Salem Witchcraft Trials In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Imagine being put on trial for witchcraft because a group of teenage girls pretended that they are under a spell, and being terrified knowing that their accusations put several innocent people to death. This is what many people would experience during the Salem witchcraft trials. The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, captured the emotions of this time period. It starts when Betty, the only child still alive from Reverend Parris and Elizabeth, has fallen severely ill. The family and neighbors are very concerned and call a doctor who believes that her illness is the result of witchcraft. Just before Betty became ill, Paris saw several girls in the woods. This is where the story starts. Abigail one of the girls starts to accuse people of witchery, soon the other girls that were with her follow along. Quickly the whole town begins turning on each other and people are being lynched. John Proctor and his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, both suspect it is all fake. They already do not care for Paris due to his greediness. Because of John’s disbelief in the witchcraft he is put on trial for witchery.

They also quickly became worried that if they were to stop accusing people that they would then be punished. In the crucible, the girls eventually also accused Elizabeth Proctor because she is the wife of John. Abigail stated at the beginning of the book ”Oh, I marvel how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be” (Miller, 23). This suggests that Abigail does not understand why Elizabeth is better than herself. She is trying to make her herself look better than Elizabeth. As the story unfolds and the potential for Abigail being caught increases, she takes her father’s money and runs away. Paris stated, “My niece, sir, my niece-I believe she has vanished” (Miller, 126). At this point, Paris still had no idea where Abigail went but he now knows she took his money and has