according to miller, what caused the witch hunts?

Arthur Miller the author of The Crucible conveys this horrific event in his book and demonstrates what fear can lead people to do. The witch trials offer a window into the anxieties and social tensions that accompanied New Englands increasing integration into the Atlantic economy. On February 29, 1692, an arrest warrant was issued for Tituba in Salem Town. Because of the continuity of witch trials with those for heresy, it is impossible to say when the first witch trial occurred. No wonder the term witch hunt has entered common political parlance to describe such campaigns as that of the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy in his attempt to root out communists in the United States in the 1950s. The witch-hunt provided the perfect opportunity for the settlement of old scores. believed to have inspired Shakespeares Macbeth, Eve, Pandora and Plato: How Greek Myth Shaped the First Christian Woman, How Leonardo da Vincis Notebooks Transcend Time, Marco Polo: Renowned Merchant, Explorer & Travel Writer, How Protestant Reformation Shaped Modern Education, Macbeth: Why the King of Scotland was More Than a Shakespearan Despot. In Greco-Roman civilization, Dionysiac worship included meeting underground at night, sacrificing animals, practicing orgies, feasting, and drinking. The Puritans were marked by inflexibility and extremism. In 20th Century America, it all started when a playwright named Arthur Miller had an affair with a Hollywood actress named Marilyn Monroe. In the article Are You Now or Were You Ever, Arthur Miller claims that the McCarthy era and the Salem witch trials were similar and he does this through his choice of diction, figurative language, and rhetorical questions. Wherefore The devil is now making one Attempt more upon us; an Attempt more Difficult, more Surprizing, more snarld with unintelligible Circumstances than any that we have hitherto Encountered; an Attempt so Critical, that if we get well through, we shall soon Enjoy Halcyon Days, with all the Vultures of Hell Trodden under our Feet. What caused them? The ensuing witch hunt would result in the executions of 19 men, women, and children, along with the deaths of at least six others, and the suffering, torment, and calamity of an entire community. This is also the place Arthur Miller has written about in his book The Crucible. The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling., Have a tip we should know? Log in here. Since 1970 careful research has elucidated law codes and theological treatises from the era of the witch hunts and uncovered much information about how fear, accusations, and prosecutions actually occurred in villages, local law courts, and courts of appeal in Roman Catholic and Protestant cultures in western Europe. Tituba was questioned for two more days. Miller argues that the fundamental nature of Salem's construction made it a community where the Witch Trials were inevitable. A fire, a fire is burning! The inevitable need for a scapegoat, for someone to hold accountable for misfortune, seems to be ingrained in the human psyche. ", Latest answer posted October 02, 2020 at 10:46:39 AM. In other words, there was how things actually happened during the Salem Witch Trials, and there was how Miller wrote about them, taking lots of liberties to tell this story through a prism that made sense to him. Young women were sometimes accused of infanticide, but midwives and nurses were not particularly at risk. Miller presents the idea that vengeance ruins peoples lives or reputation so that you can get what you want and be satisfied. Indeed, Miller uses witchcraft and the Salem witch trials as a metaphor for situations wherein those who are in power accuse those who challenge them of suspect behavior in order to destroy them. Historical Context. Read the document introduction and transcript and apply your knowledge of American history in order to answer these questions. Students put themselves in the place of the playwright to answer: Aligns with CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.3- Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain. Parris. By the 14th century, fear of heresy and of Satan had added charges of diabolism to the usual indictment of witches, maleficium (malevolent sorcery). Through their reactions to the witch trials, characters in Arthur Millers The Crucible portray two major themes of self-preservation and mass hysteria. Accessed 4 Mar. In January of 1692, nine-year-old Betty Parris and eleven-year-old Abigail Williams, the daughter and niece of Salem Village minister Reverend Samuel Parris, suddenly feel ill. Making strange, foreign sounds, huddling under furniture, and clutching their heads, the girls' symptoms were alarming and astounding to . Indeed, Germany, one of the central countries of the Protestant Reformation, is often