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Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The
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Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

Jan 03, 2016

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Page 1: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

Historical Background forArthur Miller’s The Crucible

Salem Witch Trials

The

Page 2: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

What is a witch hunt?

• Literal: an effort to find and eliminate people who are practicing witchcraft

• Figurative: an effort to discover and expose disloyalty or subversion, accusations of which are generally based on weak or inaccurate evidence

- e.g. Witch hunt for Communists in America during the Red Scare

- e.g. Witch hunt for terrorists after 9/11

Page 3: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

Burning a witch at the stake was a method of execution used during the Inquisition

Page 4: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

People had real fears of demons and witchcraft

Page 5: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

What were some common beliefs about witches?

• The Bible condemns the practice of witchcraft• Witches considered servants of Satan• Puritans were extremely fearful of witchcraft and

black magic• Puritan communities wanted to eliminate witches

because they desired a pure, Godly society• Witches were tortured and often executed by state

and church authorities• Puritans considered women, children, and people

with mental disabilities weak and therefore more vulnerable to the Devil’s advances

Page 6: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.
Page 7: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

What were some methods used to test suspected witches?

• “Swimming a witch”• Searching for the “Devil’s mark”• Testing knowledge of the Bible

Page 8: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

Looking for the “Devil’s mark”

Page 9: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

How did the trials begin?

• Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, two young girls, show signs of “affliction”

• Tituba, the servant in the Parris house, is accused of teaching the girls witchcraft

• Tituba claims that there are other witches in Salem• Hysteria spreads through the community• Other outcasts in the community are soon accused• Official court is established to question the accused

Page 10: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

What happened next?

• More girls claim to be “afflicted”• Accusations escalate• Over 100 people in Salem and the surrounding area

are accused• Soon, even respected members of the community

are accused• Some start to question the girls’ claims, and they

are soon accused as well

Page 11: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

A women pleads with the court as her accuser writhes on the ground

Page 12: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

What evidence was used to convict the accused?

• No actual evidence• “Spectral evidence” allowed by the court• Spectral evidence was a claim by an afflicted girl

that a witch’s evil spirit had attacked her• Only the girl who was being attacked could see the

evil spirit• The court believed the girls’ claims• Ironically, a confession of guilt saved the accused• Denying an accusation resulted in conviction

Page 13: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

How did the trials end?

• The afflicted girls start to accuse people outside of the Salem area, including the wives of prominent ministers and the wife of the governor

• The girls lose credibility because of these outlandish claims

• Governor officially terminates the court• In the end, over 200 people were accused• 19 were hanged for practicing witchcraft• 4 died in prison• One man was crushed to death for refusing to

cooperate with the court

Page 14: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

What are some theories that have been developed to explain the trials?

• Puritans were trying to rid their communities of outcasts who didn’t meet their holy standards

• The girls were bored and wanted some excitement• Tensions in the community caused neighbors to

turn on each other• Tainted grain caused the girls and others to

hallucinate (ergot poisoning)• The girls actually believed they were possessed

Page 15: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

What are some characteristics of Puritan culture that contributed to these events?

• Wanted to create a “city on a hill” in the New World, established the Massachusetts Bay Colony in modern-day Boston area

• Believed they were on a holy mission to purify society• Religion was at the center of all aspects of life• Theocracy• Extremely strict• Intolerant of disparate views• Stressed importance of community and therefore did

not encourage individualism

Page 16: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.
Page 17: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

How do modern people generally think of the Puritans?

• Negative view of Puritan culture• Excessively strict• Self-righteous• Intolerant• One good thing: the Puritan work ethic• Another good thing: Puritan schooling system

Page 18: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

When and why did Arthur Miller write his play The Crucible?

• Wrote the play in 1953• Used the Salem Witch Trials as an allegory (a

symbolic story)• He was comparing the Puritans’ irrational fear of

witches to his society’s irrational fear of Communists

• Fear of Communism was rampant during the 1950s• Many were suspicious that Communist spies were in

our country gathering information for the Soviets• People with liberal social and political views (many

artists) were unfairly accused, and their reputations were damaged as a result

Page 19: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

Arthur Miller

Play: 1953 Film: 1996

Crucible

The

Page 21: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.
Page 22: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

Tituba

Page 23: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

Abigail Williams

Page 24: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

Reverend Parris

Page 25: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

Thomas Putnam

Page 26: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

Ann Putnam

Page 27: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

John Proctor

Page 28: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

Elizabeth Proctor

Page 29: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

Mary Warren

Page 30: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

Giles Corey

Page 31: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

Rebecca Nurse

Page 32: Historical Background for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Salem Witch Trials The.

Judge Danforth