Many of the Salem Village farming families believed that Salem Town’s thriving economy made it too individualistic. This individualism was in opposition to the communal nature that Puritanism mandated. Thus, they were out of touch with the rest of Salem Village. One particularly large farming family who felt that Salem Town was out of touch with the rest of Salem Village was the Putnams. The Putnams were the leaders of the separatist group primarily because they owned the most farmland in Salem Village.
These three theories are the topics of: gender, as a stepping stone towards the oppression of women; social class, as a relief of tension and stress formed by the socio-economic gaps between the wealthy and the poor; and finally religion, as a result of the encouragement to conform more steadily towards one religion. In the following paragraphs, the reasons for witch executions as well as why the spike of witchcraft trails increased during the Civil War in England and the reformation in Scotland. In England and Scotland, from approximately, 1450 to 1750, the sway of witchcraft continued with vast force, especially in terms of gender. A majority of the witches in England and Scotland were women and were often determined by their physical appearance. “Every old women with a wrinkled face, a furr’d brow, a hairy lip, a gobber tooth, a squint eye, a
The residents who wanted to remain a part of Salem Town were tied to its harbors because of the money it brought in (Boyer, 39, 50). The families that were involved with farming believed that the growth of the town, with its expanding economy made it too exclusive (Starkey, 25). This exclusiveness made it contrast with the Puritan ways of everyone working as a team to make things run smoothly (Starkey, 25). They were not in tune with the rest of Salem Village. The Puntman’s were one farming family that felt very strongly towards this subject (Starkey, 25).
There are many differences that Charles I and Louis XIV had in their states socially. For instance, Charles I made the peasants resent taxes. Louis XIV, on the other hand, kept the social pyramid balanced and strict. Louis XIV was called the “Sun King” and it showed his dominance and how much the empire actually needed him. Louis XIV had the administrative authority which is better that what Charles had, and that was the alienation of Puritans.
What would one expect of the personality of a farmhouse wife who has been accused of murdering her husband because she found him dead and didn’t notify the police? It is just such a women—a lonely housewife— Susan Glaspell portrays in this story. Or did Minnie Foster have reason for killing her husband? Glaspell’s "small feminist classic"(Bendel-Simso 291) raises many legal and ethical questions while offering a dilemma on pursing Justice and pursuing the Law. Critics believe that Glaspell, who based this story on a real murder trial in which women were not allowed to serve as jurors, created a jury of those female peers in her story to “mete out their own form of justice” (Cromie).
1253) it becomes clear that Putnam is killing his colleagues by accusing them of being a “witch”, then exploits the witch trials to gain land from them. By no coincidence, some of the accused are those with land bordering Putnam’s estate. Even when he is able to take his neighbour’s land away he never seems satisfied or happy. Throughout an exploitation of the witch trials, Putnam gains more and more land thus increasing his realm throughout Salem. Another member of Salem who shares similar traits to Putnam is Reverend Parris.
Many people don’t know why these trials happened, but there are three obvious reasons as to why the witch trials in Salem were generated. The Salem Witch Trials were created for the poor to take revenge on the wealthy for taking their land, to intimidate the townspeople to start paying more attention to religion, and by the deception that people were possessed by the devil when in reality it was just the consumption of ergot. To begin with, the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts were conceived because the poor were retaliating to the wealthier townspeople taking their land. In 1692, Salem, Massachusetts was unofficially split into two halves. The eastern side was the wealthier side, and was controlled by the supporters of the Porter family.
Still tying into religious influences, the very physical appearance of a woman could lead to the belief that she is a witch. Warts and other natural marks of age were viewed as if they were stamps from the devil himself. Older women were the typical candidates for being a witch, many older than 50 years of age. They had no protectors, as they were often widowed, and could incite revenge if they erred in a way that would make them public targets of the community. These women were often
For example, she outs the blame on Tituba, who confesses to performing witchcraft. She also accuses poor Elizabeth Proctor who is the wife of John Proctor. John gets hung later in the story while his wife has to deal with her pregnancy of their first child together. It was rumored that Abigail had had an affair with john while she served as a maid for the couple. Abigail was very good at manipulating people and uses that trait as an advantage in the story.
Witch Woman or Wonderful Woman? In Arthur Miller's, The Crucible, the town of Salem is in the middle of a deadly, crazy, experience known as the Salem witch trials. Many of the local townspeople change because of the trials, and not necessarily in a good way. The character of Elizabeth Proctor transitions from a self absorbed woman to a more caring wife through the change in her attitude towards her husband, the emotions that she portrays, and her motives toward the witch trials. Elizabeth Proctor is married to a man named John Proctor.