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Influence of salem witch trials
Influence of salem witch trials
Character essay on abigail williams
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The population of Salem, MA in 1692 was roughly 600 people, and out of 600 people nearly 200 were accused and 20 executed because of the accusations. Thanks to these accusations 1 out of every 3 people in Salem, MA was called a witch. In the story “The Crucible” it is evident that Abigail Williams did play a significant part in these accusations, yet she does not carry the most amount of blame like your book suggests. Your book has all the evidence that Thomas Putnam is the most responsible. Thomas Putnam’s desire for land and complete lack of Puritan values and morals is the largest contributor to the 20 deaths that plagued Salem.
The actions of Thomas Putnam were cowardly and spineless. Thanks to his greed for land 20 innocent people were murdered unjustifiably. Putnam’s greed was shown when Thomas stated “That tract is in my bounds, it’s in my bounds” (Miller 1228). Putnam knew that land wasn’t his, so he lied to try and get it, to bad for Putnam that John Proctor
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It is one thing to simply sit back and watch and not do anything like most citizens of Salem, but it’s a completely different when you act with bad intentions and make the situation even worse. Everyone else in Salem was as innocent as children compared to Thomas Putnam and his greed for land and his ruthlessness to get it by throwing anybody he wanted under the bus.
The truth may never fully come out, but to think Abigail Williams is the sole reason for blame is silly. Out of all the actions of the citizens of Salem, Thomas Putnam’s are the guiltiest. Thanks you for your time and I hope you see my point that this is just as much if not more Thomas Putnam’s
“PUTNAM: Don’t you understand it, sir? There is a murdering witch among us, bound to keep herself in the
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail William’s flaws – mendacity, lust, and arrogance – that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. Driven by lust, Abigail was able to lie to the Salem community in hopes of covering her and her friends’ deeds and gaining the attention of John Proctor. Her arrogance enabled her t0 advance her deceit.
Throughout the many acts of the play, we sense the anger rolling off Abigail’s words. “I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!” By these words, we know that Abigail Williams is angry. She’s angry at John Proctor for trying to hide the crime he committed with her, and for the lack of closure she
Author Miller took the story of the Salem witchcraft trials and wrote the play “The Crucible.” There were a lot of differences between the two. The differences between the characters were altered to make the play have a greater meaning. Betty Parris’ mom was not dead when the trials were happening she had died in 1696, four years after the trials. The crucible refers to Abigail Williams as Rev. Paris’ niece. However there is no there is no documentation to prove there familial relationship. In the play Abigail Williams is 17 but in real life she was only 11. “The Putnam’s daughter was not named Ruth her name was Ann. Ann was not the only Putnam child out of eight to survive childhood. In 1692, the Putnam’s had six living children, Ann being the oldest, to 1...
Vengeance plays a key role in causing the mass hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail Williams, who?s probably most to blame for the trials, acts out of revenge. She and John Proctor have had an affair and when Elizabeth Proctor finds out, she throws Abigail out of their house. During the trials, Abigail is still in love with John Proctor and goes after Elizabeth out of vengeance. Elizabeth tries to explain this to John, who is in disbelief: she ?thinks to kill me, then to take my place? (61). Abigail?s main motive for destroying Elizabeth is revenge for being thrown out of the house and for having John Proctor, the man that she loves. Another character who seeks revenge is Mrs. Putnam, who has had seven children die shortly after childbirth and blames her midwife, who has many children. Rebecca Nurse is charged ?for the marvelous and supernatural murder of Goody Putnam?s babies? (71). The trials are an opportunity for Ann Putnam to seek vengeance against Rebecca for having healthy children and grandchild...
In Arthur Miller’s play, “The Crucible”, a dramatic story unfolds about hatred and deception among the townspeople of Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692. During this time, people were being accused of practicing witchcraft and conjuring with the devil. Once accused, all one could do was deny the practice and hang for it or confess and be condemned to prison. Many took advantage of this, including a young girl by the name Abigail Williams who is the main character in the play. Who is to be blamed for the death of the innocently accused? Many can argue and say that other characters in the story share blame in the Salem Witch Trials. Though, the ultimate responsibility belongs to Abigail for the deaths of many innocent people during this time.