referred to as the focal point of the European witch hunts. Even though the clergy and judges in the Middle Ages were skeptical of accusations of witchcraft, the period 130030 can be seen as the beginning of witch trials. Poor, poor men and their cold wives and their not being able to help being drawn to younger women only to ruin their lives, too. The ultimate purpose of such a system was to create unity and, therefore, to fight any force that sought to break it. Both Protestants and Catholics were involved in the prosecutions, as the theology of the Protestant Reformers on the Devil and witchcraft was virtually indistinguishable from that of the Catholics. How can history be dramatic, and how can drama bring history to life? John Indian, through the trials, also had a number of fits when present for the examination of accused witches. They may evaluate how each version interprets the source text and debate which aspects of the enacted interpretations of the play best capture a particular character, scene, or theme. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is based on the true events of the Salem witch trials. To find out what was causing the afflictions, a local doctor (presumably William Griggs) and a neighboring minister, Rev. The authors purpose is to point out that falsely accusing outsiders will not have a good outcome in order to convince the reader to not divide society. One theory which could explain the apparent madness of the trial and judicial hangings may be found in the bread the settlers were eating. The Black Death: Europes Deadliest Pandemic in Human History. The Salem witch trials proved to be one of the most cruel and fear driven events to ever occur in history. In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, witch hunts empowered towns and consumed people's lives with fear. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Essential Quotes by Character: John Proctor, Critical Context (Masterplots II: Juvenile & Young Adult Literature Series), Critical Context (Comprehensive Guide to Drama). Miller wrote. How do you think Miller uses setting to help create mood in Act I? During this time, witches and conspiring with the devil were frowned upon by the Puritan church, and were the cause of much fear and suspicion. Why would the church and government authorities continue to credit these wild and unsubstantiated stories as respectable people from all walks of lifelandowners, women of independent means, neighbors, even clergywere arrested and brought to trial? Although many witchcraft theorists were not deeply misogynist, many others were, notably the authors of the infamous Malleus maleficarum. They were a wide cultural, social, political phenomenon. In both The Crucible and in modern day witch hunts, witch hunts are caused out of fear or for personal gain. "Tituba and The Salem Witch Trials of 1692." In essence, these infamous witch hunts took place because people came to believe that witches conspired to destroy and uproot decent Christian society. In the play "The Crucible," Arthur Miller uses a great trial in the Salem witch trials to describe how he felt during the Red Scare in the 1950's. The Red Scare was a national hunt for Communists, or "Reds" as they were called. The same person may have enslaved John Indian; they both disappear from all known records after Tituba's release. The Reformation, Counter-Reformation, war, conflict, climate change, and economic recession are all some of the factors that influenced the witch hunts across the two continents in various ways. Like the Inquisition, the Parlement of Paris (the supreme court of northern France) severely restrained the witch hunts. Heres What We Know, INTERVIEW: Cary Elwes Understands the Assignment of Guy Ritchie Movies for Operation Fortune, Walgreens Caves to Republicans, Limits Sales of Another Reproductive Healthcare Item, Florida Man Fulfills His Destiny as a Netflix Crime Series, The 13 Best Ted Lasso Quotes to Read When the World Has Made You Feel Weary. Sometimes this magic was believed to work through simple causation as a form of technology. Three women and two infants died while imprisoned. In 1689 Parris was formally called as the minister, given a full deed to the parsonage, and the Salem Village church charter was signed. Thus creating the different movements to bring awareness to the situations and hope that the citizens will work to change and or stop these homicides from happening. In The Crucible, what message is Arthur Miller trying to get across to the reader? I Need To Know What 'Very Bland' Opinion Got J.K. Rowling Kicked Out of a Harry Potter Forum, Disney Found a Way To Make Us Care About Peter Pan Again, 'The Mandalorian' Makes It Pretty Clear Where Gina Carano's Cara Dune Went, 'Quantumania' Writer Shares Painful Thoughts on All the Negative Reviews, Jack Black Once Again Proves His Excellence in Super Mario Bros. Movie, Is Grogu Related to Yoda? Accusations originated with the ill-will of the accuser, or, more often, the accusers fear of someone having ill-will toward him. Salem was a pressure-cooker ready to explode. The breakdown in the social order during the various different conflicts of this period added to the atmosphere of fear and led to the inevitable need for scapegoating. The 1692 Salem Witch Trials. