Next, the cases of Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey served as a stark juxtaposition to those prior. Nurse and Corey were not outsiders in society like the others; instead, they were considered upstanding elder women. Moreover, Nurse and Corey strongly opposed the girls’ “antics” and they challenged the investigation, to no avail. In these cases, we see some of the girls’ finest work in producing spectral evidence. Ann Putnam stated, I saw the Apperishtion of gooddy Nurs: and she did immediatly afflect me but I did not know what hir name was then: tho I knew whare she used to sitt in our Meeting house: but sence that she hath greviously afflected me by biting pinching and pricking me: urging me to writ in hir book and also on the 24'th of march being the day of hir examination I was greviously tortored by …show more content…
Thus, he forced the court to hold him in contempt. Yet, he did not force them into the punishment they chose. On September 19, Giles Corey died from being pressed to death with heavy stones for two excruciating days. This was the final straw of the Salem witchcraft trials. For, at this point, the public realized what was truly occurring. According to Hoffer, “Corey’s death was unique; no one in the colony had seen such an execution–for that is what it became. Finally, by allowing himself to be crushed, Corey gave back fortitude and courage rather than spite and bewilderment, unlike Bishop, Good, and others.” Thus, a shift had to occur. Although the Ministerial Association began advocating for the end of spectral evidence in June of 1692, it was not until January of 1693 that such was finally realized when Governor Phips ordered the court to disregard spectral evidence. Though there were still accusations and over fifty more trials, spectral evidence was no longer allowed, and all but three of the remaining suspects were
The people in Salem feared anything or anyone, who was involved with any changes towards the society. They excluded them and they were accused of witchery like Martha. At the end of Act two of “The Crucible” Martha was accused of being a witch, after Mr. Walcott testified against her for bewitching pigs with books. Giles Corey testified as well to Hale that Martha had been reading books, and her reading keeps him from praying. In page 37, Giles quoted ”Marth, my wife.
He refused to enter a plea because he would not let anyone tell him that he committed a crime he did not commit (Brooks “History of the Salem Witch Trials”). He most likely witnessed all of the people who confessed get shamed in town and did not want to go through that. Since he didn’t want to enter a plea, he was then tortured long 3 days in September and finally died (Brooks “History of the Salem Witch Trials”). This proves that this system was completely one-sided and unjust. Today, if a plea is not entered, the defendant and his or her lawyer go to trial.
If I were taking advice from someone, I would listen to the person with the most experience and knowledge on the subject. In Arthur MIller's "The Crucible" Rebecca Nurse seems the most fit to hold that role. Since she is a peacemaker, wise and valued she is very important in the community. Rebecca is wise to child care.
In The Crucible, a lot of characters were not judged fairly. Most of them were jailed or killed and it provided little proof of witchcraft. One character for example was Rebecca Nurse. Rebecca was first brought to trial when her name was brought up into court and so she was brought in to determine if she was capable of witchcraft or not. During the trial, Mary Warren pretended that Rebecca has summoned her soul to choke her.
End of The Witch Trials The witch trials and accusations started fast but ended rather quickly. During the trials, no execution caused more discomfort in Salem than that of the village 's minister, George Burroughs. George Burroughs was the only Puritan minister indicted and executed in Salem in 1692. He served as minister of Salem Village from 1680 until he left in 1683.
The results of the trial in Stamford was that Mercy Disborough was temporarily convicted of witchcraft while Goody Clawson was acquitted. The consequences for Mercy Disborough were that despite months and jail and continued peer accusation, she was acquitted. The consequences for the townspeople are blurrier, but it is evident that persistent hysteria was not one of them. The results of the trial in Stamford were largely reigned in from the massive hysteria and mass convictions associated with contemporary witch trials by the law.
In the Crucible, by Arthur Miller, two of the most important characters are, Mary Warren and Reverend John Hale. The story takes place in Salem, 1692, when supposedly witchcraft ran rampant. John Hale gives us the knowledge of witchcraft and puritan beliefs, in the story, in order to decide whether someone was a witch or not, while Mary Warren assists Abigail Williams in the false accusations presented in order to alleviate the punishment they were facing for the actual practicing of witchcraft as well as dancing. In the story John Hale is intelligent while Mary Warren seems to want good, but is too nervous to take a stand on it.
The town of Salem, Massachusetts was run by a strict theocracy. The Puritan theocracy looked down upon activities that would be considered “fun,” an example being dancing. If people were caught doing a sinful activity such as this, they could, and most often would, be punished. The punishment for dancing would usually involve being struck by a whip. This way of life was especially difficult for young children who had more energy to use than their lifestyle would allow.
The Salem witch trials proved to be one of the most cruel and fear driven events to ever occur in history. Many innocent people were accused of witchcraft, and while some got out of the situation alive not everyone was as lucky. Arthur Miller the author of The Crucible conveys this horrific event in his book and demonstrates what fear can lead people to do. But the reason as to why Arthur Miller felt the need to write The Crucible in the first place was because the unfortunate reality that history seemed to have repeated itself again. In the article “Are You Now or Were You Ever”, Arthur Miller claims that the McCarthy era and the Salem witch trials were similar and he does this through his choice of diction, figurative language, and rhetorical questions.
The United States of America has many well respected people like, Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa parks, Sam Houston, and many more. In the Book The Crucible, author Arthur Miller, townspeople turned on each other for their own reasons. Some use it as revenge and others out of fear. Rebecca Nurse age 72 the wife of Mr. Nurse, is friends of most in the town and has no problems with any. She is a well respected and peaceful person who teaches us that integrity leads to more of a self-satisfied life.
Honorable Last Actions In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor is portrayed as a sinful, yet appreciated man who died a moral but undeserving death. During the Salem Witch Hunt, many innocent people lost their lives. Like others, John chose death over living a life that was deceitful. John Proctor’s last actions were noble and an act of righteousness.
The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 may have been instigated by religious, social, geographic and even biological factors. During these trials, 134 people were condemned as witches and 19 were hanged. These statistics also include 5 more deaths that occurred prior to their execution date. It is interesting to look into the causes of this stain on American History, when as shown in document B, eight citizens were hanged in only one day.
The Truth: During the late seventeenth century in Salem, Massachusetts Bay, Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams were found dancing in the forest by Samuel Parris (minister of Salem). Later on, both of them started to do violent movements and to scream randomly. A doctor theorized that the young girls were acting strange because they were bewitched. Afterwards, different young girls in the area started to have resembling behaviors.
While everyone in town believed the crying teenage girls that claimed witches were upon them, Rebecca Nurse used logical reasoning and claimed that they were acting just like regular teenage girls. Reasoning through tricky situation is a skill I also possess. Through the beginning of ninth grade I used reasoning to make new friends. Many people wanted to be my friend, but some of those who did told lies about people that I had been talking to in order for me to give more of my time to them. I disregarded the lies and today some of the “bad people” are now my friends.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play about what happened during the Salem Witch Trials. It gives insight about what people had to deal with in this situation and how they handled it. The trials were basically a big test which helped figuring out whether or not people were guilty of witchcraft. This is an example of what a crucible is. In our world today we still have crucibles and even though they are different than back then, they all relate to each other because of what influence they have on people.