Richard Godbeer introduced “the salem witch hunt” in which he addresses various tragic dialogues occurring in Salem during the early modern period. During the course of Puritans, many followed strictly through the concept of catholic religious beliefs leading to apprehension in contact of compulsive behaviour influencing supernatural assumptions. Commonly the society detected this manifestation as witchcraft, overbearing that most poor, widowed and oddly conducted women were generally associated with demonic figures. During the trails mentioned in the authors book, we can sense a shift of emotion overbearing the figure being held in front of the jury and also to the people witnessing this horrific perturbation since most of women at the time, …show more content…
Causing many suspicion of demonic activity throughout the salem village, hysteria spread quickly as the population ascended to witchcraft creating the act of cynicism. Most conducted these suspicions though dissecting their physical and mental image meaning that most of the civilians would convert to supernatural explanations in order to assume the act of demonic possession and I quote “Good also had a reputation for holding a grudge and for muttering curses against those who crossed her, which would have alarmed her neighbours, not least because many people believed that such curses would work” ( The Salem Witch Hunt, p.69). This quote taken from Sarah Good’s bibliography confirms the suspicions of witchcraft as these sign were depicted as supernatural to the puritans perspective. Being fearful of the devil, most puritans believed that the abnormal should endure punishment as for these acts were created against the church law leading to christian ignorance and disbelief and I quote “They also show how easily people could become convicted that hostile neighbours were wielding occult forces against them”(The Salem Witch Hunt, p.69). Furthermore this explains the drought in the puritans point of view. Detecting inexplainable adversity, the society ended in combined anxiety leading to the witch …show more content…
Acknowledging that most women in the witch trials were falsely accused of using magic to harm others, many feared for their lives as punishment would mostly lead to death. Governed cases favoured this issue through committing to personal interest instead of evaluating the individuals benefit. Optimizing the feeling of helplessness most victims were committed to pursue the witch trails given in order to confess. Following through one of the dialogues, we can determine that in Tituba’s case the responsiveness of the trail moreover shows the commitment of deny as for being the first accused woman to confess to witchcraft. Being the primitive confession, we can make assumptions that the court carried out an underlying statement hindering the emotional state of the person being implicated. Most of the dialogue presented, certifies the imbalanced psyche confirming the turmoil of Tituba’s emotion and I quote “Tituba’s rapid surrender under interrogation,her subsequent eagerness to provide the judges with the detailed narrative that they evidentially wanted,and her attempts to present herself as a victim even as she confessed provide insight into her personal ordeal as well as the dynamics at work as the trails got under way”(The Salem Witch Hunt, p.84). This quote additionally addresses the statement in which the court would
Nineteen men and women hung from the tree of destruction, for they were the ornaments of hysteria. New England was supposed to be a land of opportunity for the Puritans. During the summer of 1692, Salem Village proved to a wretched example of this; twenty people were falsely accused of witchcraft and were accordingly jailed and executed. Salem’s infamy has bewildered many, for nobody truly knows in entirety what caused the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. Clearly, there were a few possible causes of the hysteria; however, envious, young, single women; sexism; and lying little girls stand out as the main causes.
In Salem, Massachusetts, Puritans were strong believers in the Bible. The Bible states, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” The Puritans beliefs led to them accusing 20 innocent people of being a witch, this resulted in their deaths in 1692. Even though the Puritans couldn’t see it at the time, their accusations were really based off jealousy, lies, and Salem being divided into two parts. One cause of the Salem witch trial hysteria was jealousy.
Nearly anyone from the New England has heard of the famous Salem Witch Trials. A year of persecution, leading to the accusation of nearly 200 citizens of all ages. No one was safe; men, women, children, even pets stood trial and 20 were hung for the supposed crime of witchcraft (Blumberg). 1692 was a year of witch hunting. Most today blame the trials on hysteria, or perhaps a bad case of paranoia.
REVIEW OF LITRATURE A.) SUMMARY SOURCE A Although the whole book had information on the Salem witch trials. The introduction, chapter 1 and 2 and the conclusion had information regarding the research needed • Introduction: states what the Salem witch trials where and who they accused.
During times of mass hysteria, people will believe what others say no matter the implausibility. In the 1600s, Puritan villages such as the one in Salem, Massachusetts, began to fear the uprising of witchcraft. Puritan beliefs command that one should fear God and fear the unknown, and many things were considered sins. These sins could lead a person to sorcery and the Devil. To save oneself in Salem, one had to lie.
