The Salem Witch Trials in The Crucible: Fiction and Reality

In the year 1692, a series of tragic events occurred, in this time, over 200 people were accused of witchcraft and 19 people were hung because they were said to be guilty. This time is known as the Salem Witch Trials. Although none of the trials had any real evidence pointing to witchcraft, all it took was one person who witnessed the event to testify and prove a person guilty. Often, the testimonies were false and the accused would be let go even though not all who were accused got any punishment from the government, they were seen as strangers to all who knew them before.

The people who were accused of being witches were said to be working with or for the devil. It was said that the devil would pick certain individuals and grant them witch powers. Although women were usually the ones who were accused, 5 men were executed for having Sarahin witchcraft. One example of these trials is of a man named Reverend Parris.

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He had a young daughter who, at the age of 9, started acting strangely. She would have fitted out of nowhere and would scream crazy things. In addition, two others were affected by these crazy fits which brought up many concerns. In the end, there were three women blamed for these events, their names were Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne. Both Sarah was proven innocent but Tituba confessed that she was talking to the devil. These events took place in a town called Salem, located in Massachusetts.

In the Movie men were

At the beginning of this movie, a group of girls goes to the forest to dance around a fire with their maid Tituba. In the middle of this dance, Reverend Parris sees them doing this and starts to question the girls. Paris wants to know what was going on in the forest, possibly to help figure out what caused his daughter Betty to go into a coma. The first person he questions is a young girl named Abigail Williams. Abigail claims that they were only dancing in the forest and nothing else. Suspicious of her behavior, he continues to ask her what happens and Abigail tells him that it was Tituba who made them do it. Paris furiously goes out to Tituba’s house and asks her what happened in the forest. At first, she says that she had no part in the dancing but she lies to the priest so he will not beat her any longer. Tituba, Betty, and Abigail all say that the devil has been talking to them. As many people are being put on trial, John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth are facing problems of their own. Elizabeth is wanting John to testify that Abigail, his former mistress, is a fraud and can’t be counted as a reliable source. In the middle of this fight, the Proctor's servant, Mary, comes to tell them that a trial is being held for Elizabeth, and moments later she is getting arrested and taken to a prison in Salem. Frantically, John takes Mary to court to testify against all the girls saying that they are liars. The girls quickly turn it back on Mary stating that she is a witch. John then admits that he had an affair with Abigail because he is extremely upset. John is now facing major problems because the judge denounced him as a liar and Mary had accused him of being a witch. Months later, Elizabeth convinces him to sign a document, pleading guilty to all of his sins but he is then told that he will have to be public about what he has done, and seeking protection for his name and honor, he rips the document and is sentenced to execution by hanging.

Comparison:

The Crucible was a pretty accurate movie overall. Some things were added to the movie that didn’t happen in real life though. For example, in the movie, the reverend found all the girls dancing in the forest and they all freaked out and ran but in real life, they were not playing in a forest and Paris did not catch them in the middle of the ritual. Similar to the truth, the movie mentioned how several girls were having fits that people believed were the waxwork of the bewitched. One of the biggest things that the movie got wrong was how John had an affair with Abigail. In real life, Abigail was 11 and she was also his niece but the movie probably added it to give Elizabeth and Abigail to hate one another. Although there were some scenes added for the dramatic effect, it represented the Salem Witch Trials reallytheto dance well.