Historical Context Essay: Arthur Miller and the Red Scare By the 14th century, fear of heresy and of Satan had added charges of diabolism to the usual indictment of witches, maleficium (malevolent sorcery). Thus creating the different movements to bring awareness to the situations and hope that the citizens will work to change and or stop these homicides from happening. In this way, the socio-political changes caused by climate change, such as failed crops, disease, and rural economic poverty, produced the conditions that enabled witch-hunting to flare up. Arrest warrants were also issued for Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. Girls had specific roles in society and were expected to follow the rules of the church without question, so when they acted out and danced or strayed from the church, chaos was unavoidable. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, what does the author mean by his statement that "the Salem tragedy developed from a paradox"? They believed that witches were quite real and a gateway into the dark side, the Devil and all that. Torture was not allowed in witch cases in Italy or Spain, but where used it often led to convictions and the identification of supposed accomplices. A bolt of lightning releases the handcuffs on a woman accused of being a witch and strikes down her inquisitor in this late nineteenth-century lithograph of a colonial-era trial. This is important because a large mass of innocent people were killed due to their race. Witch hunts During this time, witches and conspiring with the devil were frowned upon by the Puritan church, and were the cause of much fear and suspicion. believed to have inspired Shakespeares Macbeth, Eve, Pandora and Plato: How Greek Myth Shaped the First Christian Woman, How Leonardo da Vincis Notebooks Transcend Time, Marco Polo: Renowned Merchant, Explorer & Travel Writer, How Protestant Reformation Shaped Modern Education, Macbeth: Why the King of Scotland was More Than a Shakespearan Despot. Arthur Miller's allegorical play, The Crucible, was written in 1956 about the historic witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts. One interesting connection would be to teach the play along with a film that is very much about McCarthyismJohn Frankenheimer's The Manchurian Candidate (1962). The latter was the greatest evil of the system, for a victim might be forced to name acquaintances, who were in turn coerced into naming others, creating a long chain of accusations. Salem is an early example of what Miller saw around him and personally experienced in the 1950sthe communist witch hunts conducted by Senator Joseph McCarthy. This is also the place Arthur Miller has written about in his book The Crucible. What Caused the Salem Witch Trials? - JSTOR Daily This is highly similar to the homicides that led to rise of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement. Salem Witch Trials - Events, Facts & Victims - HISTORY In response to the mass hysteria over this communist infiltration, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible. How Rye Bread May Have Caused the Salem Witch Trials. Tens of thousands of supposed witches mostly womenwere executed. Both the Catholic and Protestant churches, striving to maintain a tight grasp on their clergy, each made clear that they alone could offer a priceless, invaluable commodity; Salvation. Local feuds, for example, could prove detrimental to communities, as neighbors and families turned against each other and condemned their rivals to the pyre and the gallows. The 1692 Salem Witch Trials. Sometimes this magic was believed to work through simple causation as a form of technology. Ecclesiastical and civil authorities usually tried to restrain witch trials and rarely manipulated witch hunts to obtain money or power. Miller presents the idea that vengeance ruins peoples lives or reputation so that you can get what you want and be satisfied. Texas Zero Property Tax Bill Has Extreme, Discriminatory Catches, Eurovision 2023 Tickets Announced on Ticketmaster, Celebrating Womens History With Qiu Jin, Chinese Revolutionary, The Penguin Tells a Batverse Scarface Story. Whether she was aware of the political conflicts around Massachusetts' status as a colony is not known. One was Elizabeth (Betty) Parris, the 9-year-old daughter of Rev. The hunts were most severe from 1580 to 1630, and the last known execution for witchcraft was in Switzerland in 1782. Moreover, just as the growth of literacy and of reading the Bible helped spread dissent, so did they provoke resistance and fear. One of the most important aspects of the hunts remains unexplained. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. Where central authorityi.e., bishops, kings, or the Inquisitionwas strong, convictions were fewer and sentences milder. Let us know your assignment type and we'll make sure to get you exactly the kind of answer you need. For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as Latest answer posted November 22, 2020 at 12:05:25 PM, In The Crucible, explain what Elizabeth means when she says, "He have his goodness now, God forbid I take it from him. Have a tip or story idea? Societies under a lot of stress will always give into taunters. On February 29, 1692, an arrest warrant was issued for Tituba in Salem Town. Yet, following the Protestant Reformation, such persecution was widespread. Both Protestants and Catholics were involved in the prosecutions, as the theology of the Protestant Reformers on the Devil and witchcraft was virtually indistinguishable from that of the Catholics. The theory best supported by the evidence is that the increasing power of the centralized courts such as the Inquisition and the Parlement acted to begin a process of decriminalization of witchcraft. eNotes Editorial, 4 Aug. 2011, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/in-act-1-what-explanation-does-miller-give-as-to-270640. In the long run it may be better simply to describe the witch hunts than to try to explain them, since the explanations are so diverse and complicated. No satisfactory explanation for the preponderance of women among the accused has appeared. Log in here. When they did accuse witches, Calvinists generally hunted fellow Calvinists, whereas Roman Catholics largely hunted other Roman Catholics. Written in the early 1950s, Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, during the 1692 Salem witch trials . What is a quote said by John Proctor in Act 3 in which he reveals his sin of adultery? Another was Abigail Williams, age 12, called "kinfolk" or a "niece" of Rev. As exemplified in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, witch trials took place. Although, the play is fiction, Miller based the plot of his play on the historical event, the Salem Witch Trials.According to the the Salem witch trials of the late 17th century, The Crucible explores a mass hysteria that its residents must go through because of the witchcraft accusations made by young girls and many other people of the region.These accusations, we learn further in the novel, are not true and are purely for the purpose to put the blame of someone's mistakes or wrongdoings to someone else. The Crucible Act One Summary and Analysis | GradeSaver After the magistrates finished their examination of Tituba, she was sent to jail. While she was imprisoned, two others accused her of being one of two or three women whose specters they'd seen flying. Similar to The Crucible , a majority of the characters reacted the way they did out of fear. The effects of conflicts such as the Thirty Years War were exacerbated by the drastic Little Ice Age with which they coincided, especially in regard to the European witch hunts. Indeed, Germany, one of the central countries of the Protestant Reformation, is often referred to as the focal point of the European witch hunts. Presumably, whoever paid the fine had become Tituba's enslaver. The so-called 'confessions' by many of the accusers were an effort for them to purge themselves, as it were, of sin and thus find redemption. Samuel Parris, later to play a central role in the Salem witch trials of 1692 as the village minister, brought three enslaved persons with him when he came to Massachusetts from New SpainBarbadosin the Caribbean. Witchcraft - The witch hunts | Britannica In The Crucible, with Hales transformation Miller is emphasizing that humanity will always seek redemption, the truth will triumph the lies, and people will constantly try. By the late 16th century, many prosperous and professional people in western Europe were accused, so that the leaders of society began to have a personal interest in checking the hunts. Still creepy, but slightly less creepy? Tituba was among the first three people accused of being a witch during the Salem witch trials of 1692. Accessed 4 Mar. "Tituba and The Salem Witch Trials of 1692." from University of the Western Cape, South Africa. The witch trials offer a window into the anxieties and social tensions that accompanied New Englands increasing integration into the Atlantic economy. Why did Arthur Miller write The Crucible? Throughout the ages, people repeatedly use witch hunts as a method for dealing with issues that are widespread. Poor agricultural success, conflict with Native Americans, tension between different communities, and poverty were not what the Puritan communities envisioned when they set out. The events in Salem and other towns in New England took place in a region of isolated villages and towns. Two of the accused women confessed to being witches and were reprievedparadoxically, if you admitted to being a witch, you were freed. We can guess from the circumstances that Parris enslaved Tituba in Barbados, probably when she was 12 or a few years older. Resentment and fear of the power of the hag, a woman released from the constraints of virginity and then of maternal duties, has been frequently described in Mediterranean cultures. If witchcraft existed, as people believed it did, then it was an absolute necessity to extirpate it before it destroyed the world. eNotes Editorial, 6 June 2016, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-reasons-miller-gives-salem-witch-hunts-360670. George Burroughs and the Salem Witch Trials, Mary Easty: Hanged as a Witch in Salem, 1692, M.Div., Meadville/Lombard Theological School. Aligns with CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.7- Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling., Have a tip we should know? He says they were caused by everyone being paranoid of the witches. In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, witch hunts empowered towns and consumed people's lives with fear. How does he describe the witch-hunts. The Crucible Overture Summary | Course Hero Crucible by Arthur Miller Act 1 Flashcards | Quizlet They were a wide cultural, social, political phenomenon. Or to keep it anonymous, click here. ", Latest answer posted October 02, 2020 at 10:46:39 AM. In about 1689, Tituba and John Indian seem to have married. Proctor house. On a more material level, the fact that the land charters to Salem had been revoked helped to create an air of tension about land ownership. