After reading “Devil in the Shape of a Woman: The Economic Basis of Witchcraft “by Carol Karlsen I was intrigued by Karlsen’s interpretation, and upset about the ways women were treated. During these witch hunts women and men alike were accused of the crime, but the majority were women. I found it interesting that she related the commonly known Puritan beliefs, which lead to accusations of witchcraft, with gender roles. She ultimately says that Puritans feared these accused women because they symbolized female independence. I found it shocking that women, often the wealthier, had a greater chance of being let go of their accusations if they had a husband to spoke on their behalf.
A baffling plague of Satan has arrived in our cursed town, and yet another girl has been convicted of witchery. Elizabeth Clarke, a young mistress, was recently accused of creating a pact with the Devil. A trial commenced last Tuesday at the Salem Town Hall with Persecutor Matthew Hopkins examining Clarke 's allegations. First accusations of her treason began with Clarke 's late lover, Reuben Taylor, whose mother was supposedly cursed by Clarke for not allowing her to be with Taylor as he lay dying.
Two women from Texas, Andrea Yates, 37 and Darlie Routier, 27 both shocked the world when they brutally murdered their children. Both women were described as wonderful mothers who loved their children, but were also described as having post-partum issues during the last years of their children’s lives. Andrea Yates admitted to her harsh crimes and was willing to take any punishment that was given, as she believed she was saving her children’s souls. On the other hand, Darlie Routier did not admitted her crimes towards her children. Darlie Routier pleaded not guilty, but prosecutors believed differently after many conflicts appeared in her story.
The first four colonies of America were, New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Rhode Island, following with Connecticut. John Winthrop, Thomas Hooker, Roger Williams, along with Anne Hutchinson, were few of the founders of the first colonies. Centered around religion, after escaping religious persecution, these colonies based the way they lived their lives around the Bible, Church, along with the New testament. The Puritans emphasized religious obligations and followed strict guidelines pertaining to the Bible. They broke away from the church of England and became their own religion following the teachings of the Bible as well as the Old Testament.
Gregory Maguire’s Wicked is a new perspective on the classic story of Dorothy Gale, the Wizard of Oz and the Wicked Witch of the West. The book introduces Elphaba, the Wicked Witch from the original tale and shows her life before the classic story, which paints her in a different and far more sympathetic light. Elphaba has an unfortunate childhood, born with unusual physical features, her unique appearance is used by her father to help encourage conversion to his religion. Additionally her mother was very distant, if not neglectful, and both parents doted on her sister instead. In the story Elphaba pushes people away, transforms from a well meaning activist to vengeful extremist and attacks and kidnaps Dorothy in a series of events that lead
Was The Crucible historically accurate? It was loosely accurate. A lot of the stories were definitely over dramatized. There were outrageous accusations on almost everyone. Here is how it all started.
Salem Witch Trials A certain set of unique factors had to align all at once to create the short-lived but vivid intensity of the Salem Witch Trials. In this historic event, many colonists were accused and tried of witchcraft, with 20 colonists executed for their charges. With the use of Mary Easty’s Testimony, the Trial of Bridget Bishop, and the case of Sarah Abbott v. Martha Carrier, one can analyze how false accusation, Puritan extremism, a lack of due process, and the presence of disputes between colonists lead to the Salem Witch Trials.
Arthur Miller’s portrayal of a town in the midst of a downfall “The Crucible”, tells the story of how mob mentality and hysteria can significantly influence not only individuals but the whole town. This mob mentality leads to unthoughtful acts and false accusations. Two characters who demonstrate how mob mentality can lead to the demise of Salem are Abigail and Mary Warren. As Abigail begins to be accused she is pressured to deter from the truth. While Mary Warren gets pressured by Proctor to reveal the truth about Abigail, but the overwhelming pressure from the mob makes her turn from the truth.
Legal Brief: John Proctor, Salem Statement of the Issue After the many accusations and deaths of many innocent people, I have also been falsely accused and charged of being involved with witchcraft. Of course I deny everything because I have absolutely nothing to do with this. I am innocent, this is all a big misunderstanding. How can you believe what a bunch of teenage girls say, they are setting me up. Abigail Williams is making all of this up just for her enjoyment.
Cotton Mather: Wonders of the Invisible World In this writing, Cotton Mather, a Puritan Theologian and a renowned reverend talks about his fears of the Christian religion being slowly obliterated from the country, which he believes is being taken over by the devil and his minions by the use of Witchcraft. In 1963 Cotton Mather was asked to create a literary piece, in defense of the persecutions, one year after the events of the Salem witch trials actually took place, where questionable events happened were depicted. This work was called the Invisible Wonders of the World. Throughout the writing, Mather is always depicting the devil as a real and tangible being (e.g. “invisible hands” and supernatural happenings).
Adultery, secrets, and witchcraft combine to equal a recipe for disaster. The Crucible is a classic play written by Arthur Miller. The play began in a Puritan settlement in Salem, Massachusetts. A group of girls are found dancing in the woods by the town minister, Reverend Parris. They realized that there will be a hefty punishment because of their actions so they claim that they were being possessed by witchcraft.
Abigail Williams was a character in a play by Arthur Miller called The Crucible. She wasn’t just a character in Miller’s play, she was a real woman during the Salem witch trials and caused just has much trouble in her actual life as she did in the play. Abigail was extremely selfish, cruel, and possibly insane. She hurts so many people in such a short amount of time and hardly seems to care as long as she doesn’t get in trouble.
In The Crucible, a lot of characters were not judged fairly. Most of them were jailed or killed and it provided little proof of witchcraft. One character for example was Rebecca Nurse. Rebecca was first brought to trial when her name was brought up into court and so she was brought in to determine if she was capable of witchcraft or not. During the trial, Mary Warren pretended that Rebecca has summoned her soul to choke her.