of the earliest accusation of witchcraft can be dated back to 1484 in Germany. Many men and women were persecuted‚ tortured‚ burnt and even killed because they were believed to be witches under the devil’s control. In this essay I will talk about what witchcraft was‚ who was accused of practicing it‚ the social response in Salem and what social and religious factors are given to account for the harsh response to witchcraft. The direct definition of witchcraft is the use of supernatural or
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government but as for the crucible it was a group of people that was just accusing other people of witchcraft. While the Salem witch trials occurred in the late 1600’s‚ a similar unfortunate situation occurred in the 1950’s with McCarthyism. The Salem witch trials shared many common characteristics. The similarities include continuous accusations‚ leading politicians‚ and the reaction to witchcraft and communism. The Salem witch trials and McCarthyism both involved ongoing accusations that led
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witches were the obvious targets. Who were the people accused of being Elizabethan Witches? Women were those most often accused of being witches! There were 270 Elizabethan witch trials of 247 were women and only 23 were men! Those accused of witchcraft were generally: * Old * Poor * Unprotected * Single women or widows ‘cause most of them kept pets for company - their ’familiars’) During the Elizabethan era men were all-powerful. Women had few rights and were expected to obey
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hope that Elizabeth proctor would die. When Betty wouldn’t wake up from her sleep while John came to visit her‚ so then Abby tried to make her move with him. John stated that he didn’t want her no more towards Abby. Once the town starts to talk of witchcraft Abby blames Tituba for the whole thing. She explains that Tituba made all the girls go out into the woods and dance. Abby will do anything to keep herself out of the blame. Once the accusations start Abby gains power of the other girls. As Abby
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Arthur Millers The Crucible‚ takes place in Salem Massachusetts‚ during the witch trials of the 1600s. Back then the idea of witchcraft was crazy but the people still believed every word of it. Abigail Williams is the one to blame for the cause of all the witch trials. Her lies‚ devious ways‚ and cruel intentions add to the idea that she was the cause of all this. Abigail used her power against people‚ is untrustworthy‚ and destroyed the lives of others. Many people in the book thought of
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society’s problems on others. Many innocent men and women were convicted of witchcraft‚ and were sent to be hanged. Others spent many months in jail waiting for trial. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller illustrates the power of false confession and effect of fear in Salem proving that mankind will say anything to save their own life‚ when their life is in danger. In Salem many people were accused of witchcraft. They were forced to tell lies to get a hold of their freedom. One of the individual
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patriarchy” the Reformation enforced women’s roles in a marriage as the subordinate‚ always subject to man. This compelled men and women to accuse women of witchcraft if they strayed from these values. The poor quality of life‚ along with crises and wars lead people to bring power back in their hands‚ forcing petty disputes to be settled with witchcraft accusations. All these factors lead people to question what was happening‚ and because they had no answer they turned to the evil witches‚ who could be
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practiced the Puritan belief. The Puritans believed the Bible was the word of God; they assumed all concepts written were true. The Bible proclaimed killing witches is all right. In 1692‚ in the Puritan town of Salem‚ there was a mass hysteria of witchcraft that took place. The infamous act of denizens accused others of being witches‚ led to trials and to the death of the accused. This hysteria and slaughtering of assumed witches were the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trial hysteria started because
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Katherine Harrison- An Explanation Behind the Madness Although witchcraft is commonly associated with the Salem Witch Trials of 1692‚ there were also other trials throughout the century across colonial New England. It is important to look at some of these other trials also in order to see their cultural and historical impacts. The impacts are often overlooked because all of the attention tends to be put towards the Salem trials. One trial in particular‚ the 1669 trial of Katherine Harrison‚ is interesting
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Arthur Miller’s‚ The Crucible hypocrisy runs through the town of Salem‚ Massachusetts‚ as if it were contagious. When the witchcraft situation in Salem gets out of control‚ several characters like reverend Paris‚ Mary Warren‚ and Abigail Williams become engaged in hypocritical actions. One main character who shows hypocrisy in Salem is Reverend Paris. When the idea of witchcraft is introduced for being the cause of why the group of girls in town are ill and seeing spirits. Reverend Paris denies it
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