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, what does the author mean by his statement that "the Salem tragedy developed from a paradox". These can all be related back to The Crucible, in the way in which each character experienced. Ultimately, 19 individuals who had refused to admit guilt were hanged and another was pressed to death. Although the lurid trials at Salem (now in Massachusetts) continue to draw much attention from American authors, they were only a swirl in the backwater of the witch hunts. Tituba was questioned about her role. Accusations originated with the ill-will of the accuser, or, more often, the accusers fear of someone having ill-will toward him. With our Essay Lab, you can create a customized outline within seconds to get started on your essay right away. Immediately Abigail cried out her fingers, her fingers, her fingers burned . Along with this older tradition, attitudes toward witches and the witch hunts of the 14th18th centuries stemmed from a long history of the churchs theological and legal attacks on heretics. The Salem witch trials of the 1690's portrayed by Millers the Crucible parallel The Red Scare of 1920's, both events revolve around the fear of foreign ideology causing hysteria. Already a member? Become a subscriber and support the site! King James VI of Scotland, a monarch notorious for his role in Scotlands witch-hunting craze, believed that he had been personally targeted by witches who conjured dangerous storms while he sailed across the North Sea to Denmark. As Miller puts it: 'Land-lust which had been expressed before by constant bickering over boundaries and deeds, could now be elevated to the arena of morality; one could cry witch against one's neighbor and feel perfectly justified in the bargain.'. Both of these historic elements, however, were shaped by Miller into a story about a married man tormented by an orphaned, libidinous teenage girl seeking to punish him for a sexual transgression she participated consensually in. She may have served as a household servant and a companion to Betty. In the early modern period, Protestantism emerged as a viable challenge to the Catholic Churchs firm hold on the Christian population of Europe. ThoughtCo. Like the Inquisition, the Parlement of Paris (the supreme court of northern France) severely restrained the witch hunts. Tituba and The Salem Witch Trials of 1692. What was it about the time period that made such hysteria, and ultimately tragedy, possible. Parris and his wife. Parris was, at the time he was in New Spain, not yet married and not yet a minister. Although many witchcraft theorists were not deeply misogynist, many others were, notably the authors of the infamous Malleus maleficarum. But since the controversy included withholding salary and payment in firewood, and Parris complained about the effect on his family, Tituba probably would also have felt the shortage of firewood and food in the house. However, many were guilty of caving into their own weaknesses and only feared to be caught in their acts of hypocrisy. The settlers of New England faced innumerable struggles and hardships. Tituba and The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 - ThoughtCo Through Abigails and Titubas actions of self-protection at the expense of others, Miller reveals the dangers of mass hysteria and its motivation towards self-preservation and false accusations. By Katie BrownCurrent PhD Biblical Studies, BA Classics and ReligionKatie is a postgraduate research student in Trinity College Dublin, where she also received her Bachelor's Degree in Classical Civilisation and World Religions and Theology. All this I understood. Studying the American and European witch hunts today serves as a reminder of how hardship can bring out the very worst in people, turning neighbor against neighbor and brother against brother. 