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. It tells the story of when King Saul sought the Witch of Endor to summon the dead prophet Samuel's spirit to help him defeat the Philistine army. By directing blame for misfortune upon others, various populations across Europe succumbed to the mass panic and collective fear ignited by those in authority. While the theocracy attempted to create unity, what it did was encourage simmering emotions of greed and envy that had no sanctioned outlet. There have been many different "witch hunts" that have happened since 1692, that have shaped our world. Tituba was questioned about her role. These beliefs changed drastically, however, towards the end of the Middle Ages, as witchcraft came to be associated with heresy. But the events surrounding the witch trials of Salem in 1692 were not in any way unique or isolated. Rev. After an outbreak of hunts in France in 158788, increasingly skeptical judges began a series of restraining reforms marked by the requirement of obligatory appeal to the Parlement in cases of witchcraft, making accusations even more expensive and dangerous. All of them leaning really hard into the idea that younger women arent to be believed or trusted, because theyre unstable. Latest answer posted December 16, 2019 at 7:31:02 AM. Tituba served as a housekeeper. In The Crucible, with Hales transformation Miller is emphasizing that humanity will always seek redemption, the truth will triumph the lies, and people will constantly try. Its the fact that one person didnt like a certain group of people besides their own so; they felt like they had the right to take away their lives. What do the characters in the play believe about witches? Both the Catholic and Protestant churches, striving to maintain a tight grasp on their clergy, each made clear that they alone could offer a priceless, invaluable commodity; Salvation. Arthur Miller wrote this play to symbolize 1950s McCarthyism. Children were often accusers (as they were at Salem), but they were sometimes also among the accused. While any number of marginalized groups could, in theory, have served as a scapegoat, the shift in attitudes towards witchcraft as heresy created the conditions that allowed populations to turn upon those accused of witchcraft instead. "Tituba and The Salem Witch Trials of 1692." Miller captured the events in a riveting story that is now considered a modern classic in the theater. In his telling, witch hunts are perpetrated by the marginalized rather than upon them, since, when sex is involved, women are inclined toward group-malice, sexual irrationality, and wholesale. How does he describe the witch-hunts. 'The witch-hunt was not, however, a mere repression. Largely because of that mistake, he is buffeted by a couple of elements shaped to suit the underlying narrative of Millers story, and thus not found in primary sources. (2021, January 5). The notorious Spanish Inquisition formed due to the Counter-Reformation focused little on pursuing those accused of witchcraft, having concluded that witches were much less dangerous than their usual targets, namely converted Jews and Muslims. In this text, the year is 1692 and the witch trials have diminished and are almost over in Europe. It was also believed that they rode through the air at night to sabbats (secret meetings), where they engaged in sexual orgies and even had sex with Satan; that they changed shapes (from human to animal or from one human form to another); that they often had familiar spirits in the form of animals; and that they kidnapped and murdered children for the purpose of eating them or rendering their fat for magical ointments. Biography of Elizabeth Parris, Accuser in the Salem Witch Trials, A Brief History of the Salem Witchcraft Trials, Biography of Rebecca Nurse, Victim of the Salem Witch Trials, Profile of Elizabeth How, Persecuted Salem Witch, Rev. "In Act 1, what explanation does Miller give as to why the witch hunts developed in such a community in The Crucible?" The effects of conflicts such as the Thirty Years War were exacerbated by the drastic Little Ice Age with which they coincided, especially in regard to the European witch hunts. Also, the clergy in authority expounded punishment, rather than penitence and forgiveness, for those deemed witches. Cotton Mather, a prolific author and well-known preacher, wrote this account in 1693, a year after the trials ended. More differences existed