The last character that contributed to an entire town’s belief in witches would be Danforth. His stubborn and narrow minded attitude had people dangling from a rope. It is easy to say that Abigail Williams is the triumphant ringleader of the accusers in The Crucible. Constantly pointing fingers, she named name after name and everyone believed her whole heartedly. At the beginning of the play, Reverend Parris accused Abigail of witch craft but to avoid punishment she passed the blame to Tituba saying “I never called him!
However, that very court was itself guilty of unjustifiably assuming that the accused were guilty of witchcraft and would sentence them to death unless they admitted to such. Unlike others that have been blamed, Rebecca Nurse would rather hang than to bear false witness against herself and others. Even on the day of Rebecca’s execution she shows no bitterness while someone in her position would be consumed with fear. Likewise, Robert and Connie Roberson, leaders of a Pentecostal church, are devout Christians that are accused of raping and abusing children. The accuser was the foster daughter of the police officer whom Mr. Roberson had earlier publicly criticized for his “… zeal in making arrests on sensational accusations” (Egan 1).
Throughout the years, witchcraft has been the common fear of mankind. In England, the legal definition of a witch was “a person who hath a conference with the devil to consult with him or to do some act”. In early modern Europe, women were thought to be witches due to their biblical association with the devil, the superstitions and misunderstanding of the people of Europe, and the negative perceptions of those who deviated from the social norm. As a result, these beliefs and superstitions led to the death of thousands of alleged witches. (Witch Hunts) Witches were thought to be consults of the devil who gave up their bodies and led others away from the church for the devil in exchange for otherworldly power.
If the declaration had been functioning during those past moments, it would have occured, most likely, that the victims of the illegal charge of witchcraft, might have been given a life-time jail sentence and not the death-penalty by being hanged or crushed. Another article that had been clearly violated during the Salem witch trials was article five, which states that "everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law". Many thought of the women accused of practicing witchcraft to be diabolic and inhuman ; in fact, they were thought of human figures of the devil. This would clearly interfere with the judge´s veredict and it would be almost impossible for the victimis to save themselves from being condemned to death. If these victims of whom most were in their late fifties, had been seen as people who are just like us, they would have been saved from such destiny.
Under this “illness” they moaned and shrieked for no reason, groveled and writhed and began to act as animals. The symptoms began to spread and Reverend Parris struggled to discover who was bewitching them. At the end of February of 1692, Abigail and Ann named their tormentors: Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osbourne. Sarah Good and Sarah Osbourne were already unpopular and distrusted by the Puritan settlement, however, the accusers began to care less about plausible accusations. The three women were arrested on March 1st and examined in front of the accusers at a special public session.
The witches sound evil and many fear them because of their powers and witchery. They also want Macbeth to be king by saying, “Hail, Hail!” when he walks in. The witches know that this will make him anxious, in which it does. These three hags can also be portrayed as Fates in the mythology state. February 1, 2012 “When shall we three meet again?
Elizabeth breaks the news to John that Abigail, the woman (or more teenager) that John had sex with, is telling people all over town that certain members of society are witches. Elizabeth hears from one of the accused that Abigail is to blame which sparks anger in John. Even though John tries to tell Elizabeth of Abigail's good nature, Elizabeth believes that Abigail is to blame solely because she committed adultery with her (Elizabeth's) husband. "My Wife will never die for me!...that goodness will not die for me," (38)! John soon comes to the conclusion that Elizabeth doesn't care about him since Elizabeth doesn't care about Abigail.
The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 The Salem Witchcraft Trials are so famous that people say it as if it’s one word: Salemwitchcraft. But do people really know what went on in Salem? During the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 in a few terror-filled months, nearly 200 people were condemned as witches. Historically witches are not the funny mischievous Samanthas of the 1960s show Bewitched, nor are they the cartoon green warted witches on brooms that you see so often on Halloween decorations. Historically witchcraft has been thought of as violent horrible things.
Nine-year old Elizabeth Parris and eleven years old Abigail Williams started having fits, strange behaviors and would scream with anger. A doctor looked at the girls and decided that the only explanation was spells caused by witchcraft. Despite the fact today we know it wasn’t logically true, but the town had a strong belief of the devil. Hysteria and chaos took over the town, soon enough when girls all over town decided to take part in it, and began accusing the townspeople without a reason. This is one reason why this is the worst thing that happened to America.
Hysteria in Salem In 1692, in Salem Massachusetts, the superstition of witches existed in a society of strong Christian beliefs. Anybody who acted out of the ordinary was accused of being a witch and the accused would actually be forgiven if they blamed their accusations on another individual. In this play, a group of young girls is accused of being witches. These girls then blame other people in order to get out of trouble and even pretend to be "bewitched" in front of the court during a trial. This leads into the deaths of the innocent people who are accused and automatically found guilty.