The Crucible Salem Witch Trials

Words: 614
Pages: 3
Open Document
In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, some of the characters accuse the other townspeople of witchcraft. The play is set in Salem, Massachusetts and is based on real events that happened in history. Why did the Salem Witch Trials happen? The event started because of mass hysteria which was caused by people pointing fingers at each other. The same thing happens in Miller’s play. Lust, jealousy, and greed motivate Abigail Williams, Mrs. Putnam, and Mr. Putnam to falsely accuse their neighbors of witchcraft.
In the play, Abigail is the niece of Reverend Parris. She was made an orphan after her parents were killed by the natives. Abigail used to work for John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth as their servant. She seduced John and had an affair with him. Elizabeth found out about John’s affair and fired Abigail. “John- I’m waitin’ for you every night,” says Abigail (176). When she says “every night” this is an example of her desire for him because she is always thinking about him and waiting for him to come to her every night. Even though the affair was a one-time thing for John, Abigail believes that she can still be with him, but the person who is in the way of her happiness is Elizabeth. This is why she she tries …show more content…
He can be very cruel and has a vindictive nature. He is willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants, even if it hurts other people in the process. “I have it from an honest man who heard Putnam say it! The day his daughter cried out on Jacobs, he said she’d given him a fair gift of land,” says Giles Corey (214). Putnam convinces Ruth to accuse Jacobs of witchcraft because of his own selfish desires. He is an opportunist and immediately jumps on the bandwagon when people start pointing fingers at each other. Putnam adds to the hysteria by encouraging the accusations and accusing other people of witchcraft for their property. Greed motivates Putnam to accuse Jacobs of
Show More

Related Documents: The Crucible Salem Witch Trials

The Crucible: The Salem Witch Trials

n the play “ The Crucible”, the Salem Witch Trials occurred; during the Salem Witch Trials, many lives ended , husbands cheated , and females got accused of being a harlot. The Salem Witch Trials was when men and women got accused of witchcraft and doing the devil’s work. When the men and women were accused, they had to confess or either be hung and left to die. The Salem Witch Trials occurred in 1962. The Salem Witch Trials was caused by lying girls, jealously, and the division of towns by power…

Words 422 - Pages 2

Salem Witch Trial In The Crucible

created tales of witchcraft in Europe and spread to Salem, infecting the minds of mans. Eventually, Salem society was the perfect recipe and outlet for disaster, in which puritans used accusations of witchcraft to seek retribution for personal tensions, rivalries and grudges. In the play "The Crucible" there is a lot of tensions, grudges, and personal rivalries that played a big role in the witch trial hysteria that took place in Salem. The witch trial convictions were very known during the time. Some…

Words 522 - Pages 3

The Crucible And Salem Witch Trials Essay

sympathizer. In both the The Crucible and the HUAC Trials, the events began because of one person: Abigail in The Crucible and McCarthy in the HUAC trials. According to The Tipping Point, it is human nature to be largely influenced by peers, and to adopt certain behaviors because of it. Mass hysteria rose in both cases as the general population felt anxious about the accusations, which allowed for the paranoia to spread. The real events portrayed in The Crucible and the HUAC Trials were plagued by fear…

Words 881 - Pages 4

Salem Witch Trials And The Crucible Comparison Essay

The Salem Witch Trials were a tragic event. The trials began in 1692 and ended in 1693. A lot of people were accused of witchcraft and having contact with the devil. The accused people were mostly hanged for their crimes. There are a lot of differences and similarities between The Salem Witch Trials and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. First of all, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The Children were dancing in the woods is different because, in the play, it talks about how Abigail and her friends…

Words 463 - Pages 2

The Salem Witch Trials In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

situation and blind people to reason. The Crucible by Arthur Miller explores the fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in Massachusetts between 1962 and 1963. The trials were composed of a series of hearings and prosecutions of the villagers accused of witchcraft. In The Crucible, the people of Salem become hysteric as the accusations of witchcraft grow so rapidly and profusely to the point where innocent people are hanged. The hysteria in Salem begins when Abigail William and a…

Words 866 - Pages 4

Similarities Between The Crucible And Salem Witch Trials

Crucible Comparison Essay Since the dawn of time, millions of people have been unjustly persecuted. In the nineteen forties, the Holocaust in Hitler’s Nazi Germany became one of the most famous genocides of all time and will probably forever. Also, the Salem witch trials taking place in the sixteen forties are another example where people were sectionalized, wrongly accused and punished. Although the Holocaust and the Salem witch trials have numerous differences, there are similarities which are…

Words 762 - Pages 4

Analyzing The Salem Witch Trials In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, focuses on the irregularities of the Salem witch trials and the extreme behavior,the characters display, that can come about because of dark desires. The play reflects a wide range of personalities and motivations from the characters.The Salem villagers also display flaws that include, greed, vengeance, and fear, which eventually lead to the abstraction of their town. In The Crucible, the people of Salem are trying get rid of the evil/ witchcraft that they assume…

Words 346 - Pages 2

Crucible: Salem Witch Trials and Elizabeth Proctor Essay

Noah Lopez 4th hour Honors Sophomore American Literature 10/15/13 The Crucible Analyzed You know what’s really fun? Reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller and analyzing how the experiences of a character or two relate and do not relate to the actual Puritans; both religiously and politically! It’s just exhilarating! Take John Proctor for example. Just like many Puritans, he was a strong believer in God and wouldn’t lie to save his life: quite literally I might add. Proctor was hanged because…

Words 385 - Pages 2

Essay on Crucible: Salem Witch Trials and Proctor

I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil! Analysis: Abigal Williams "confesses" to being a witch. This outburst exemplifies the hypocrisy present in Salem as well as the ridiculousness of the witch trials. Abigail follows the pattern set forth by Tituba the slave. It begins with confessing a meeting with the devil, continues with declaring a reunification with Jesus, and ends with accusing others…

Words 944 - Pages 4

Essay about Crucible: Salem Witch Trials and John Proctor

Dillon Gonzales Mrs.Reedy LA11 16 January 2015 The Crucible The Crucible written by Arthur Miller in 1953 tells a story of what it was like living trough the Salem witch trials and what it was like to be one of the accused. The main character in the play is John Proctor, “a farmer in his middle thirties” is stuck in the middle of it all and is motivated to find falsehood and expose it. In Act 1, Abigail goes to extreme lengths to take the place of Elizabeth Proctor because she fell in love with…

Words 311 - Pages 2