Power Shifts In The Crucible

If society looked at not only the events of The Crucible but also the power shifts that occurred during the Salem Witch Trials, people could learn how to prevent such things from happening. With their strong religion and how vital the church was to them, the church held the ultimate power. Through manipulation and very strong beliefs, the Witch Trials, caused the balance of power in Salem to change continuously. The Crucible shows the shifts in power by the power starting with John Proctor and Samuel Parris and as Arthur Miller continues to write the ins and outs of the story the power shifts to Abigail and to Danforth. Author Miller sets up The Crucible like the traditional Puritan society. According to the ushistory.org and History.com in the Puritan society, they believed that they had a direct

The Church was a vital source for them. The Puritans believed that the men were the superior ones. The women were not allowed to attend the town meetings and were also prohibited from making decisions for the church. Attending church for the Puritans was mandatory for the people that missed church had to pay a fine. The church official typically had the ultimate power even above the judge. In The Crucible the same went at the beginning of Act One John Proctor and Reverand Samual Parris held the power. These two men are very respected in Salem John Proctor is a respected farmer and Samual Parris is a Reverand. Reverend Parris hangs his power over his niece Abigail Williams when he lets her know that he knows about her and his daughter Betty Parris dancing in the forest and that he also that Tituba was with them. This is shown when Parris says “Now look you, child, your punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits