While these two events were decades apart they had many similarities. They both began from false accusations, both spread unnecessary panic, and both used fear to gain power. The Salem Witch Hunts were a cause of mass hysteria that came from accusations made by Abigail Williams, Betty Paris, Mercy Lewis, and Tituba. These girls were caught dancing in the woods and accused of being witches due to some of their peculiar behavior which included screaming, bending into awkward positions, and making strange sounds. To keep themselves out of trouble the girls said other women in the community were practicing witchcraft.
Not only does she deny doing witchcraft, she also manages to accuse Tituba of having full responsibility while she is the one who starts the whole thing. At the end of the chapter, she also frames some other citizens, saying that she sees them with the Devil. Her affair with John Proctor is furthermore exposed to the audience. Betty, Reverend Parris’s daughter, reveals that Abigail attempts to drink blood as a charm in order to kill Elizabeth Proctor, who is John Proctor’s wife. Moreover, when Reverend Parris confronts Abigail about being fired by Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail denies any wrongdoings.
The whole story is about a group of girls who were telling lies and accusing people of witchcraft. The cause for this whole thing was personal grudges and rivalries between certain people. The Salem witch trials were all about jealousy, grudges & rivalries. People in the town had bad information on other people in the town and that lead to the town being destroyed. Innocent people died because of
The Salem Witch Trials were a result of mass hysteria fueled by the accusations of Abigail Williams and her friends. During the Salem Witch Trials those suspected of witchcraft were jailed and given a trial. During the trial the accused was dogged for a confession and even names of other wishes. The incentive was if they confessed, God would forgive them and they could live, but of course no one was really a witch so most plead innocent and were hung anyways, simply because of a suspicion. The whole event of the Salem Witch Trials is viewed as unjust because after the accusations spread, many townspeople simply accused their neighbors of being a witch to gain revenge, money, land, or something similar.
In the Salem Witch Trials, Sarah Good, Sarah Osbourne and Tituba were the first three women to be accused of witchcraft for allegedly afflicting Betty Paris and Abigail Williams, two young girls, with a demonic disease. They had been accused of witchcraft out of rumors about their “outcast” natures and eccentricities by other girls and were sent to jail despite any tangible evidence of their alleged connection with witchcraft. A spread of accusations arose within Salem following their arrest, most of which had their basis in rumor rather than on concrete evidence. During the period of McCarthyism, Senator Joseph McCarthy accused two hundred and five people of being “card carrying” communists in a speech in Wheeling, Virginia. He accused government employees,
Up to now in this story it seems like half of the town has been accused of witchcraft, but it gets worse. Martha Corey was accused because she thought the town and everyone in the church was insane blaming all the innocent people for things that were out of their control. She also thought the girls they were listening to were fools and she thought they were even bigger fools for listening to children. She told the court that she was innocent; she didn’t know what a witch was. They simply told her that how could she not know if she was one if she didn’t know what a witch is.
Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” depicts the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692, in these trials women were accused of being witches; they were sentenced to death, tortured, and their reputation would be forever tarnished. During this revival of religion era faith was central to the government of Salem. Miller makes references to how the events leading up to the trails were unjust, bias and resulted in harsh punishment. The McCarthy hearings were trials in which Senator Joe McCarthy accused government employees of being Communists. (Sowers, Campbell, and Key) He exaggerated and exploited the evidence and ruined many reputations.
But in Glück’s poem, this brings to mind the Salem witch trials or Joan of Arc burning at the stake. Gretel is in darkness, but the witch is lit forever in our minds by fire. Women are tortured as witches, and the child who grows into a woman is forever tortured by that memory. Orange blossoms are the traditional flower of weddings, but in Mock Orange the sickly-sweet flower is a symbol of sex as an imposed rite. That is also the theme in A Myth of Devotion.
So when the proceedings of the witch trials come to town the Putnam s take that as a way to take Rebecca down. They accuse her of killing their babies be conjuring up her spirit and killing them before they come out of the womb. Unfortunately for Rebecca she fall victim to the mass hysteria in Salem, and is thrown I jail because of it. So being the good Christian she is when Judge Danforth asks her to confess she does not. Rebecca Nurse one of the kind and innocent people in the Crucible fall from power do to the happening of the Salem Witch
She named witches. Soon it became clear to how to save myself from hanging or any form of punishment of all for that matter. We would say that we saw witches and then name them. I started, the other girls soon followed. Oh all the people we saw with the Devil!