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The Crucible Betty Character Analysis

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The town of Salem is a small town with a population of five to six hundred people. Imagine if a secret about witchcraft was to be kept between a group of five to ten people. Not everyone in that group is rushing to keep their mouth shut. The secret is going to spread like wildfire. In this town of Salem witchcraft or satanism is the reasoning behind everything. Betty and Mrs.Putnam exploit witchcraft and satanism to their advantage leading to the chaotic situation that occurs. Betty is the daughter of Reverend Parris. Reverend Parris contains a great deal of power over the citizens of Salem. Therefore, Betty is an important person also. Everyone in the town of Salem thinks if witchcraft can get to Reverend Parris’s daughter then it can get to anyone in the town. At this point Betty has given signs that she is playing as an imposter. At one point in the story Betty screams and whales when she hears the Lord's name or word. Later on in the story there are multiple times his name is brought up and she does not react at all. In Arthur Miller’s Crucible, Mercy Lewis states, “Oh Jesus!” (Miller 17) Betty is lying in the bed right next to Mercy as she says this. It is …show more content…

Mrs. Putnam, who is married to the wealthy Thomas Putnam, is viewed as uncommon because she can not give birth. Mrs. Putnam has had seven babies die right after birth. In Salem at this time, bearing a child is one of the most important duties for a women. Mrs. Putnam is not capable of this. She realizes she has a way out and starts to blame the witchcraft. She uses the situation to improve her reputation in the town. While Mrs. Putnam is the witch in the shadows pointing fingers at everyone. She first wanted Tituba to help Ruth, who is her only child that survived, yet later on she ends up blaming Tituba for all of her babies dying. Mrs. Putnam is squealing to Reverend Parris that her babies died because Tituba allowed witchcraft in the

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