'The witch-hunt was not, however, a mere repression. In the late 1940s early 1950s, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy made the grandiose pledge to uncover a communist plot to overthrow democracy in United States. These allegations would have important implications for the future because they were part of a broader pattern of hostility toward and persecution of marginalized groups. Prior to the beginning of the early modern period, before the devastating impact of the Black Plague transformed European institutions and the political dynamic of the entire continent, many people throughout Europe may have believed in magic. Arthur Miller's The Crucible: Witch Hunting for the Classroom As just one example, the king of Italy, Charlemagne, dismissed the concept of witchcraft as a pagan superstition and ordered the death penalty for whoever executed someone because they considered them to be a witch. The hunts were not pursuits of individuals already identified as witches but efforts to identify those who were witches. why did the witch-hunts occur? Witchcraft | Definition, History, Varieties, & Facts | Britannica In 1689 Parris was formally called as the minister, given a full deed to the parsonage, and the Salem Village church charter was signed. Updated on January 31, 2020. That Abigail started, in effect, to condemn Elizabeth to death with her touch, then stopped her hand, then went through with it, was quite suddenly the human center of all this turmoil. Arthur Miller felt as if it were a . The Crucible: Questions & Answers | SparkNotes Although these figures are alarming, they do not remotely approach the feverishly exaggerated claims of some 20th-century writers. Many innocent people were accused of witchcraft, and while some got out of the situation alive not everyone was as lucky. For example, The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street, an episode of Rod Serlings Twilight Zone series, may provide students and teachers an opportunity to examine the phenomenon of mass hysteria. He has wanted his Incarnate Legions to Persecute us, as the People of God have in the other Hemisphere been Persecuted: he has therefore drawn forth his more spiritual ones to make an attacque upon us. The Black Death: Europes Deadliest Pandemic in Human History. The early modern period was a time of calamity, plagues, and wars, while fear and uncertainty were rife. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. Most scholars agree that the prosecutions were not driven by political or gender concerns; they were not attacks on backward, or rural, societies; they did not function to express or relieve local tensions; they were not a result of the rise of capitalism or other macroeconomic changes; they were not the result of changes in family structure or in the role of women in society; and they were not an effort by cultural elites to impose their views on the populace. "What are the reasons Miller gives for the Salem witch hunts?" They claim the witches were making them do these bad things. Witches were considered Satan's followers, members of an antichurch and an antistate, the sworn enemies of Christian society in the Middle Ages, and a "counter-state" in the early modern period. The salem witch trials hysteria of 1692 was caused by the Puritans strict religious standards and intolerance of anything not accepted with their scripture. In his telling, witch hunts are perpetrated by the marginalized rather than upon them, since, when sex is involved, women are inclined toward group-malice, sexual irrationality, and wholesale. The Puritans were marked by inflexibility and extremism. It would, over time, grow to be synonymous with mass hysteria, panic, and paranoia, referenced by those who believe themselves to be victims of unjust persecution; Salem. They may evaluate how each version interprets the source text and debate which aspects of the enacted interpretations of the play best capture a particular character, scene, or theme. The visible role played by women in some heresies during this period may have contributed to the stereotype of the witch as female. Margaret Atwoods theory that societies under a lot of stress will give in to a person or a group proves a struggle between weak people giving into stronger people. She is a former faculty member of the Humanist Institute. The Salem witch trials proved to be one of the most cruel and fear driven events to ever occur in history. Why is Thomas Putnam bitter in act 1 of The Crucible. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Essential Quotes by Character: John Proctor, Critical Context (Masterplots II: Juvenile & Young Adult Literature Series), Critical Context (Comprehensive Guide to Drama). Arthur Miller includes Tituba in his 1952 play, "The Crucible", which uses the Salem witch trials as a metaphor or analogy to 20th century McCarthyism, the pursuit, and "blacklisting" of accused Communists. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, he shows us four ingredients that create a mass hysteria. Drawing on research on the witch trials he had conducted while an undergraduate, Miller composed The Crucible in the early 1950s. And we have now with Horror seen the Discovery of such a WITCHCRAFT! His 17 June 2000 article inThe Guardian/The Observer, "Are You Now Or Were You Ever?,"describes the paranoia that swept America in that era and the moment his then-wife, Marilyn Monroe, became a bargaining chip in his own prosecution. In this remarkably observed gesture of a troubled young girl, I believed, a play became possible. The Salem witch trials, which resulted in several deaths in 1692 in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts, have never been adequately explained. In 1964, Ann Petry published "Tituba of Salem Village", written for children 10 and older. The economic theories of the Salem events tend to be two-fold: the first attributes the witchcraft