The hunts were most severe from 1580 to 1630, and the last known execution for witchcraft was in Switzerland in 1782. Tens of thousands of supposed witches mostly womenwere executed. Arthur Millers play The Crucible, which forms the basis of many Americans knowledge of the trials, takes liberties with the story. 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. A bolt of lightning releases the handcuffs on a woman accused of being a witch and strikes down her inquisitor in this late nineteenth-century lithograph of a colonial-era trial. According to Cotton Mather, what are the immediate and long-term goals of the Devil? 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.'. The witch-hunt also provided those who were greedy for land, such as the Putnams, to seek satisfaction. In both The Crucible and in modern day witch hunts, witch hunts are caused out of fear or for personal gain. I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! This Map Shows the Scale of 16th- and 17th-Century Scottish Witch Hunts King James VI of Scotland, a monarch notorious for his role in Scotlands witch-hunting craze, believed that he had been personally targeted by witches who conjured dangerous storms while he sailed across the North Sea to Denmark. His 17 June 2000 article inThe Guardian/The Observer, "Are You Now Or Were You Ever?,"describes the paranoia that swept America in that era and the moment his then-wife, Marilyn Monroe, became a bargaining chip in his own prosecution. Arthur Miller the author of The Crucible conveys this horrific event in his book and demonstrates what fear can lead people to do. The breakdown in the social order during the various different conflicts of this period added to the atmosphere of fear and led to the inevitable need for scapegoating. "Tituba and The Salem Witch Trials of 1692." "What are the reasons Miller gives for the Salem witch hunts?" For many peopleespecially New Englanders (wicked or not) and fans of Daniel Day-Lewis or Winona Ryder (stars of the 1996 movie version of Arthur Miller's The Crucible)17th-century Salem, Massachusetts, comes to mind when they hear the word witch hunt.The persecution of witches goes back to ancient times, but it was during the 16th and 17th centuries that witch hunts intensified. 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. Conventional wisdom has it that mankind has evolved so far that the idea of targeting innocents is no longer an issue; however, Senator McCarthy and targeting of innocent Muslims after 9/11 remind us that witch hunts still exists in modern times. Ecclesiastical and civil authorities usually tried to restrain witch trials and rarely manipulated witch hunts to obtain money or power. The theory best supported by the evidence is that the increasing power of the centralized courts such as the Inquisition and the Parlement acted to begin a process of decriminalization of witchcraft. Among the main effects of the papal judicial institution known as the Inquisition was in fact the restraint and reduction of witch trials that resulted from the strictness of its rules. 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. Historical Context Essay: Arthur Miller and the Red Scare In about 1689, Tituba and John Indian seem to have married. Society was undeniably affected by witch hunts, as people did everything in their power to either free themselves from blame or accuse someone else. 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. 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. They were a wide cultural, social, political phenomenon. The Salem witch trials, which resulted in several deaths in 1692 in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts, have never been adequately explained. Thus creating the different movements to bring awareness to the situations and hope that the citizens will work to change and or stop these homicides from happening. Also, the clergy in authority expounded punishment, rather than penitence and forgiveness, for those deemed witches. It was from a report written by the Reverend Samuel Parris, who was one of the chief instigators of the witch-hunt. The current preoccupation with men being falsely accused of harassment or assault, like so many other accepted truths can be traced to a moment in time during which a version of the idea was created and then absorbed into the culture. Witches were considered Satan's followers, members of an antichurch and an antistate, the sworn enemies of Christian society in the Middle Ages, and a "counter-state" in the early modern period. Arthur Millers play, The Crucible, presents a theme that demonstrates how characters change throughout the storyline. With The Crucible, Miller extrapolated that, citing womens instability when it came to the instability of an entire community. Rev. An author named Arthur Miller wrote the play The Crucible based of the true events of the Salem witch trials. According to Edinburgh Live's Hilary Mitchell, Scotland experienced four major witch hunts between roughly 1590 and 1727, when Janet Horne, the last Scot to be executed for witchcraft, was . Let us know your assignment type and we'll make sure to get you exactly the kind of answer you need. As competition flared up following the Reformation, churches turned towards offering salvation from sin and evil to their congregations. More differences existed among Protestants and among Catholics than between the two religious groups, and regions in which Protestant-Catholic tensions were high did not produce significantly more trials than other regions. They [residents of Salem] carried about an innate resistance, even of persecution. Arthur Miller and The Crucible Background - SparkNotes Updated on January 31, 2020. In the 11th century attitudes toward witchcraft and sorcery began to change, a process that would radically transform the Western perception of witchcraft and associate it with heresy and the Devil. 2023. Who are the experts?Our certified Educators are real professors, teachers, and scholars who use their academic expertise to tackle your toughest questions. Arrest warrants were also issued for Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. That Abigail started, in effect, to condemn Elizabeth to death with her touch, then stopped her hand, then went through with it, was quite suddenly the human center of all this turmoil. Millers play helps one understand what the Salem Witch Trials did to peoples emotions and mentalities. Arthur Miller's The Crucible: Witch Hunting for the Classroom Why might their age make them particularly susceptible to accusations of strange behavior? An additional activity would be to ask students to compare two or more recorded or live productions of Arthur Millers The Crucible to the written text. In the gloomy courthouse there I read the transcripts of the witchcraft trials of 1692, as taken down in a primitive shorthand by ministers who were spelling each other. Another was Abigail Williams, age 12, called "kinfolk" or a "niece" of Rev. One theory which could explain the apparent madness of the trial and judicial hangings may be found in the bread the settlers were eating. With tensions running high, many turned to inculcate the more vulnerable members of society. The paradox lies in the fact that the rules which were created and adhered to in order to ensure unity 'were grounded on the idea of exclusion and prohibition.' The ensuing witch hunt would result in the executions of 19 men, women, and children, along with the deaths of at least six others, and the suffering, torment, and calamity of an entire community. 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. Cotton Mathers account of the witch trials reinforced colonial New Englanders view of themselves as a chosen generation of men. I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! Scholars have attempted to answer these questions with a variety of economic and physiological theories. Among others, it argued that those guilty of witchcraft should be punished, and equated sorcery with heresy. 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. They simply used accusations of witchcraft and magic to prove their moral and doctrinal superiority over the other side. Miller wrote The Crucible during the time America was concerned about the rising power of Communism in the Soviet Union on the heels of World War II. Presumably, whoever paid the fine had become Tituba's enslaver. Most scholars agree that the prosecutions were not driven by political or gender concerns; they were not attacks on backward, or rural, societies; they did not function to express or relieve local tensions; they were not a result of the rise of capitalism or other macroeconomic changes; they were not the result of changes in family structure or in the role of women in society; and they were not an effort by cultural elites to impose their views on the populace. Latest answer posted December 16, 2019 at 7:31:02 AM. Although these figures are alarming, they do not remotely approach the feverishly exaggerated claims of some 20th-century writers. Senator McCarthy rose to power during this time by creating an atmosphere of fear and suspicion based on false claims of communist activity. The largest account of witch trials as well as deaths by witch trials occurred in Salem, a village heavily populated with the Puritans. They believe that witches work with the devil and that they can see the devil and his followers. However, Spain did witness one of the largest witch trials on record. It was also believed that they rode through the air at night to sabbats (secret meetings), where they engaged in sexual orgies and even had sex with Satan; that they changed shapes (from human to animal or from one human form to another); that they often had familiar spirits in the form of animals; and that they kidnapped and murdered children for the purpose of eating them or rendering their fat for magical ointments. The Crucible: McCarthyism and a Historical View of Witch Hunts Lewis, Jone Johnson. Girls had specific roles in society and were expected to follow the rules of the church without question, so when they acted out and danced or strayed from the church, chaos was unavoidable. He also portrays the accusers as teenagers when many were in fact much younger. Maleficium was a threat not only to individuals but also to public order, for a community wracked by suspicions about witches could split asunder. Tituba apologized for her part, saying she loved Betty and meant her no harm. What is it about this particular tragic segment of American history that appeals to the creative imagination? Why did Arthur Miller name his play "The Crucible"? 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. Jone Johnson Lewis is a women's history writer who has been involved with the women's movement since the late 1960s. Cotton Mather's account of the Salem witch trials, 1693 Vengeful witch hunters left no time to spare when making accusations on their neighborhood enemies. 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. He mentions that, firstly, the witch-hunts developed from what he names a 'paradox.' But Tituba recanted her confession, and Parris never paid the fine, presumably in retaliation for her recantation. Like the Inquisition, the Parlement of Paris (the supreme court of northern France) severely restrained the witch hunts. So for a brief explanation, McCarthyism was carried out under senator Joseph McCarthy during 1950-1954 against alleged communist in the US government and in other institutions. This helped to feed the paranoia that people felt about one another. It would, over time, grow to be synonymous with mass hysteria, panic, and paranoia, referenced by those who believe themselves to be victims of unjust persecution; Salem. ", Latest answer posted October 02, 2020 at 10:46:39 AM. Their father had, of course, been persecuted in England. By the late 16th century, many prosperous and professional people in western Europe were accused, so that the leaders of society began to have a personal interest in checking the hunts. The economic theories of the Salem events tend to be two-fold: the first attributes the witchcraft trials to an economic downturn caused by a "little ice age" that lasted from 1550-1800; the second cites socioeconomic issues in Salem itself. Most witches are women, because witch hunts were all about persecuting Its origin lies in the establishment of a theocracy by the inhabitants of Salem, which combined state and religious power. Students can make very profitable comparisons between the two tragic heroes: The Manchurian Candidates Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw, and The Crucible's John