Witches In The Crucible

In the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, tells a series of events leading to a mass hanging of what were thought to be witches in Salem in 1692. Corrupted by fear, people, especially women, were spitting out names to keep themselves safe. This hysteria lasted up to 9 months. Based on true events, this is much like the communist scare of the 1950’s from Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy. This was called McCarthyism. He started saying that there were communists in America trying to spread their way of life, much like Abigail saying that there were witches in Salem to protect her name.

Starting in Act I, the scene sets on Betty, who lays unconscious in the home of reverend Parris. At first, they're thinking that it's some sort of illness, but when the town doctor says there's nothing in the books for it, they start looking at other things. “Aye,

In Act III, there was a petition being sent around for those who say that the accused women were not actually witches. “Will you read this first, sir? It’s a sort of testament. The people signing it declare their good opinion of Rebecca, and my wife, and Martha Corey…..These are all landholding farmers, members of the church. If you’ll notice, sir - they’ve known the women many years and never saw no sign they had dealings with the Devil,” Proctor said to Judge Danforth. He responded, “How many names are here?” Francis Nurse responds saying 91 people have signed. This had backfired on them, because Parris had them all brought in to be questioned. The court thought that those who stood up for these women had to be on their side, as witches of course. This induced more fear of the court. Going back to the 50’s, anybody who opposed the government was said to be a communist due to their resistance. Neither of these groups wanted to be either blacklisted or jailed/