Summary “The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Enquiry Into the Salem Witch Trial” by Marion L. Starkey is a historical novel based upon facts of people and events surrounding the Salem Witch Trials. The format of the book is a narrative, with dialogue from actual trial records. The trial records are applied with a modern psychiatric knowledge, surrounding the witchcraft hysteria. Starkey recreates the sense of pity and terror that surrounded Salem and the suffering that many innocent people endured during the time. “The Devil in Massachusetts” presents an account of the accusers, accused, prosecutors and defenders surrounding the trials at Salem.
The most infamous trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town. One contemporary writer summarized the results of the trials: The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The trials resulted in the executions of twenty people, most of them women. Despite being generally known as the Salem witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in several towns in the Province of Massachusetts Bay: Salem Village (now Danvers), Salem Town, Ipswich and Andover. The most infamous trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town.
Towards the end of Act II he starts to have some suspicion on what is going on because now Elizabeth Proctor is accused of witchcraft. During the middle and end of Act III when John Proctor is testifying and Abigail is doing her hallucination. Hale begins to join John, Giles, and Francis against the court. He sees the truth on why the trials are happening and he tries to help them out. “I beg you, stop now before another is condemned!
Throughout the entire play, Abigail Williams uses her good name to control Salem by accusing people of witchcraft, which results in the deaths of many people in the town. After witnessing Tituba confess to Reverend Hale, Abigail confesses “I saw Sarah Good with the devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the devil!” (Miller 189). Abigail realizes that by giving the names of people she saw with the devil she can control Salem because she has a good name and people will listen to her.
However, traditional attitudes towards witchcraft began to transform in the early 14th century; a combination of residual fear from the devastation of the Black Death in 1347-1349 and loss of the sovereign Catholic church helped to propel a renewed fear of witches. Rumor panics in central Europe painted witches as "plague spreaders" as well as a threatening body aimed to destroy the "Christian kingdoms through magic and poison." (Gibbons) Witch cases increased momentum steadily throughout out the 14th century; first mass trial of witches transpired in the 15th century. In 1532, the Holy Roman Empire established "Carolina Code," a basic law code that imposed heavy banalities on witchcraft. The first waves of Reformation stuck during the beginning of the 16th century and led to a decline in trials.
While winter wore on, the girls began to show signs of odd sicknesses. When the village doctor called and could find nothing physically wrong with the girls, he concluded that the evil hand was on them. Mr. Parris begged the affected girls to name the witches, and so Elizabeth blurted out the name of Tituba and other names such as Sarah Good, a despised pipe-smoking beggar, and Sarah Osborne, who had scandalized the village by living openly with a man before marriage. In seven months time, seven men and thirteen women were executed for practicing witch craft, many on the basis of the testimony of ghosts and specters. Those who would not confess were killed and Tituba was spared and sold by the Parrises.
John Proctor was definitely not a man without mistakes, but I believe that he did more good than bad in the end. Some of his actions were bad, but you have to look at the situation he was in. John Proctor was a victim of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693. In the book, The Crucible, a young group of girls are accusing people around the town as being bonded with the devil.
The Crucible In Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, many Puritans were in a state of constant fear from the unforgettable Salem witch trials. Although there has been no full records of these trials, historians have been able to piece together what may have happened and who may have been to blame. From reading The Crucible, I have been able to say that Abigail Williams, Mary Warren, and Betty Parris have been to blame for the deaths of those innocent Puritans who died during the witch hunt. Abigail Williams was definitely a big instigator in the trials and probably the one who deserves the most blame. She was the so called, "Leader of the pack".
Abigail Williams, the silent devil of Salem who destroyed the lives of many. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play based on the actual events that, in 1692, led to the Salem Witch Trials, a series of hearings before local magistrates to prosecute over 150 people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. Abigail Williams was a main source for the cause of the Salem witch trials for many reasons such as, her false accusations, her thirst for power, and she had a good reputation which made the town believe her every word. Abigail Williams falsely accusations was one of the main causes of the Witch Trials in the Crucible. “HALE: Why can she not wake?
Some say the horror of the witch trials was so profound that its supernatural echoes can still be heard on Salem's streets. The first seeds of trouble arrived with the Puritans in 1630. It was a family dispute in Rev. Samuel Parris' household in 1692 that sparked the hunt. Parris' slave, Tituba, taught his daughters and other women in the community 'witchy' little games that were just intended to be fun and entertaining.