Background: The Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 have been studied by many historians looking for the complex social, political, and psychological determinants behind the community wide hysteria that led to the death of 20 innocent Puritans. Ergot poisoning has been put forth by some as a previously unsuspected cause of the bizarre behaviors of the young adolescent girls who accused the townsfolk of witchcraft. During the early winter of 1692 two young girls became inexplicably ill and started having fits of convulsion, screaming, and hallucinations. Unable to find any medical reason for their condition the village doctor declared that there must be supernatural forces of witchcraft at work. This began an outbreak of hysteria that would result in the arrest of over one hundred-fifty people and execution of twenty women and men.
After a protracted discussion of the topic of who is to blame for the demise of Macbeth, the blame has come to rest upon the Three Witches. Within the play Macbeth, the Witches have done numerous things to cause the demise of Macbeth; influenced him through prophecies and apparitions, spurred his killing spree and manipulated him. From the outset, the Witches show Macbeth prophecies which lead to his downfall. These prophecies are the root of Macbeth’s misfortunes and evil doings, push Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to act upon their evil thoughts, and alter Macbeth from a loyal soldier to a traitor. First and foremost, the Witches were the root of Macbeth’s misfortunes and evil doings.
When the women had the entire town convinced, they used that to their advantage. They claimed that they saw other people working with the devil, which was enough to bring the issue all the way to trial. The movie's central focus is on seventeen- year- old Abigail Williams' relationship with a farmer called John Proctor. Although Proctor is a married man, he and Williams had an affair. This is what prompts Williams to confess
Historically witchcraft has been thought of as violent horrible things. They tortured and killed many innocent people, although the exact opposite is what happened at the Salem Witchcraft Trials. Nineteen women and five men were hung on Salem’s gallows hill. They were all accused witches, who were all also innocent. How did the witch-hunt in 1692 begin, and why there?
I believe that some of the members of the audience saw the magical influence of the witches that overtook Macbeth and some saw it as his own flaws. Evidence would suggest that most of them believed his actions to be influenced. Witchcraft was an unknown practice for those who did not practise it and the unknown is what people feared the most. The following will explore the audience of the time and how/whether their limited knowledge will have them stand by Macbeth or against him. Witchcraft during the Elizabethan era, as mentioned before, was a feared practise.
While the Hebrew people were being held prisoner for no apparent reason, their property and religious centers were plundered and destroyed. Hundreds of Jews died, from the piracy and many committed suicide. Germany began to conquer other countries. Hitler was an extremely sick, disgusting man who sought to eliminate non-Aryan individuals. He took over several countries for the sole purpose of getting rid people who weren’t good enough for him.
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.
Character Analysis of John Proctor The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place during the time of the famous Salem Witch Trials in the late 1600’s. Rumors of witchcraft are among the townspeople all due to a group of girls who are hysterical and are pretending to be under spells of witchcraft. Innocent citizens are being accused left and right for committing some sort of witchcraft and everyone in the small town of Salem feels like they can trust no one. Throughout the play many of the characters evolved in one way or another. In the course of the play, one of the major characters John Proctor, goes through changes and faces multiple challenges.
Over the years that Hitler was in power of Germany he committed some terrible acts. The most horrible of these all was and event called the holocaust in which Jews were sent to death camps and exterminated. Being a Nazi Hitler didn’t like Jews very much and blamed them for every bad thing that happened. For example, the great depression, the Reichstag fire and even for the death of his own mother. Over the years of Hitler being in power he managed to indoctrinate the idea of hating Jews to most of Germany.
The Mysterious and Complex Life of Abigail Williams Abigail Williams was only about 11 years old when she and her friends went into the woods at the dark of night with an African slave named Tituba. Reverend Samuel Parris, Abigail’s uncle, caught the girls dancing “naked” and that was considered a sin in their religion. Parris, the minister of the village, questioned Abigail about this twisted behavior and that’s where all the trouble began. Abigail and Betty Parris were the first two girls to start accusing people of being witches. The girls did this to keep the attention off of them and avoid punishment.