The governor gave permission, then said Bacon was a trader, which led to Bacon taking his team, turning around the mission, and burning down Jamestown. The servants were poor, and angered by seeing the wealthy live such a good life. They took maters into their own hands, very similar to what happened at Salem. The Salem Witch Trails also began as a way for the poor to gain control over the rich. A group of girls were accusing innocent people of being witches.
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.
(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. In addition to this women were marked as being sexually voracious, the origin of this mindset being the Garden of Eden. (Witchcraft and Midwifery) It was also believed that because women were weaker than men and had fewer rights, they were more likely to succumb to the devil in order to obtain their wishes. (Witch Hunts) In this respect they were “...by nature instruments of Satan -- they [were] by nature carnal, a structural defect rooted in the original creation.” (Steven Katz, Gendercide Watch: European Witch-Hunts) Because of the influential role religion held in European communities, these associations women held were powerful instruments in their accusations. Still tying into religious influences, the very physical appearance of a woman could lead to the belief that she is a witch.
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.
Because of their sins, the townsfolk have guilt and blame others to free themselves of it. People call out names for the witch-hunt on behalf of God; but in reality, they blame others to avoid dealing with their guilt. These accusations make the townspeople turn on their neighbors and friends, ultimately adding to the intensity of the witch trials. In contrast to the townsfolk, Giles deals with his guilt. He asks Reverend Hale to resolve his curiosity about what his wife Martha might be reading behind his back, but instead rouses the town’s suspicion of Martha being a witch.
In the course of the play, one of the major characters John Proctor, goes through changes and faces multiple challenges. John Proctor is one of the local farmers, and is well known in the town. One of his hidden sins is that he committed adultery with a young girl named Abigail Williams; who was the leader of the group of girls that were pretending to be at the hands of witchcraft. John Proctor knew that he could expose Abigail as being a fraud but he was hesitant to do so because it would reveal his secret to the town. In addition, he and his wife, Elizabeth, are going through a rough time in their marriage where there’s an obvious sense of distance between them.
THE CRUCIBLE Character analysis Abigail Williams – Abigail Williams is an orphan, unmarried but has an affair with married man John Proctor. From the start of the play Abigail is a villain, she tells lies and manipulates everyone to fit her own little world, all so she gets her way, to get revenge on Elizabeth Proctor. Throughout the hysteria Abigail is driven by sexual desire, lust for power and jealousy. All of the young girls in Salem have no authority, the minister and other male adults are God’s representatives. The trials start, in which the girls act as though they have a direct connection to God, led by the now powerful Abigail.
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!
The people of the town were pressured, accused, and tested simple tests but the girls would scream with such pain whenever the accused spoke. The victims, the girls, and the judges all were consumed in the anarchy and lost all sanity. Were people convicted of not only being witches in Salem but across the country suspicion arose and people convicted women of being witches for the simplest causes. Two girls took a joke way too far and caused disorder across the country. Not all "witches" were from Salem, MA.
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.