among Protestants and among Catholics than between the two religious groups, and regions in which Protestant-Catholic tensions were high did not produce significantly more trials than other regions. Most accused children had parents who had been accused of witchcraft. Christian theologians and academics entwined together the superstitious worries people held about the supernatural with Christian doctrine. Mather and his fellow New Englanders believed that God directly intervened in the establishment of the colonies and that the New World was formerly the Devils territory. Whether she was aware of Rev. The hunts were most severe from 1580 to 1630, and the last known execution for witchcraft was in Switzerland in 1782. A detailed study of a timeline accompanies their close reading of The Crucible. Soon, people feared, communist ways would come to the United States and would quickly corrupt the government system. This definitely often refers to a courtroom trial in particular. Witches sought to gain or preserve health, to acquire or retain property, to protect against natural disasters or evil spirits, to help friends, and to seek revenge. Countries that were predominantly Catholic such as Spain, did not endure the scourge of witch-hunting to the same extent as those that experienced religious unrest. The legal use of torture declined in the 17th and 18th centuries, and there was a general retreat from religious intensity following the wars of religion (from the 1560s to 1640s). Tituba was among the first three people accused of being a witch during the Salem witch trials of 1692. Lewis, Jone Johnson. A witch hunt is seen as an intensive effort to discover and expose disloyalty, subversion, dishonesty, or the like, usually based on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant evidence. King James VI of Scotland, a monarch notorious for his role in Scotlands witch-hunting craze, believed that he had been personally targeted by witches who conjured dangerous storms while he sailed across the North Sea to Denmark. To prove that the promise of salvation served as a reason for the sudden flare-up of witch hunts during this period of religious turmoil, we only need to look to the notable absence of witch trials in Catholic strongholds. eNotes Editorial, 4 Aug. 2011, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/in-act-1-what-explanation-does-miller-give-as-to-270640. They viewed their difficulties through a theological lens, and rather than attribute the blame to chance, misfortune, or simply nature; they thought that they were the Devils fault in collaboration with witches. Let us know your assignment type and we'll make sure to get you exactly the kind of answer you need. In an article called The Single Greatest Witch Hunt in American History, For real by Stacy Schiff, a small village in Massachusetts is being accused of being involved with witchcraft and they are testing people and most are giving into the stronger people just to get out of trouble. But the reason as to why Arthur Miller felt the need to write The Crucible in the first place was because the unfortunate reality that history seemed to have repeated itself again. Witches were considered Satans followers, members of an antichurch and an antistate, the sworn enemies of Christian society in the Middle Ages, and a counter-state in the early modern period. Tituba was among the first three people accused of being a witch during the Salem witch trials of 1692. Most readers are unfamiliar with McCarthyism. It certainly was not deemed to be a threat, even by the leaders of the Catholic Church, who simply denied its existence. They believe that witches work with the devil and that they can see the devil and his followers. I had not approached the witchcraft out of nowhere or from purely social and political considerations. After the magistrates finished their examination of Tituba, she was sent to jail. How does Abigail turn the court against Mary Warren in The Crucible? The term 'witch-hunt' has become entrenched in our vocabulary and our consciousness to mean, metaphorically, any act which purposely seeks out to punish those who hold unpopular views or opinions which are deemed to be subversive and a threat to the natural order. The Salem witch scare had complex social roots beyond the communitys religious convictions. Tituba, also known as Tituba Indian, was an enslaved person and servant whose birth and death dates are unknown. Also the fact people would accuse people of witchcraft which would then accuse other people of witchcraft and etc. The most common suspicions concerned livestock, crops, storms, disease, property and inheritance, sexual dysfunction or rivalry, family feuds, marital discord, stepparents, sibling rivalries, and local politics. The play is about human weakness, hypocrisy, and vindictiveness. The doctor diagnosed the cause of the