In his book, “A Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft (1702),” clergyman John Hale comes forth to confront the recent events going on at the time. Initially, Hale alludes to the questionable actions and activities of the townspeople being accused of witchcrafts, and being imprisoned as punishment. In addition, he discloses how everyone suspicious will be accused, not even young children are safe from the hands of this fate. Hale’s purpose of publishing this book was to describe the incident of the Witch Trials, and to reveal his experience of the trials, since his own wife was accused. By employing a didactic tone, Hale relays the actions of the past that targeted the Puritans and those wrongly accused of witchcrafts, so this occurrence
She was able to blame her outburst on the devil by confessing to witchcraft and accusing others of participating in witchcraft. This shows that those that were previously marginalized and powerless were now in a position of power and those that were once powerful and respected were now at the hands of those that were previously disregarded and powerless. Therefore, the social order of Salem was completely inverted during the brief period of the trials and the hysteria that accompanied
So speak utterly, Tituba, turn your back on him and face God- face God, Tituba, and God will protect you” (Miller 44, Act 1). Tituba, the lowest of the low, has her status temporarily elevated because of the witch trials. Normally, she is the one told what to do and told to obey; now, however, she has the power of life and death over others. With the “good” power and the “bad” power being displayed in the town of Salem, times got very puzzling for the court and
The Salem Witch Trials; Madness or Logic In Stacey Schiff’s, List of 5 Possible Causes of the Salem Witch Trials and Shah Faiza’s, THE WITCHES OF SALEM; Diabolical doings in a Puritan village, discuss in their articles what has been debated by so many historians for years, the causes of the Salem Witch trials. Schiff and the Faiza, purpose is to argue the possible religious, scientific, communal, and sociological reasons on why the trials occurred. All while making word by word in the writer’s testimony as if they were there through emotion and just stating simply the facts and theories. They adopt the hectic tone in order to convey to the readers the significance, tragedy, logic, loss, and possible madness behind these life changing events,
To begin, it is a popular belief that Tituba, a slave in the story, was justified in her confession to witchcraft in order to save her own life. After the girls of Salem peg Tituba as the culprit for corrupting their souls and torturing them, she is interrogated and accused by characters such as the esteemed Reverend Hale and town’s Reverend, Mr. Parris. Finally, Parris exclaims, “ You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!” (1.941-942). Tituba instantly confesses, and saves herself from a terrible death.
“Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you,” (Act I, 160). She was the first person in the play to accuse a person of seeing people summon spirits of the Devil. This caused a massive, wide-scale witch hunt to take place; families torn apart, mothers, fathers, and even children murdered for what was considered to be the greater good. Now, others began to accuse people of witchcraft and people who had been lifelong friends to each other now had no choice other than to point fingers at each other or be put to death. Widespread panic and unreasonable action was sweeping through everyone in Salem, all because of a little lie by
Tituba, the slave of Reverend Parris, is the first to admit to dancing with the devil. Based on the background knowledge of the time, slaves were not considered part of the class system, so she was not valued as a community member. Tituba is conscious that she is in danger, “she is also very frightened because her slave sense has warned her that, as always, trouble in this house eventually lands on her back” (Miller, pg. 6). Tituba attempts to tell the truth about Abigail when she says, “You beg me to conjure! She beg me make charm” (Miller, pg. 44) but realizes that her word against Abigail will not stand.
Religion was a very strong influence in the lives of Puritans as they followed a very strict moral code and based their entire lives on their faith. Most Puritans were taught from the Bible that "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" (Doc. A), which explains why the witch scare was taken so seriously and why the accused were punished so harshly. They believed and feared that "evil spirits were all around" (Doc. C) as noted in Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions by Cotton Mather, who at that time was a reputable expert in the "invisible world. " It seems strange to 21st-century dwellers that people believed that witches could be identified by marks of the devil, as portrayed in an 1853 painting by T.H. Matteson (Doc. D).
The novel A Delusion of Satan written by Frances Hill describes the history of the Salem Witch Trials (“Salem”) in 1692, the causes and effects of the witch hysteria, and the biographies of major characters associated with the trials. In the novel, Hill started out explaining the Puritans’ beliefs and customs, the gender roles of men and women in Salem and why women were easily accused of being witches and practicing witchcraft in the 17th century. During that time, women were easily accused of practicing witchcraft because they were viewed as physically, politically and spiritually weaker than men. Men were perceived as the power, status, and worthy in the society, and they dominated women’s behavior and social status. In the 17th century,
While the infamous Witch Hunts that had reached their peak in the UK in the 17th century had long since abated (the last ‘witch’ to be executed in England was Alice Molland, who was sent to the gallows in Exeter in 1684) the decline in trials and hunts, which had been precipitated by the Church’s condemnation of witches as devil-worshipping heretics, did not necessarily presage a corresponding decline in the long held belief in witches, and unfounded fears and irrationality still abounded. At a time when dread of the unknown, or trust in magic or chance was commonplace, Mary Bateman was well placed to exploit this flourishing market amongst those susceptible souls amongst the poor and disenfranchised now inhabiting the rapidly growing town of