to the emergence of the witch hunts. In the long run it may be better simply to describe the witch hunts than to try to explain them, since the explanations are so diverse and complicated. When a local doctor diagnosed the girls as suffering from the malevolent effects of the supernatural, they set in motion a series of events that would irrevocably alter the course of American cultural, judicial, and political history. Jill Schonebelen wrote a research paper on Witchcraft allegations, refugee protection and human rights. Throughout the ages, people repeatedly use witch hunts as a method for dealing with issues that are widespread. All this I understood. They simply used accusations of witchcraft and magic to prove their moral and doctrinal superiority over the other side. Puritan Americans viewed physical wants and desires as a threat to society and work of the Devil. Heres What We Know, INTERVIEW: Cary Elwes Understands the Assignment of Guy Ritchie Movies for Operation Fortune, Walgreens Caves to Republicans, Limits Sales of Another Reproductive Healthcare Item, Florida Man Fulfills His Destiny as a Netflix Crime Series, The 13 Best Ted Lasso Quotes to Read When the World Has Made You Feel Weary. Therefore, to create unity, one also had to exclude and prohibit those who could threaten it. It all began in 1692 and 1693 when Salem in the United States . Miller's extensive stage directions suggest several reasons why the Witch Trials had to take place in Salem. How can history be dramatic, and how can drama bring history to life? The American and European witch hunts of the early modern era had a significant impact on Western societys history, politics, and culture. "It would probably never have occurred to me to write a play about the Salem witch trials of 1692 had I not seen some astonishing correspondences with that calamity in the America of the late 40s and early 50s. Why is Thomas Putnam bitter in act 1 of The Crucible. The Puritans were marked by inflexibility and extremism. Become a subscriber and support the site! Little is known of Tituba's background or even origin. from University of the Western Cape, South Africa. ", Latest answer posted October 02, 2020 at 10:46:39 AM. In the early modern period, Protestantism emerged as a viable challenge to the Catholic Churchs firm hold on the Christian population of Europe. From the 14th through the 18th century, witches were believed to repudiate Jesus Christ, to worship the Devil and make pacts with him (selling ones soul in exchange for Satans assistance), to employ demons to accomplish magical deeds, and to desecrate the crucifix and the consecrated bread and wine of the Eucharist (Holy Communion). Witches sought to gain or preserve health, to acquire or retain property, to protect against natural disasters or evil spirits, to help friends, and to seek revenge. In Mexico the Franciscan friars linked indigenous religion and magic with the Devil; prosecutions for witchcraft in Mexico began in the 1530s, and by the 1600s indigenous peasants were reporting stereotypical pacts with the Devil. Witch Hunts Today: Abuse of Women, Superstition and Murder Collide in Arthur Miller felt as if it were a . Miller sums up his experience with the benefit of hindsight: "I am glad that I managed to write The Crucible, but looking back I have often wished I'd had the temperament to do an absurd comedy, which is what the situation deserved. Though the Salem trials took place just as. Cotton Mathers account of the witch trials reinforced colonial New Englanders view of themselves as a chosen generation of men. During this time, witches and conspiring with the devil were frowned upon by the Puritan church, and were the cause of much fear and suspicion. The "parochial snobbery" as well as a "predilection for minding other people's businesses" helped to make Salem a prime place for the trials to emerge and the charges of witchcraft to emerge on such a wide scale.
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