Proctor. "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. Under the rules of the colony, similar to rules in England, even someone found innocent had to pay for expenses incurred to imprison and feed them before they could be released. Which is how we get to guys like Liam Neeson, Woody Allen, and today, Alec Baldwin, as well as women like Mika Brzezinski and Wendy Williams bending over backwards to find reasons not to believe the women coming forward about the harassment and assault theyve experienced. A crucible can mean either an instrument of heating or a severe trial. A fire, a fire is burning! Salem Witch Trials - Events, Facts & Victims - HISTORY Tituba and The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 - ThoughtCo In counties divided along religious lines, such as Germany, however, there were many trials and executions. eNotes Editorial, 6 June 2016, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-reasons-miller-gives-salem-witch-hunts-360670. While she was imprisoned, two others accused her of being one of two or three women whose specters they'd seen flying. Part of their belief system was awareness for anything "evil". A detailed study of a timeline accompanies their close reading of The Crucible. Yet, following the Protestant Reformation, such persecution was widespread. Reputation In The Crucible By Arthur Miller | ipl.org The Crucible by Arthur Miller tells the story of the vindictive town of Salem and its unproportional amount of accusations of witchcraft. How Does Arthur Miller Use Witch Hunts In The Crucible Proctor house. As exemplified in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, witch trials took place. These can all be related back to The Crucible, in the way in which each character experienced. A fire, a fire is burning! These witch hunts warn against collective thought and unjust persecution and even to this day provide a useful and relevant metaphor for all those who believe themselves victims of unjustified outrage. Moreover, just as the growth of literacy and of reading the Bible helped spread dissent, so did they provoke resistance and fear. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Students put themselves in the place of the playwright to answer: Aligns with CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.3- Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain. Arthur Miller's allegorical play, The Crucible, was written in 1956 about the historic witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts. Salvation and Scapegoating: What Caused the Early Modern Witch Hunts? The process began with suspicions and, occasionally, continued through rumours and accusations to convictions. That John Proctor the sinner might overturn his paralyzing personal guilt and become the most forthright voice against the madness around him was a reassurance to me, and, I suppose, an inspiration: it demonstrated that a clear moral outcry could still spring even from an ambiguously unblemished soul. In 1374 Pope Gregory XI declared that all magic was done with the aid of demons and thus was open to prosecution for heresy. Tituba later testified that she saw visions of the devil and witches swarming. Whether she was aware of the political conflicts around Massachusetts' status as a colony is not known. She confessed to witchcraft and accused others. As questions of, When witchcraft arose, the state began executing anyone affiliated with witchery. 'The witch-hunt was not, however, a mere repression. A " witchcraft craze " rippled through Europe from the 1300s to the end of the 1600s. They believed in short that they held in their steady hands the candle that would light the world. Both of these historic elements, however, were shaped by Miller into a story about a married man tormented by an orphaned, libidinous teenage girl seeking to punish him for a sexual transgression she participated consensually in. Perhaps the most intense reason why Salem had to be the birthplace for the witch trials resided in the idea of the authenticity and self- certainty that gripped Salem. 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. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, what does the author mean by his statement that "the Salem tragedy developed from a paradox". They could now publicly state their own iniquities and were praised for seeking purification. Namely, that he was in a marriage he wasnt happy in, and ended up having an affair with the much younger Marilyn Monroe, with whom he then had a troubled relationship and marriage. Tituba is depicted in Miller's drama as initiating witchcraft as play among the girls of Salem Village. Classical authors such as Aeschylus, Horace, and Virgil described sorceresses, ghosts, furies, and harpies with hideous pale faces and crazed hair; clothed in rotting garments, they met at night and sacrificed both animals and humans. To find out what was causing the afflictions, a local doctor (presumably William Griggs) and a neighboring minister, Rev. The drastic effects of the Little Ice Age reached a height between 1560 and 1650, which happened to be the same period in which the number of European witch hunts reached their height. Already a member? The town of Salem in The Crucible, can relate to our nation today, through the way we target the Muslim religion as terrorist. What is a quote said by John Proctor in Act 3 in which he reveals his sin of adultery? eNotes Editorial, 4 Aug. 2011, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/in-act-1-what-explanation-does-miller-give-as-to-270640. In 1964, Ann Petry published "Tituba of Salem Village", written for children 10 and older. Headquarters: 49 W. 45th Street 2nd Floor New York, NY 10036, Our Collection: 170 Central Park West New York, NY 10024 Located on the lower level of the New-York Historical Society, 20092023 How can history be dramatic, and how can drama bring history to life? It certainly was not deemed to be a threat, even by the leaders of the Catholic Church, who simply denied its existence. Indeed, Germany, one of the central countries of the Protestant Reformation, is often referred to as the focal point of the European witch hunts. Weakness, hypocrisy, vindictiveness: only few of the many words that describe the guilty desires and revenge that lingered among the town of Salem.
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