ipl-logo

The Crucible Betty Character Analysis

575 Words3 Pages

The town of Salem is a small town with a population of five to six hundred people. Imagine if a secret about witchcraft was to be kept between a group of five to ten people. Not everyone in that group is rushing to keep their mouth shut. The secret is going to spread like wildfire. In this town of Salem witchcraft or satanism is the reasoning behind everything. Betty and Mrs.Putnam exploit witchcraft and satanism to their advantage leading to the chaotic situation that occurs. Betty is the daughter of Reverend Parris. Reverend Parris contains a great deal of power over the citizens of Salem. Therefore, Betty is an important person also. Everyone in the town of Salem thinks if witchcraft can get to Reverend Parris’s daughter then it can get to anyone in the town. At this point Betty has given signs that she is playing as an imposter. At one point in the story Betty screams and whales when she hears the Lord's name or word. Later on in the story there are multiple times his name is brought up and she does not react at all. In Arthur Miller’s Crucible, Mercy Lewis states, “Oh Jesus!” (Miller 17) Betty is lying in the bed right next to Mercy as she says this. It is …show more content…

Mrs. Putnam, who is married to the wealthy Thomas Putnam, is viewed as uncommon because she can not give birth. Mrs. Putnam has had seven babies die right after birth. In Salem at this time, bearing a child is one of the most important duties for a women. Mrs. Putnam is not capable of this. She realizes she has a way out and starts to blame the witchcraft. She uses the situation to improve her reputation in the town. While Mrs. Putnam is the witch in the shadows pointing fingers at everyone. She first wanted Tituba to help Ruth, who is her only child that survived, yet later on she ends up blaming Tituba for all of her babies dying. Mrs. Putnam is squealing to Reverend Parris that her babies died because Tituba allowed witchcraft in the

Show More
Related
671 Words | 3 Pages

Luke 23: 24 ,”Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” That was the verse that 16th Street Baptist Church Sunday school lesson for September 15, 1963 was going to be based on (Howard, Betsy Child). Sadly, four very special little girls never got to hear it. The assassination of the four innocent little girls, Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Carol Denise McNair during the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was unjust because they were innocent, the main causes for the assassination were racial and political; however, in those days some people thought certain murder was acceptable, therefore making it just. The assassination of Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Denise Carol McNair was very unjust, because they were innocent, unoffending, and did not deserve to die that way. Addie, Cynthia, Carole, were only fourteen years old, and Denise was only eleven.

Read More
1532 Words | 7 Pages

The novel A Delusion of Satan written by Frances Hill describes the history of the Salem Witch Trials (“Salem”) in 1692, the causes and effects of the witch hysteria, and the biographies of major characters associated with the trials. In the novel, Hill started out explaining the Puritans’ beliefs and customs, the gender roles of men and women in Salem and why women were easily accused of being witches and practicing witchcraft in the 17th century. During that time, women were easily accused of practicing witchcraft because they were viewed as physically, politically and spiritually weaker than men. Men were perceived as the power, status, and worthy in the society, and they dominated women’s behavior and social status. In the 17th century,

Read More
690 Words | 3 Pages

Parris asks Rebecca to take a look at Betty. Rebecca says that there was nothing seriously wrong with Betty. Hale starts question Abigail about being in the woods. Abigail then blames Titiba for messing with spirits. They go to get Titiba to question her.

Read More
1066 Words | 5 Pages

The Salem Witch Trials; Madness or Logic In Stacey Schiff’s, List of 5 Possible Causes of the Salem Witch Trials and Shah Faiza’s, THE WITCHES OF SALEM; Diabolical doings in a Puritan village, discuss in their articles what has been debated by so many historians for years, the causes of the Salem Witch trials. Schiff and the Faiza, purpose is to argue the possible religious, scientific, communal, and sociological reasons on why the trials occurred. All while making word by word in the writer’s testimony as if they were there through emotion and just stating simply the facts and theories. They adopt the hectic tone in order to convey to the readers the significance, tragedy, logic, loss, and possible madness behind these life changing events,

Read More
482 Words | 2 Pages

In The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, he writes about a story of witches in Salem, Massachusetts. The play is about a group of young girls who control the village with the fake pretense of having seen the devil and who he has worked with John Proctor and Reverend Parris are two characters within the play who both have similar experiences to each other. The story teaches us that different actions lead to different circumstances. Reverend Parris is the uncle of abigail, one of the girls in the wood who chanted.