afflictions as "Evil Hand.". List their beliefs. Torture was not allowed in witch cases in Italy or Spain, but where used it often led to convictions and the identification of supposed accomplices. The hunts were not pursuits of individuals already identified as witches but efforts to identify those who were witches. My basic need was to respond to a phenomenon which, with only small exaggeration, one could say paralyzed a whole generation and in a short time dried up the habits of trust and toleration in public discourse. Latest answer posted April 17, 2020 at 1:25:04 AM. Older women were more frequently accused of casting malicious spells than were younger women, because they had had more time to establish a bad reputation, and the process from suspicion to conviction often took so long that a woman might have aged considerably before charges were actually advanced. They simply used accusations of witchcraft and magic to prove their moral and doctrinal superiority over the other side. Local priests and judges, though seldom experts in either theology or law, were nonetheless part of a culture that believed in the reality of witches as much as modern society believes in the reality of molecules. The Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation heightened the fear of witchcraft by promoting the idea of personal piety (the individual alone with his or her Bible and God), which enhanced individualism while downplaying community. Throughout this article, it mentions the persecution of witches today in communities around the globe, mentioning the flashbacks of similar strategies that were used in the past, doing different types of tortures.In Modern days, recent generations have abandoned wonderful traditions. Those include fear, personal motives, unfair treatment of the accused, and accusers. A bizarre set of accusations, including the sacrifice of children, was made by the Syrians against the Jews in Hellenistic Syria in the 2nd century bce. The number of trials and executions varied widely according to time and place, but in fact no more than about 110,000 persons in all were tried for witchcraft, and no more than 40,000 to 60,000 executed. Why might their age make them particularly susceptible to accusations of strange behavior? Presumably, whoever paid the fine had become Tituba's enslaver. Miller argues that the fundamental nature of Salem's construction made it a community where the Witch Trials were inevitable. Along with this older tradition, attitudes toward witches and the witch hunts of the 14th18th centuries stemmed from a long history of the churchs theological and legal attacks on heretics. The theory best supported by the evidence is that the increasing power of the centralized courts such as the Inquisition and the Parlement acted to begin a process of decriminalization of witchcraft. The witch executions occurred in the early modern period, the time in Western history when capital punishment and torture were most widespread. The playwright sets that story as the catalyst for a larger, quite literal witch hunt, stoked into a frenzy by a mostly unprovoked confession of witchcraft spoken by a fantastically-minded woman of color whos been practicing sexy voodoo in the woods with the girls of Salem. In The Crucible, what message is Arthur Miller trying to get across to the reader? The "parochial snobbery" as well as a "predilection for minding. A few histories mention a daughter, Violet, who remained with the Parris family. The myths surrounding what happened in Salem make the true story that much more difficult to uncover. While people were being falsely accused of witchery without definite facts. Tituba's confession, by the rules of the court, kept her from being tried later with others, including those who were eventually found guilty and executed. Prior to the beginning of the early modern period, before the devastating impact of the Black Plague transformed European institutions and the political dynamic of the entire continent, many people throughout Europe may have believed in magic. Headley proceeds to talk about Millers other works, and how they basically all tell the story of The Crucible (and of his own marriage and relationship to Monroe) in different ways. There was bad blood between the two women now. Tituba apologized for her part, saying she loved Betty and meant her no harm. Those who were unhappy with their lot and envious towards of who were not now had the chance to voice their suspicions and take revenge against them. Latest answer posted December 16, 2019 at 7:31:02 AM. But since the controversy included withholding salary and payment in firewood, and Parris complained about the effect on his family, Tituba probably would also have felt the shortage of firewood and food in the house. It might have been as simple as one person blaming his misfortune on another. Have a tip or story idea? In 1374 Pope Gregory XI declared that all magic was done with the aid of demons and thus was open to prosecution for heresy. By the late 16th century, many prosperous and professional people in western Europe were accused, so that the leaders of society began to have a personal interest in checking the hunts. It was this combination of sorcery and its association with the Devil that made Western witchcraft unique. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. Where central authorityi.e., bishops, kings, or the Inquisitionwas strong, convictions were fewer and sentences milder. We do not know if the enslavement of Tituba was the settlement of a debt, though that story has been accepted by some. This fabric of ideas was a fantasy. Local courts were more credulous and therefore more likely to be strict and even violent in their treatment of supposed witches than were regional or superior courts. What took place in Western society to allow for the popularity of the Malleus, and for such a drastic shift in attitude towards the very existence of witchcraft? Scapegoating can be viewed as the main reason behind the American witch hunts. Tituba herself is hardly mentioned in the records after her initial arrest, examination, and confession. Headquarters: 49 W. 45th Street 2nd Floor New York, NY 10036, Our Collection: 170 Central Park West New York, NY 10024 Located on the lower level of the New-York Historical Society, 20092023 Witches were considered Satan's followers, members of an antichurch and an antistate, the sworn enemies of Christian society in the Middle Ages, and a "counter-state" in the early modern period. She would also have likely been aware of the unrest in the community when raids were launched in New England, starting up again in 1689 (and called King William's War), with New France using both French soldiers and local Native Americans to fight against the English colonists. Aligns with CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.7- Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. It used to be that women were only madthemselvesbecause of their lusts. In about 1689, Tituba and John Indian seem to have married. These witch hunts warn against collective thought and unjust persecution and even to this day provide a useful and relevant metaphor for all those who believe themselves victims of unjustified outrage. As just one example, the king of Italy, Charlemagne, dismissed the concept of witchcraft as a pagan superstition and ordered the death penalty for whoever executed someone because they considered them to be a witch. Arthur Miller's . Many critics described Death of a Salesman as the first great American tragedy, and Miller gained an associated eminence as a man who understood the deep essence of the United States. The Crucible by Arthur Miller tells the story of the vindictive town of Salem and its unproportional amount of accusations of witchcraft. Latest answer posted November 22, 2020 at 10:36:50 AM. Miller supports his claim by describing how the young girls of Salem blame the outsiders of their town of witchcraft. In Mexico the Franciscan friars linked indigenous religion and magic with the Devil; prosecutions for witchcraft in Mexico began in the 1530s, and by the 1600s indigenous peasants were reporting stereotypical pacts with the Devil. According to Miller, what caused the witch-hunts? The largest account of witch trials as well as deaths by witch trials occurred in Salem, a village heavily populated with the Puritans. Some of the trial takes place in the actual courtroom, but the metaphor extends beyond the courtroom scenes. The decline of witch hunts, like their origins, was gradual. Why did Arthur Miller write The Crucible? Their father had, of course, been persecuted in England. A " witchcraft craze " rippled through Europe from the 1300s to the end of the 1600s. The witch-trials provided release and the outcome was tragically unpleasant. Prosecutions of witches in Austria, Poland, and Hungary took place as late as the 18th century. By 143550, the number of prosecutions had begun to rise sharply, and toward the end of the 15th century, two events stimulated the hunts: Pope Innocent VIIIs publication in 1484 of the bull Summis desiderantes affectibus (Desiring with the Greatest Ardour) condemning witchcraft as Satanism, the worst of all possible heresies, and the publication in 1486 of Heinrich Krmer and Jacob Sprengers Malleus maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches), a learned but cruelly misogynist book blaming witchcraft chiefly on women. Also during the McCarthyism era and the witch trials innocent lives were ruined when people were forced to accuse others or be accused themselves. ThoughtCo, Jan. 5, 2021, thoughtco.com/tituba-salem-witch-trials-3530572. Men who brand women as dakan capitalize on deeply rooted superstitions and systems built on .