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Social aspects of the Salem witch trials
Salem witch trials and social control
Societal effect of salem witch trials
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People who fear alienation conform to avoid anxiety and solitude. In Salem witch trials allowed young girls to gain absolute power in society due to panic. Those who abdicate power in times of hysteria fail to regain power due to new ideals controlling society’s fears. Salem’s citizens experienced hysteria because safety needs decreased causing new leaders, whether just or unfair, to rise. Fearing alienation, church officials dared not challenge the girls and this fear also stopped rebels. Conformity leads to acceptance, which is desirable. The exchange of power leads to unforeseen problems which cause fear of isolation and rejection. I would like to try out for the part of Martha Corey. I like how the hysteria of the town did not affect
The Salem Witch Trials were a series of prosecutions of men and women who were accused to practice witchcraft or have associations with the devil. The first Salem witch trial began with two girls in 1692, Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams who started to have “fits”, in which they would throw tantrums and have convulsions. The random outburst of the girls threw the town of Salem into a mass of hysteria. Although historians have not found a definite reason or cause for the witch trials, they have taken different approaches to explain the hysteria that took over Salem. Some historians approach a psychological theory by proposing the girls suffered from diseases that made them act out. Other historians refer to factors such as religion, economics, and weather to explain the beginnings of an unforgettable time in Salem, Massachusetts. For over 300 years, historians have tried to reveal the truth about the beginnings of the Salem Witch Trials, but in order to do so historians must look at both the way of life in Salem in the seventeenth century and use knowledge that is available now to explain the phenomenon.
Yet, the theocratic society, the mass hysteria, and the girls’ desire for attention and power were the three most significant factors which caused the greatest impact. It is very likely that without one of the factors, Salem would have never had a downfall. The theocracy is what potentially led to the accusations because of how connected god and government were in Salem. The mass hysteria spread due to how the conditions in town created major trust issues. Finally, the because the children were so looked down upon in the town, it was hard for them to be noticed and once they got a chance to gain the people’s attention they went for it gaining the power they needed to bring down anyone they wanted. The main theme presented in the play The Crucible, is that social pressure can lead individuals to go along with actions they know are
Salem Village, Massachusetts was the home of a Puritan community with a strict moral code through 1691. No one could have ever anticipated the unexplainable events that were to ambush the community’s stability. The crisis that took place in Salem in 1962 still remains a mystery, but the accusations made by the young girls could be a result of ergot poisoning or the need for social power; this leads the people of Salem to succumb to the genuine fear of witchcraft.
Arthur Miller's portrayal of Salem, Massachusetts can be juxtaposed with Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany. While the motivations differ, societal similarities exist and both teach us that when a whole society of people have a fear so great that it can be used against them, the society will try to do anything and everything in their power to prevent this from happening. Even when the means of prevention involves innocent people dieing and the judiciary system becoming corrupt, the society will act upon this fear of wickedness and the devil.
The mass hysteria between today’s society and the Salem witch hunt can be compared through Freedom , Religion ,and the killing of innocent victims. Mass hysteria has caused a lot of destruction in society throughout the years. It has brought about a lot of chaos in both Salem as well as the present society. Mass hysteria has brought out a lot of fear in people in both Salem and present society.
In complex relationships between individuals, and society leads to tension between good and evil. David Calcutt’s portrayed and catastrophic play Salem uses views of society, besides individual to engage in a relationship of values and beliefs in the range of superstition in the 1962 of witchcraft. Nevertheless this is emphasized through the themes of judgment, power, prejudice, individualism and good vs. evil. However Calcutt’s play Salem reinforces society, and individual contextual concerns on behalf of ideals of religion, and culture with the desire to conform. Salem is an intriguingly written that states the pensive issues faced with society and individual attempt to imitate from chastisement.
Salem in the 1600s was a textbook example of an extremist society with sexist norms and no separation of church and state. Because it had no laws, only people considered authorities on law, it was always a society based on norms laid down by the first settlers and severity on the verge of madness. The power was imbalanced, focused subjectively in the people who had means to control others. Some people attempted to right the wrongs of the powerful, as people are wont to do eventually. Because of them, change indeed came to Salem, slowly and after excessive ruin and death. Before the rebels’ impact took hold, Salem’s Puritan society was a religious dystopian disaster, a fact illustrated excellently by Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. This religious dystopian disaster carried many flaws and conflicts that can be seen in other societies, both historical and modern.