trials to an economic downturn caused by a "little ice age" that lasted from 1550-1800; the second cites socioeconomic issues in Salem itself. Although some people undoubtedly practiced sorcery with the intent to harm, and some may actually have worshiped the Devil, in reality no one ever fit the concept of the witch. Nonetheless, the witchs crimes were defined in law. Arthur Miller wrote this play to symbolize 1950s McCarthyism. Its origin lies in the establishment of a theocracy by the inhabitants of Salem, which combined state and religious power. The Devil, whose central role in witchcraft beliefs made the Western tradition unique, was an absolute reality in both elite and popular culture, and failure to understand the prevailing terror of Satan has misled some modern researchers to regard witchcraft as a cover for political or gender conspiracies. There is no source before the latter half of the 19th century, including transcripts of testimony in the examinations and trials, that supports the idea that Tituba and the girls who were accusers practiced any magic together. Many critics described Death of a Salesman as the first great American tragedy, and Miller gained an associated eminence as a man who understood the deep essence of the United States. The witch roused Samuel, who then prophesied. This was a Puritan village. why did the witch-hunts occur? | The Crucible Questions | Q & A Similarities Between Paranoia And Salem Witch Trials Tituba served as a housekeeper. For many peopleespecially New Englanders (wicked or not) and fans of Daniel Day-Lewis or Winona Ryder (stars of the 1996 movie version of Arthur Miller's The Crucible)17th-century Salem, Massachusetts, comes to mind when they hear the word witch hunt.The persecution of witches goes back to ancient times, but it was during the 16th and 17th centuries that witch hunts intensified. Salem, of course, serves as the perfect example of this fanaticism and scapegoating taken to the extreme. For The Crucible, Miller aged Abigail up from her actual age of 11 to a more easily sexualized 17, while aging down John Procter, who was historically 60 at the time the trials went down to 35. With tensions running high, many turned to inculcate the more vulnerable members of society. We do not know if the enslavement of Tituba was the settlement of a debt, though that story has been accepted by some. By directing blame for misfortune upon others, various populations across Europe succumbed to the mass panic and collective fear ignited by those in authority. The girls accused a lot of people and got a lot of people of hang for being witches. The witch-hunt provided the perfect opportunity for the settlement of old scores. Upon these people, the blame could be laid for all hardships endured by Puritan society. A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials - Smithsonian Magazine Set in the 17th century The Crucible told the story of a town that ensued a hunt for witches, caused by the accusations of Salem 's young girls and their ring leader Abigail Williams. The play results in a mob mentality and hysteria taking over because people believed a lying girl. "In Act 1, what explanation does Miller give as to why the witch hunts developed in such a community in The Crucible?" Folklore and accounts of trials indicate that a woman who was not protected by a male family member might have been the most likely candidate for an accusation, but the evidence is inconclusive. Jill Schonebelen wrote a research paper on Witchcraft allegations, refugee protection and human rights. In Act 1, what explanation does Miller give as to why the witch hunts According to author Carol F. Karlsen . How Arthur Miller Created a Myth of the Male "Witch Hunt - The Mary Sue Therefore, to create unity, one also had to exclude and prohibit those who could threaten it. Since 1970 careful research has elucidated law codes and theological treatises from the era of the witch hunts and uncovered much information about how fear, accusations, and prosecutions actually occurred in villages, local law courts, and courts of appeal in Roman Catholic and Protestant cultures in western Europe. A witch hunt is seen as an intensive effort to discover and expose disloyalty, subversion, dishonesty, or the like, usually based on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant evidence. John Hale, were called in by Parris. In Spain, Portugal, and southern Italy, witch prosecutions seldom occurred, and executions were very rare. Tituba apologized for her part, saying she loved Betty and meant her no harm. Whether she was aware of Rev. Clearly, both definitions apply to the title of the play. Fear, hatred, guilt, jealousy, pain, grief, confusion, lust, and hunger are all feelings with one thing in common: They were the driving force that caused a witch-hunt amongst early modern Europeans. Most accused children had parents who had been accused of witchcraft. Men who brand women as dakan capitalize on deeply rooted superstitions and systems built on . The decline of witch hunts, like their origins, was gradual. The myths surrounding what happened in Salem make the true story that much more difficult to uncover.
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