Liberty And Oppression In Arthur Miller's Analysis

Those who would admit to being a witch would go to jail, but for those who denied having interaction with the devil would have been trialed and hung, so really, anyway you put it it’s a lose-lose situation. Things like politics, religion, imaginations, and fear of people were just some of the main factors of what aided people into believing that Satan was upon the town of Salem. They believed that the humans were with devil and doing as he said which in turn gave them the power to harm others. One girl named Tituba was trying to save herself by confessing to witchcraft. She didn’t just confess but she also accused many other women about being witches and she said that they all were in the “hands of Satan”.

The Salem Witchcraft Trials had many effects on the town of Salem, Massachusetts. A lot of the effects were negative, destroying the community, government, even individuals. The Witch Trials affected the community of Salem in multiple ways. The witch trials created many tensions between several families in the town. The most acknowledgeable dispute from the play was between the Putnam’s and the Nurse’s.

In Arthur Miller’s Play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigale Williams’ flaws, flaws such as lust, Vengefulness, and Jealousy. The book the crucible is based off of a town called Salem in Massachusetts. The town is well known because of their witch hunts they had in the 17th century. The witch hunts were mostly based off of suspicion, or because someone blamed someone of being a witch because he or she disliked this person. If you were accused of being a witch then your public image was ruined or put to death.

The Accused Witches of 1692 The year of 1692, accused witches were being hung left and right. About 134 people were accused of being a witch or wizard, these hangings mainly occurred in Salem, Massachusetts. What caused the exaggerated behavior of 1692? The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 could have been caused by the puritans religion, acting or lying, and ergot poisoning. One possible cause of the Salem witch trial could have been the cause of religion because the ministers and church leaders had to let everyone know about witchcraft and that they needed to end it.

The Night of Sin and Guilt The crucible is defined by a severe test or trial. This shows that Salem witch trials based play, as dealing with the panic and unjust courts of Salem is a severe trial in itself. The people in the book also had to decide to choose between right, wrong, or the most sinful actions. The book, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller is about the Salem witch trials where people were recognized for their acts of trying to bring the devil into their life. This all took place in Salem, Massachusetts.

Imagine living life in fear of being hanged or burned to death on accusation of witchcraft. This was the reality for countless men and women alike, during the Witch Trials of the mid-1600s. One such person was a homeless woman named Sarah Good. Good was considered a burden to society, therefore accused of witchcraft and sentenced to be hanged. Although she was pardoned until the birth of her child, that same child perished in prison before her execution (Jobe).

Ironically, as the causes of more events were understood, this led to a greater recognition that many events still could not be understood, promoting wider belief in magic and the supernatural and a changed understanding of what witchcraft involved. For example, leaders accused witches of causing the black plague (Witchcraft in the Elizabethan Era 20). More broadly, accused witches were charged with having used dark forces to cause adverse events and to torture others. The definition of witchcraft came to include the idea that witches were ‘demon worshipers’ who worshiped the devil and used his magic. Not surprisingly, Shakespeare’s writing strongly reflected ideas about witchcraft in his time.

What Really Happened in Salem in 1692? In the extremely religious puritan community, Salem, people were brainwashed to believe everything they heard from the head of the church. There were strong beliefs and paranoia about the devil which influenced the way the events of the Salem Witch Trials played out In this society, the belief in the devil was very common, making everyone on edge about who might be a witch. The devils presence was “felt everywhere, and when the colonists began to like for his new hiding places they found him crouches in the very heart of the Puritan colony” (Erikson 2). Religion was a major factor to why many people were accused of being a witch since the puritans were paranoid about the devil being everywhere.

This is how Arthur Miller used the character Abigail Williams in The Crucible to represent the devil figure; in doing so he sends the message that people can not always believe what others tell them. The devil figure is represented by Abigail Williams because she always made sure she was accusing somebody of witchcraft,

Abigail’s Malfeasance Lucius Annaeus Seneca, a Roman philosopher and writer, once said. For example, in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail blames and accuses others; however, she was really the center of the problem. Consequently, Abigail is the one person to blame for the Salem Witch Trials getting so out of hand. She systematically accuses more and more people, all for her agenda of being with John Proctor, and continually ramps up the hysteria whenever the villagers had reason to doubt her. Therefore, Abigail should take the blame for the Salem Witch Trials, not the town as a whole.

The Salem Witch trials were started in 1692. According to History.com, a group of girls claimed to be possessed with the devil and that they were practicing witchcraft. This event may have caused the trials to begin. With the mix of the belief of the underworld and witches, the rumors began and spread like wildfire. Many people believed the girls and demanded for the people who were “possessed” to be killed a the spirit removed from the body and let free.

In the old town of Salem, Massachusetts, there lived a very religious and superstitious people. Everyone had to be Christian, and if something went amiss, everything would get out of control. When Abigail Williams and her friends were found dancing around a fire in the black of night in the forest, people began to wonder what could have possibly been the cause and purpose of such wicked ways. The easy, first conclusion was that witchery and the devil were involved. They believed that the Devil had to have caused them to do such evil things, and they wanted to find the source of it.

Many died from those trials and it was a great tragedy that left the community damaged. The idea of witches stemmed from religious folks believing that the Devil could give certain people, known as witches, the power to harm others in return for their loyalty (Smithsonian). Due to the popularity of religion and supernatural beliefs, many people believed that the source of evil was the Devil. This idea appeared in Europe as early as the 14th century and it was quite popular in New England colonies. Villagers often blamed unfortunate things upon the Devil and other spectral sources of evil due to their lack of knowledge.

The Devil would have people whom were called witches that made a vow to worship and serve him(Lambert). This derogatory term of witch soon spread around Europe among this time. The calumniation of fear was building up amongst local neighbors in fact. With these fearful terms and news about witches it was when the trials were soon to occur. Many books were created during the time period of the witch hunts, one book in particular which was created around 1486 named “Malleus Maleficarum” which translates to Hammer of Witches(University of Pennsylvania).

In 1692, a fear of witchcraft led to the accusation of over 200 townspeople. Of those 200, 20 hanged. Throughout the Crucible, it explains the ridiculous trials the people went through to try to prove their innocence. This is parallel to the Red Scare because people went to great lengths to prove their innocence of McCarthyism. In the Crucible, there is multiple occasions where the events that happen are parallel to McCarthyism because the Crucible is an allegory to McCarthyism.