Lydia Velishek Mr. Stensrud Honors: US Literature & Composition 10 October 2017 Title Here It is clear that Abigail Williams is portrayed as the antagonist in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, taking place in the late 1600s in Salem, Massachusetts and based on the witch-trials therein. She serves as a catalyst for the witch trials by falsely accusing innocent townspeople with the intent of maintaining the position of power she gains from them. Due to the transparency of her actions, Abigail’s ulterior motives are also distinguishable.
The Putnams can be blamed for the events in The Crucible. Some proof to this is that Thomas Putnam forced his daughter to say the names of people who came in contact with the devil for land. Evidence is when Giles says, “The proof is there! I have it from an honest man who heard Putnam say it! The day his daughter cried out on Jacobs, he said she’d given him a fair gift of land.” (Miller 214). This quote happened when Giles Corey has evidence against the proof of witches, and it all revolves around Thomas Putnam, Thomas made his daughter say the names of people in Salem all for their land because he is greedy. Thomas Putnam isn’t the only Putnam that is to be blamed his own wife Ann Putnam can also be blamed for the events in The Crucible. Ann Putnam, had many, many miscarriages and instead of going to a doctor to see why this is, she blames it on
The Crucible – Characters and Changes & nbsp; Change is good for the future. " We hear the catchy phrase everywhere. From company slogans to motivational speeches, our world seems to impose this idea that change is always a good thing. Assuming that the change is for the better, it is probably a true statement in most cases. The root of this idea seems to come from the notion that we are dissatisfied with the state that we are in, so, in order to create a more enjoyable environment, we adjust.
Thomas Putnam takes advantage of the hysteria driven persecutions to gain more land for himself, but at the expense of others. Thomas Putnam is “ a man with many grievances” (Miller 14) and, because of this, he has a very bitter personality and cares little about others. This bitter and vindictive personality of his causes him to value himself far above others. This explains why Putnam feels little remorse for using the witch trials as a tool to for personal gain even though the in order to do so he must hurt his neighbor. In the beginning of the play while arguing with John Proctor over land, Putnam threatens, “You load ...
Jealousy also played a big role in who was to blame for the deaths in Salem. The Putnams were a small family, whose seven children out of eight did not survive. Mrs. Putnam was a very jealous person when it came to families, and Mr. Putnam was a very jealous person when it came to land. Goody Putnam wanted more children and was jealous of Rebecca Nurse and her large family, so she blamed her for witchcraft.
He was an influential man, so anything he said would likely have an effect on others in the town. In 1692 alone, Thomas testified against 12 people and complained about 24. His wife, his daughter Ann, and his servant Mercy Lewis were among the afflicted. The afflictions even spread from his house to that of Thomas Putnam junior. And although those who were torturing the afflicted were imprisoned, the symptoms remained and they started to blame others. In the end, between Thomas and the afflicted Putnam, they managed to convict and imprison Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey. To understand Thomas Putnam and his family is to understand all of Salem Village; the line between what was personal and what was private was very thin. It was almost a chain reaction, all it took was one influential person to get the ball rolling and once that happened there was no stopping
Abigail Williams did what she did so her and her friends could harvest attention from the people of Salem. Judge Danforth was ignorant of the fact that verbal evidence is very unreliable just because he wanted to be correct about every decision in the trials. Thomas Putnam accuses several people in Salem of personal gain of land and money. Many people were charged as guilty but in reality they were innocent, the only people who were actually guilty are Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Thomas Putnam.
All participants in the witch-hunt were influenced by the society that existed in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Salem operated as a theocracy, a government ruled by and subject to religious authority. In a theocracy, people's sins are not forgiven, so that when they commit an indiscretion, they are left feeling guilty. "The witch-hunt was....a long overdue opportunity for everyone so inclined to express publicly his guilt and sins, under the cover of accusations against the victims." (p. 7) Characters such as Abigail Williams and Mrs. Putnam used the witch-hunts in the way cited above, as a method of confessing their sins without being accountable for them. Others used the chaos created by it for their own benefit. Thomas Putnam made his daughter Ruth accuse both George Jacobs and Rebecca Nurse so he could buy the resulting unclaimed land after they were hung. Any character that accused, confessed, or in any way joined the witch-hunt failed his or her test.
Thomas Putnam profits remarkably in the Salem witch hunt . The person who initiates the event receives all the benefit. Is it a coincident? It is not. Thomas Putnam must have a plan. At the beginning of the play, the argument between Putnam, Giles, and Proctor shows contentions between people over land. 'The tract is in my bounds, it's my bounds, Mr.