The Puritans arrived in America in the 16th and 17th centuries hoping create a purified version of the church as they believed the Church of England had still had too many components of catholicism. Humans are also invertly evil and this wickedness is displayed throughout many stories. Finally, moral values are also a central conflict to many stories. Puritanism, the evils of all humans, and moral conflict are a central themes to all three of The Crucible, “Young Goodman Brown”, and “The Minister’s Black Veil”. Although these stories are seemingly unrelated stories on the surface however when considering the under-the-surface meanings of these stories many similarities appear including the impact of Puritanism, the wickedness of all humans, and moral conflict.
In Puritan society, citizens are to strictly adhere to set laws and instructions, or they risk being condemned to ‘an eternity in Hell’, as they put it. To understand as to why the Puritans are so conservative, one must first comprehend their origins. The Puritans are a sub-denomination of Christianity which left Europe to establish an orthodox society, purified of all corruption, that is also attributed, The City on the Hill. The Holy Bible,the ultimate (-- removed HTML --) , declares the manner in which an ideal Puritan is to act. Unfortunately, few of the Puritans who Arthur Miller portrays in “The Crucible”, a play that which describes the accounts of mass hysteria in a Puritan community named Salem , abide by the statutes enacted by God.
Escaping Salem illustrates how the Enlightenment influenced Puritan culture in seventeenth century New England. Puritanism has roots back to the 1517 Protestant Revolution in Germany, when Martin Luther began rejected some of the ideas of the Catholic Church in his Ninety Five Theses. He believed that the Catholic Church had become too corrupt to properly fulfill its duties and that the only way to God was through personal faith and the the word of the Bible. In the early sixteenth century, Puritanism finds its way to England and is adopted by Henry VII as he established the Church of England. However, Puritanism doesn’t stay in favor with the monarchy for long, and many English Puritans flee to the colonies to escape religious persecution by King Charles
In the story “The Crucible” and the article “Puritan Religion and Beliefs” There are many similarities and differences. The main similarity that is found in both literary works , was during this era anyone who sinned and was found guilty of the crime faced public humiliation. The difference in the works comes from paragraph two of the article, it states that we are either “born sinful” or “destined to be saved”. In “The Crucible” knowing your commandments and respecting God means that you know better and acting out of the ordinary means that you are possessed by an evil spirit. The article that was written gave a clear description of how Puritans thought in the beginning and towards the time when “witches in Salem” were discovered.
The Puritans are a group of Christians who originally came from England, where they were persecuted and scorned for their beliefs. In the 16th and 17th centuries, they moved to the colonies in America to create a new life for themselves where they could practice their religion freely. One of the most famous Puritan communities is Salem, which is in modern Massachusetts. Salem is well known for the Salem Witch Trials where countless innocent people were hung on the accusation of witchery. Both The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne take place in Salem.
The Salem witch trials demonstrated much more in the puritan culture than ignorance or fanaticism. It illustrates the interior deformation of the society. Through the tragedy at Salem it is evident that the accusations covered issues that were colony wide. The case of the Salem witch trials demonstrates the financial issues within the colony, the personal issues used to accuse individuals, and the stress of colonial life that stretched far beyond the New England Colony.
Puritans are people of deep religious values and in Salem, Massachusetts; they are confounded when the news of witchcraft breaks air around the town. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, people began to have delirium and hysteria because of the witch trials. The author portrayed these trials from the chaos in the United States and his colleagues to depict the turmoil in Salem. In Arthur Miller’s book grudge and personal rivalries cause hysteria and delirium of witches, which forced fallouts and deaths in the town. Miller uses grudges and personal rivalries as energy that kept the witch trials going.
I chose to do this term paper on the Salem Witch Trials because this topic has always fascinated me. I watched a movie when I was younger called “The Crucible” and it was interesting to me. I have always wondered if these people was innocent, or really “witches.” Why were all these people killed? Was these people men or women?
The action of the play takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Puritans offer a wealth of background on the key religious movement. Things that puritans focus on are theology, their views on family and community, the balance between individual rights and one's obligation to others, and the extent to which public character should be shaped by private religious belief. Although, the Puritans left their hometown to avoid some of the hostility problems due to their religious and race beliefs. Puritans had a strong belief in the devil, and thought that Hell existed.
Puritans didn’t believe in anything that didn’t have to do with the church or the worship of God, therefore that’s why the town of Salem panicked over witches because they believed they devoted the devil. In comparison to the fear of withes in The Crucible, throughout
More than 80% of Americans have Puritan ancestors who emigrated to Colonial America on the Mayflower, and other ships, in the 1630’s (“Puritanism”). Puritanism had an early start due to strong main beliefs that, when challenged, caused major conflict like the Salem Witch Trials. Puritanism had an extremely rocky beginning, starting with a separation from the Roman Catholic Church. Starting in 1606, a group of villagers in Scrooby, England left the church of England and formed a congregation called the Separatist Church, and the members were called The puritans (“Pilgrims”).
The Puritan’s first advantage to modern society was having a very organized community. In the story, Crucible, the town of Salem was run in a puritan society. Everybody functioned the same and had a role in the society. For example, John Proctor and Parris had roles that they needed to fill whether it was running the town or laboring in the fields. This allowed the community to function properly with potential for growth.
The Crucible vs Modern Day Witch-hunts A decade after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth in New England, a larger and better-financed group migrated to Massachusetts Bay. This group was called the Puritans and they were the “non separating congregationalists” which means that they accepted the ideas of the Church of England. In 1630, The Puritans set sail and created a small colony in Massachusetts as a haven after they fled England because of religious persecution.
The Crucible took place in Salem, Massachusetts where the Puritans lived in a restricted society with a unique culture and lifestyle. Puritans lives focused on religion and following God’s plan. Throughout the The Crucible religion played a major role in regards to the plot of the story. Religion was a big deal to the Puritans as it was a requirement to attend church. They wanted to live a simple and peaceful life.
Despite their deeply religious values, the members of the Puritan Society in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible are equally as sinful as the rest of the world. The Puritans, known for coming to God when given any matter at hand, lay blame on the Devil, regardless of their contradictory values. By putting blame on him for their wrongdoings, the Devil earns power by the Puritans resorting to involving him in a situation whenever any one thing goes wrong. Power is defined by one’s reputation, status, wealth, gender, and age.