From the beginning of time there has been conflict between the views of different people and their different groups. Conflict has brought prejudice and fear into communities around the world. As conflict is an inescapable part of any society, it can be expected to extend to the greatest impact possible. The Salem Witch Trials are one such conflict. This conflict caused many to be accused, arrested, and killed. Because of social, economic, religious, and physical problems within the community, Salem Village was present with prejudice and panic causing the Salem Witch Trials.
Latner’s purpose of writing the article is to inform the reader of the reason why the events at Salem happened due to religious leaders impact and how their actions held significance. “Examining the bitter disputes that wracked Salem Village and Andover suggests that we should accord religion”(Latner, 2006, 93). Latners goal was to prove that the events of Salem happened not because of
With the fear of the colony growing, many of the colonist turned into the wealthy upper class which added even more stress and fear to the situation. While the pressure on the children was immense, it was the adults which made it into hysteria. In How Satan Came to Salem Goodheart writes “One moment children were playacting; the next, people’s grandparents were being publicly tortured to death”(Goodheart 2). This was also accompanied by a political spasm that was brought on by the changing ideals and values.
The notorious witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts occurred from June through September. It is a brief, but turbulent period in history and the causes of the trials have long been a source of discussion among historians. Many try to explain or rationalize the bizarre happenings of the witch hunts and the causes that contributed to them. To understand the trials and how they came to be, we must first examine the ideals and views of the people surrounding the events. Although religious beliefs were the most influential factor, socioeconomic tensions, and ergot poisoning are also strongly supported theories. A combination of motives seems the most rational explanation of the frenzy that followed the illness of the two girls. This paper looks closely at the some of the possible causes of one of the most notable occurrences in history.
The Salem Witchcraft Hysteria was a product of women’s search for power. This claim is supported by Lyle Koehler, from A Search for Power: The “weaker sex” in seventeenth-century New England (University of Illinois, 1980), explained and argues why this is true. Koehler mentions that the women were in search for more power and respect and power equality. She mentioned that the men were afraid of witches because they felt they were superior to them which brought in the question of who really was the superior gender. But really, the women accused others as being witches so as to gain more power from men. Basically, this showed that the women were not afraid of controlling or taking the power from men. In the seventeenth century, the men had power; so therefore, women did anything and would do anything to gain more power than the men. In puritan society, the only women with any significant power were mothers. They had powers not only in their homes but also in the public as long as they accused people of being witches. They also implicated others to achieve this power. An example that Koehler gave would be sociologist Dodd Bogart’s conclusion that “demon or witch charges are attempt to restore “self-worth, social recognition, social acceptance, social status and other related social rewards” is pertinent to the Salem village situation.
Many people, especially the younger generation, would come together to pray for those who were afflicted. Groups of young people would spend time together transforming these “frolics”, or the times in which the girls would exhibit strange behavior as an opportunity to turn these events for prayer and worship. Some girls even attributed their behavior to a heavenly source, not a demonic one. But perhaps what’s most important is that the groups of young people left behind their subservient roles in the community in favor of leadership positions. Because of the strange behavior of the young people in the community, priests and ministers were able to exploit that behavior for their own benefit. In Northampton, a minister named Jonathan Edwards thought of the strange behavior of the girls and the young people’s reaction to it as a religious revival. Whereas in Salem, one of its most influential ministers, Samuel Parris immediately presumed it to be the work of witches. Both situations started out relatively similar, but once it was seen as witchcraft it gave people the ability to assign blame and that’s what turned a relatively mild situation into a
The deterioration of Salem's social structure precipitated the murders of many innocent people. Arthur Miller's depiction of the Salem witch trials, The Crucible, deals with a community that starts out looking like it is tightly knit and church loving. It turns out that once Tituba starts pointing her finger at the witches, the community starts pointing their fingers at each other. Hysteria and hidden agendas break down the social structure and then everyone must protect themselves from the people that they thought were their friends. The togetherness of the community, the church and legal system died so that the children could protect their families' social status.
Imagine a world where differences of opinions or beliefs were to be considered witchcraft. This was the world for many individuals living in Salem, Massachusetts during the 1600s. During the Salem Witch Trials, many women and men were accused of witchcraft by a handful of teenage girls. Many of the afflicted showed mysterious symptoms, such as outbreaking into fits and having hallucinations. Due to the mysterious symptoms, the girls and the Puritans began to point fingers at mainly the less fortunate women who did not follow the Puritans Bible to a “T”. Due to the irrational outburst of these young women, the identification and punishment process naturally lead to conflict because of the judging of others, the religious affiliation, and