Witchcraft In Elizabethan Era Essay

The devil figure is represented by Abigail Williams because she always made sure she was accusing somebody of witchcraft,

Mayhem, madness, and chaos are some adjectives that describe the Salem witch Trials era. It was a time of confusion and fear for the thought of witches had invaded the town of Salem. However, there are some scientific explanations for the outbursts. Some theorist believe there was a ergot poisoning epidemic within the town. Consuming a grain of rye that is contaminated ergot fungus can lead to convulsions and hallucinations.

Annette Valdouin Ms.Dalton English 01/10/16 The Supernatural in Macbeth In the Shakespearean play Macbeth, Shakespeare includes supernatural elements such as the imaginary dagger, Banquo’s ghost, and the witches apparitions to give the audience insight as to how fragile Macbeth’s psyche is. In act two Macbeth is readying himself to kill King Duncan when he says, “Is this a dagger which I see before me,/The handle toward my hand?” (2.1.33-34).

Chapter Eight: The Demoniac and the Witch According to Levack, witchcraft is defined as “the infliction of harm or misfortune” caused by a magical being or power that the witch received from the Devil. Witches were persecuted under law, while demoniacs were not held responsible for their behaviors while possessed. Because many believed that these possessions were genuine and not an actor in a play, they could not be held responsible.

In both The Crucible and in modern day witch hunts, witch hunts are caused out of fear or for personal gain. Jill Schonebelen wrote a research paper on Witchcraft allegations, refugee protection and human rights. Throughout this article, it mentions the persecution of witches today in communities around the globe, mentioning the flashbacks of similar strategies that were used in the past, doing different types of tortures. In Modern days, recent generations have abandoned wonderful traditions. Rather, recollecting others with distasteful memories such as witchcraft.

In “The Crucible” By Arthur Miller, the main frailty that causes injustice in Salem is the “witchcraft” that Abigail participates in. The reason why she decided to perform “witchcraft” was out of anger and desire to be with Proctor after he told her to forget the whole ordeal even happened. For example, it caused her to be in distress and drink the charm in order to kill Goody Proctor. Furthermore, it also caused Abigail to form a plot to frame Goody Proctor with form of voodoo involving a poppet and needle. In addition, the “witchcraft” that Abigail participated in, caused an uproar and accusations of innocent people.

In today’s society, the idea of witches have generally become a common topic. When Halloween arrives, we see people dressed up to mimic witches in fun spirit. However, during the Salem Witch Trials, witches were considered evil and against God, which caused fear to strike out amongst the people who religiously followed the Bible and believed in God. Thus, the accusations of citizens being involved with witchcraft struck out, and the persecutions began. When the topic of the Salem Witch Trials is mentioned, we think about how creepy it was and how the people were killed.

Dyanna Nunez History 121Midterm Professor Lauri The Witch Craze in Europe has to do with multiple things, Dominican Order, Malleus Maleficarum, Witches Sabbath, The Inquisition and many other things. The Witch Craze is when you have some type of magical power, a magical power that was not human, it came from either God or the Devil, and it came from the Devil these people made a pact with Devil. These so called witches attended Sabbaths; they got to there by traveling at night in their broomsticks.

In her writings, Emily Oster noted, “Beginning in the thirteenth century, it became widely accepted that witches existed, and were capable of causing physical harm to others and could control natural forces” (216). The word “witch” comes from old English “wicca or wicce”, meaning “a woman (or man) thought to have evil magic powers”. Witches were rebels against the church and society, and were often described as healers and guides who survived a cult.

Corruption is the abuse of power for personal gain. In Justin Kurzel’s adaptation of Macbeth, Macbeth’s corruption is caused by the intervention of the weird sisters. Macbeth’s mind was corrupted by the witches. The witches drive Macbeth’s ambition by foretelling his fate, by helping Fleance escape and creation of the apparitions.

Witchcraft is defined as the practice of magic, especially black magic; the use of spells and the invocation of spirits. In June 1648 Margret Jones, a midwife from Charlestown was indicted and found guilty for witchcraft and hung on a tree. She was the first individual to be executed for witchcraft in Massachusetts Bay Colony. John Winthrop recorded the evidence in his journal during her trial in which states, “Her behavior at her trial was very intemerate, lying notoriously, and railing upon the jury and witnesses, etc., and in the like distemper she died. My view on the evidence used in the Margret Jones case is that the evidence is non-valid because there is no reasonable evidence to lead to a logical conviction.

To genuinely understand the issue of witchcraft hysteria in New England, a general background, namely the underlying causes for the persecution of witches, should be taken into consideration. With no doubt, the witch hunts were a highly complex movement and thus there is no way to justify them by delving into one specific cause that touched them off, namely a religious drive in the case of this thesis. As Pavlac puts it, none of the theories are perfect and the way they are perceived by historians tends to vary, although they were based on credible data (Pavlac 4). The European hunts generally took place from 1400 to 1800 and many political, psychological, sociological and economic changes took place within those years. The best way to deal