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What Role Did Betty Play In The Crucible

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In Arthur Miller's book The Crucible, he writes about the Salem Witch Trials. The salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people that were being accused of witchcraft. Although The Crucible was based on true events, Arthur Miller altered some information to make the book more interesting. Most of the characters in The Crucible are based on real people, however, some characteristic are not all accurate. For example, Betty Parris’s character was slightly changed to add drama to the play. In the play, Betty Parris was the daughter of Reverend Parris. In the beginning of the play Betty was unconscious and no one knew what was wrong with her. Abigail Williams, Betty’s cousin, claimed that Betty and many other girls were dancing in the woods and when Reverend Parris caught them in the act Betty was afraid of getting in trouble so she pretended to be sick. To justify what the girls had did they claimed that there was witchcraft involved which made them do what they did. Throughout the play, Betty and Abigail go around …show more content…

Betty moved to Salem with her family and slave, Tituba, in November of 1689 when her father, Samuel Parris, was appointed the new minister of Salem village. Betty had been the first afflicted girl and one of the chief accusers during the Salem Witch Trials. In 1691 some of the afflicted girls reportedly dabbled in fortune-telling techniques. Betty began acting strange. Betty would hide under furniture, complained of fever, barked like a dog, and would scream and cry out in pain. Not long after, Abigail started to show these same symptoms. Doctors were unable to find anything physically wrong with the girls and determined that the girls must be bewitched. Betty’s parents soon sent Betty away from Salem in attempts to cure and prevent her from getting further involved in the witch trials. Betty still had fits but soon

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368 Words | 2 Pages

Tituba was a servant of Reverend Parris that would dance with the girls in the woods around a fire. Abigail is the niece of Reverend Parris, which he adopted and a girl who also had an affair with John Proctor. Betty is the daughter of Reverend Parris who gets caught in the mess with Abigail and Mary. 4. Mrs.Putman believed that there are witches in Salem because she had talked to a witch to contact her dead children.

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1800 Words | 8 Pages

Their parents tried to keep this incident a secret, but it became a bit of a challenge. In February 1692, the adults tried to explain what was happening to their children. The children were described as having peculiar postures, ludicrous speeches, distempers and outbursts. Trying to silently bring these strange behaviors under control, the Villagers didn't succeed in doing so. When one of the local ministers, Reverend Samuel Parris' nine-year-old daughter, Betty Parris and his eleven-year-old niece, Abigail Williams were afflicted, he had no other choice but to take

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757 Words | 4 Pages

The action that struck most to cause them to be cautious of the girls was the unusual and weird positions they put their bodies in. Another reverend with the name of Deodat Lawson was an eyewitness to these actions and showed a huge amount of concern about the young girls. He found the actions of the Abigail and Betty as disturbing as the other townspeople. Many say it resembled the look of one going through an exorcism and was painful to watch because these girls were so young and innocent. As time went on Abigail's uncle become quite concerned about the well being of his niece and daughter.

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122 Words | 1 Pages

Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam had illnesses that the a doctor just couldn't be explain. The girls would cry, fall down, and have fits. They first accused a slave named Tituba, said that a man came to her and told her to sign a book. Authorities believed that it was the Devil himself that told Tituba to follow his orders. In March, they accused Martha Corey, a well respected citizen of the community.

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287 Words | 2 Pages

The father of Betty Parris, Reverend Parris is an overly protective father who is always worried. Then one day he sees his daughter and his niece Abigail and some other girls dancing with a servant named Tituba. He is now even more worried that she does have a connection with witchcraft. If so, then

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406 Words | 2 Pages

The lack of entertainment in the Puritan society is responsible for the witch trials. Abigail and the girls went out dancing in the woods with Tituba and was caught by Abigail’s uncle Reverend Parris. When they were caught, they were frightened so they pretended to be sick to avoid punishment. For instance, Ruth “… never [woke] up in the morning but her eyes are open” (Miller 13). Betty was “…was frightened and ‘fainted’” (Miller 10).

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721 Words | 3 Pages

Reverend Parris, worried for his own job, explains to Abigail that her “punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it.” Even the idea of witchcraft in Reverend Parris’s house could ruin his reputation in the town and therefore risk his job. By Betty being ‘afflicted’, she is holding power over her own father and his position in the town. She knows that the longer she is asleep, the more desperate her father is going to be blame someone for the witchcraft who is not her.

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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.

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889 Words | 4 Pages

In the Salem Witch first instance of witchery is Betty/Elizabeth Parris, along with Abigail Williams when they started to scream and giggle uncontrollably, along with delusions, vomiting, muscle spasms, screaming, and writhing. William Griggs, a physician, diagnosed witchcraftery to the women. Soon, fueled by resentment and paranoia, more and more women were accused of being witches, while the community and system of justice piled up. The Trials had lasted from 1692 to 1693. Some women acted peculiar because of a fungus called “Ergot” that grew on cereals and wheat.

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416 Words | 2 Pages

Abigail Williams and the girls is responsible for the deaths of the people who were wrongly convicted and hanged. Also Danforth has some of the blame for this situation as well. However, the girls are the ones who started this situation because the book explains, “Mr. Parris said, “That my daughter and my niece I discovered dancing like heathen in the forest,” (6). In Salem, the rules are to not go through the woods and dances. Now people think that they are doing witchcraft.

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1580 Words | 7 Pages

In the play Abigail only cares about herself and what she can do to protect herself. When the girls talk in Betty’s room and Mary shows weakness and wants to tell everyone about what they did in the forest, Abigail gets really angry. She threatens the girls and is not afraid to show what she is willing to do. “Now look you. All of you.

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538 Words | 3 Pages

Betty is sick and the only explanation they come up with is witchcraft. This is the only thing they can think of since they are so isolated from the rest of the country. Religion is the most important part of daily life for people in 1692. Most of the people

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715 Words | 3 Pages

The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is about real life events that has been changed a bit by the author. The play is set back in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, were the Salem Witchcraft Trials were going on. The Witchcraft Trials were trials that mostly girls, but some men got accused of seeing the devil and doing work for him. If you were accused of being a witch you were to admit to seeing the devil, accuse other people, or you would get hung. Some people wouldn 't admit to being a witch just to save their life because of their faith in Jesus.

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845 Words | 4 Pages

One cause of the witch trial hysteria was the story of Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, the two were cousins, they decided to visit a fortune teller. This occurred on February 29, 1692, shortly after receiving their fortunes Parris’s father, who was a priest, began to notice that his daughter was acting strange, he eventually found out about the session with the teller and was

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962 Words | 4 Pages

  But they’re speakin’ of witchcraft. Betty’s not witched.” (Miller 462).  Abigail feels it would be better to confess to dancing and be whipped than be accused of witchcraft.

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