Read More
721 Words | 3 Pages

God will bless you for your help”. (47) Betty has convinced Reverend Hale and the others that she is the victim and has done nothing wrong. This innocence is used as guilt for Tituba to make up names, even though Reverend Hale, who came into Salem with such an abundance of power, now is completely lead astray with the fake witchcraft present in the town due to Betty’s control of the situation at hand. Betty, throughout the first act, displayed her manipulative and dominant nature by taking power from certain powerful figures in the

Read More
1035 Words | 5 Pages

The Putnam’s, in the midst of the mass hysteria, falsely accuse her of witchcraft. Because of her strong faith to God, she is unwilling to say she never walks with the devil in order to get out of going to jail and being hanged. Although McCarthyism did not lead to anyone being put to death, people had seen communism begin to take over and they were so fearful of this idea, they were willing to make these rash, foolish

Read More
925 Words | 4 Pages

“Character Analysis over The Crucible” Arthur Miller is a commonly-known playwright, most famous for his 1953 play, The Crucible. The basis for The Crucible came from the witch trials which occurred in Salem, Massachusetts during the puritan era. Miller even uses some of the same characters in his dramatized play that were a part of the original witch trials in Salem. However, Miller made a few alterations to the historical members of the Salem society in order to suit his dramatic purpose in The Crucible, particularly Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Reverend Samuel Parris.

Read More
581 Words | 3 Pages

Rebecca is accused for murdering the seven children of Ann Putnam who have died long before any questioning arose. Following this accusation, which is one of many that are false, Rebecca would go through the court process of either admitting to her actions as a witch or

Read More
538 Words | 3 Pages

He tells Abigail “It must come out—my enemies will bring it out… Abigail do you understand that I have many enemies?” Reverend Parris is more concerned about his own reputation being hurt then Betty not dying. He tells Abigail that his ministry is at stake before he says that he cares about if Betty will be okay.

Read More
879 Words | 4 Pages

The Devil influences the villagers of Salem, Massachusetts by using their ongoing fear of him to manipulate their thoughts and actions in a manner to set himself in the highest position by the end of the Act 1. As the Puritans lean toward blaming the Devil for their misgivings and suspicions, he gains control of their thoughts. Ruth and Betty pretend to fall ill after Reverend Parris catches them in the forest with Tituba and other girls, partaking in what is considered to be witchcraft: an act that defies the laws of femininity in the Puritan society. Mrs. Putnam does not buy her daughter Ruth’s act; rather, she sees it as “‘the Devil’s touch”’ which “‘is heavier than sick”’ (13). Believing that the Devil

Read More
421 Words | 2 Pages

For instance, she wants to get back at Rebecca out of jealousy because she delivered healthy children who survived. All of Ann Putnam’s eight children died. The only one who survived was Ruth. For this reason, Ann Putnam accuses Rebecca of using witchcraft to kill her eight children.

Read More
1069 Words | 5 Pages

The Devil, a figure usually associated with fear, death, and sickness is placed within this play as an influential “character” based on his spiteful reputation. His name alone, when spoken, fills any room in Salem with terror and uncertainty. Especially in such a puritan society, such as Salem, the Devil is recognized as a malicious creature who is behind the “Witchcraft” and “sickness” taking place. As Mr. and Mrs. Putnam attempt to jump to conclusion that “there are hurtful, vengeful spirits layin hands on these children”(15), Mrs. Putnam justifies the

Read More
825 Words | 4 Pages

“Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you,” (Act I, 160). She was the first person in the play to accuse a person of seeing people summon spirits of the Devil. This caused a massive, wide-scale witch hunt to take place; families torn apart, mothers, fathers, and even children murdered for what was considered to be the greater good. Now, others began to accuse people of witchcraft and people who had been lifelong friends to each other now had no choice other than to point fingers at each other or be put to death. Widespread panic and unreasonable action was sweeping through everyone in Salem, all because of a little lie by

Read More
286 Words | 2 Pages

Rebecca Nurse was blamed for the death of all of Ann Putnam’s children, except for one. The events also caused numerous people to be convicted of witchcraft, some of them being executed. Two of the most notable people convicted in the play were John Procter, condemned for adultery and later hung, and Tituba, who confessed, saving her own life.

Read More

More about The Crucible Betty Character Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document