For this assignment I chose three movies about witches because it was the topic I found most interesting from this class. The first movie was Black Sunday (Mask of Satan), directed by Mario Bava, the second was Warlock, directed by Steve Miner, and last was The Crucible, directed by Nicholas Hytner, based on the play by Arthur Miller. Witchcraft was once and still can be a very controversial topic, as it challenges other’s religions and beliefs and is against Christianity. Each movie was based on the witch and took place in the 17th century. The beliefs were similar for the most part but differed from each other due to the places they occurred.
In Black Sunday, also known as The Mask of Satan, the story takes place in Moldavia, a country in Europe. A witch, Asa, and her partner Javutich are sentenced to be burned at stake for sorcery by her brother, but just before they die Asa curses her brother saying she will come back to haunt all of his descendants. This shows the belief that woman had an evil power over men. The first religious symbol in the movie then appears; it is the mask depicting the face of Satan. This mask was nailed to the face of the witch because it was believed to be their true face. The mask also ended the “urge” that women created because one could not see her eyes.
Almost two centuries later, a doctor and his assistant are on the way to a medical conference and their carriage breaks down near the crypt in which the witch is buried. They decide to be curious and discover the tomb of the witch which has a glass window above the face, another religious symbol. The glass had a cross engraved in it so that the witch was forever facing it, unable to resurrect herself. While striking a bat, Dr. Kruvajan accidenta...
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...nown one was, the safer they were. People who were poor or already in trouble were usually the ones that got convicted of witchcraft. One of the symbols of witchcraft was the poppet. Mary Warren’s poppet was seen as a sort of voodoo doll because supposedly the needle was used to stab Abagail because she appears with blood coming from the same spot. The movie was just extremely strange because it showed that the only way to get out of being a witch was to confess that they were a witch.
Each of these movies had the same common theme of witchcraft but they had different symbols in each to portray them. The reason behind all of these movies and witches in general was always Satan. It was believed that they were there to perform the duties that Satan commanded them to do. The movies showed the religious symbols and themes that history has used to categorize witchcraft.
Analysis of The Crucible by Arthur Miller ‘You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor.’ Assess the developments in John Proctor’s character that validate this statement. How does Miller create a sense of tension and suspense in the build up to this climatic moment in Act 4? In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible he has used many dramatic devices in order to create tension and build up to the climaxes of the story.
Witchcraft had always fascinated many people and been a very controversial topic in North America during (seventeenth) 17th century. Many People believe that witchcraft implies the ability to injure or using supernatural power to harm others. People believed that a witch represents dark side of female present and were more likely to embrace witchcraft than men. There are still real witches among us in the Utah whom believe that witchcraft is the oldest religion dealing with the occult. However the popular conception of a witch has not changed at least since the seventeenth century; they still caused panic, fear and variety of other emotions in people…………………….
In Salem, during the times of the Salem witch trials, the church and the people were very close. This is what led to the hysteria and chaos which was the Salem witch trials. It also led to many conflicts between the characters in this book, because anyone who was against the church was considered a criminal. Some of these conflicts were between; Abigail and the other children, Danforth and the town folk, and John Proctor with himself and his wife.
Religious influence, the manipulation of fear, and the frightening aspects of witchcraft all are very influential to the popular belief of witchcraft during this time period. The popularity of witchcraft in this time period is important because it has shown how in the past when there is no logical explanation they would automatically blame Satan and say it was Satan’s doing. It also shows that history repeats itself because during the Cold War many individuals were accused of being communist even though there was no hard evidence proving this accusation; however, out of fear people will still be convicted, just like during the witch trials. Moreover, witch trials were not only influenced by many things but they have been influential; therefore, showing that they influenced things in our time
Reis, Elizabeth. Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England.( New York: Cornell University Press, 1999), 107-108.
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible the witch trials in Salem were a devastating time. The entire community was in disorder and chaos because of personal vengeance. This included accusations of innocent town’s people being called witches, so they hanged and were jailed. Throughout the play certain characters help the rise of witchcraft as well as the disapproval of all the innocent people who were being convicted for no reason. Reverend Hale is a dynamic character whom comes to rid of the evil spirits in Salem, yet he later tries to end the trials. Hale realizes the accusations are false, attempts to postpone the hangings, and persuade the victims to lie conveys that he is a dynamic character and changes throughout the play.
