Salem's III
Quinn
What were the real reasons that so many townsfolk were accused of witchcraft in Salem? The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an interesting play about the witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. We follow multiple characters as they get accused and accuse others of witchcraft. Each character has their own reasons to claim someone else is participating in witchcraft, whether that be power, mental illnesses, or even religion.
Personal benefit is one of the biggest reasons that people in The Crucible accuse the other townsfolk of witchcraft. Abigail says to John in private, “John I am waitin’ for you every night” (pg. 20). This excerpt is important because it shows Abigail’s desire for John Proctor. Later in the play, others accuse Abigail of trying to frame John’s wife so she can marry him. While there is a chance Abigail is wrongfully accused of framing her, in this case, it’s a perfect example of a character accusing another character of witchcraft because they benefit from it. We see this other times in the play and could very well be the number one factor of witchcraft accusations.
Another reason why someone in The Crucible might accuse another townsperson of witchcraft could be because of mental illnesses. With Reverend Parris and his daughter Betty, she overhears the name of Jesus, which seems to trouble her. The stage directions describe: “The words ‘going up to Jesus,’” are heard in the psalm, and Betty claps her ears suddenly and whines loudly”(pg. 24). In this play, Betty is only 10 years old, and theoretically, a violent response such as that could be reason to believe that she is struggling from a mental disorder, now obviously in the play she is shown to have a reason for this outburst besides mental disorders but my point still stands. It’s safe to assume back when this play took place, people weren’t exactly worried about mental disorders, so it was common to assume that something like turrets was a possession, or schizophrenia was witchcraft or seeing ghosts. We can use this to think about how easily these mental disorders would be passed off as satanic. This all is relevant because back in Salem if someone had a severe mental disorder they would be executed for being a witch, which would be the second reason someone would be accused of witchcraft in Salem.
Religion was a big part of people’s lives in Colonial America, and when someone didn’t believe or have faith, they may have been seen as foolish or even satanic. “I saw Tituba waving her hands over the fire when I came on you. Why was she doing that? And I heard a screeching and gibberish coming from her mouth!”(pg. 11). Tituba was trying to cast a spell, she waves her hand over the fire and mutters gibberish as if to cast an incantation. This is important because it shows how even though there were factors like wealth, power, personal benefit, and mental disorders that went into accusing someone of witchcraft most people just genuinely believed it. Religion was so important at the time, people would do anything from pray for wealth or even cast a spell so another would choke. People of the time believed it was real and that their spells would work. When Tituba tried to cast a spell she genuinely believed it would work. This shows that people genuinely believed in witchcraft, and that belief/religion really affects people when accusing others of witchcraft.
While The Crucible is just a play, what it’s about was very much real. The play helps the reader understand how the people of Salem came to embrace and enforce the accusations of witchcraft in 1692, and how personal benefit, mental disorders, and beliefs drove the accusations.