Nicholas Hytner 's adaptation of Arthur Miller 's The Crucible provides an interesting look into the life of the Puritans. The Crucible follows the small town of Salem as they are engulfed in the mass hysteria of witchcraft. A group of young girls is caught dancing in the woods, and thus fearing punishment claim that they were possessed by the devil. Soon the accusations run wild which resulted in the arrest of two-hundred peoples, and the execution of twenty. Today the film is regarded as an allegory for the McCarthy hearings, though it also provides an intimate look into the closed societies of colonial America. The film displays some of the themes presented in Scupins book Anthropology of Religion. Hytner’s work has become an excellent contemporary depiction of the leviathan-like power the Puritan Church had over the community, and their ability to rule through fear. Furthermore, Salam was a small, isolated town and was not exposed to outside ideas, this coupled with the Church 's power worked to demonize any outside forces. The film also depicts women 's relationship with witchcraft, and how accusations were used by the patriarchy to maintain their power over women, and how the young girls were able to gain power and influence through the act of accusation.
shows the witches are ones who believe in evil spirits, as most witches are portrayed as.
...em Witchcraft Hysteria is that the women were trying to stand out and tried to prove social equality because of social and attention seeking. So basically, they wanted to be noticed. I feel the search for power is a common aspect of the human nature because everyone wants more than others and that is what brings dissatisfaction of what we have. Also, coming from my cultures point of view which is highly and greatly superstitious a culture, we know that every evil has consequences so therefore, I take it to be that the girls knew that witches would face several consequences. Moving further, the counter point in Laurie Winn Carlson's article has no substantial evidence to support her theory. Furthermore, they wanted to seek the power and respect they never had the opportunity of having and wanted to benefit from it. This argument supported by sociologist Dodd Bogart.
The Crucible written by Arthur Miller portrays the witchcraft and uneasiness of a city called Salem. In the story there is a seventeen year old girl named Abigail who is disillusioned about love. Abigail thinks a man named John Proctor has affection for her. However in reality he wants nothing to do with her; Abigail is delusional.
Toivo, Raisa M. ‘Women at Stake. Interpretations of Women’s Role in Witchcraft and Witch-Hunts since the early 20th century to the present’ Australia: University of New South Wales, 2005.
What do you think when someone calls someone a witch? What comes to mind? Do you think of the movie, ‘Hocus Pocus’ or do you think of the black pointed hats and the long black, slit ended dresses? What about witchcraft? Does the term “Devil worshiper” ever cross your mind? Do you think of potions and spells? For many, many generations, we have underestimated what the true meaning of a witch and what witchcraft really is. What is the history that hides behind it? Witches and witchcraft have been in our history since the ancient times. There is a little bit more than the ghost stories told on Halloween, the movies shown on TV and dressing up on Halloween.
Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, and the movie with the same name have many differences and similarities, all of which contribute to the individual effectiveness of each in conveying their central message.
Witchcraft persecution peaked in intensity between 1560 and 1630 however the large scale witch hysteria began in the 14th century, at the end of the Middle Ages and were most intense during the Renaissance and continued until the 18th century, an era often referred to as the Enlightenment or Age of Reason. Representation of witches, nay, representation in general is a political issue. Without the power ot define the female voice and participate in decisions that affect women -similar to other marginalised groups in society- will be subject to the definitions and decisions of those in power. In this context, the power base lay with men. It can be said that the oppression of women may not have been deliberate, it is merely a common sense approach to the natural order of things: women have babies, women are weak, women are dispensable. However the natural order of things, the social constructs reflect the enduring success of patriarchal ideology. As such, ideology is a powerful source of inequality as well as a rationalisation of it. This essay will examine the nature of witchcraft and why it was threatening to Christianity.
Witchcraft is said to be the most widespread cultural phenomenon in existence today and throughout history. Even those who shun the ideas of witchcraft cannot discount the similarities in stories from all corners of the globe. Witchcraft and its ideas have spread across racial, religious, and language barriers from Asia to Africa to America. Primitive people from different areas in the world have shockingly similar accounts of witchcraft occurrences. In most cases the strange parallels cannot be explained and one is only left to assume that the tales hold some truth. Anthropologists say that many common elements about witchcraft are shared by different cultures in the world. Among these common elements are the physical characteristics and the activities of supposed witches. I will go on to highlight some of the witch characteristic parallels found in printed accounts from different parts of the world and their comparisons to some famous fairytales.