Crucible Chapter Summaries

Soon, other girls in the village began to show the same symptoms as Betty and Abigail. Eventually, Betty, Abigail and two other “afflicted” girls named Tituba, Reverend Parris’ slave, Sarah Osborne, a woman who rarely came to church, and Sarah Good, a town beggar, as the women who bewitched them and caused their strange sickness. It all went downhill from there.

In Rosalyn Schanzer book Witches! The Absolutely True Tale Of Disaster In Salem a story is told about a time when Salem, Massachusetts was flooded with witchcraft accusations. In 1692 Betty Parris and Abigail Williams started having mysterious fits. After a doctor examined the girls he diagnosed them with being bewitched! The people started a hunt for all witches in the new land. The first cause are the accusations, the second cause, the fits and the third cause is anger.

Tituba’s fear of physical harm motivates her to cry witch. Reverend Hale’s harsh treatment of Tituba causes her to cower from him even before being accused of witchcraft. Tituba’s fear increases when Abigail accuses her of making her “drink blood” (43). Reverend Hale in turn concludes that Tituba serves the Devil. Reverend Hale orders her to wake Betty who she has sent her “spirit out upon” (44). Initially, Tituba pleads that she “don’t compact with no Devil” (44) but when she realizes that she

The fear of being affiliated with or even being a witch and the shame and dishonor that comes along with it. Reverend Parris is a very paranoid but victimizing character misguided by fear. His daughter Betty becomes ill and he is afraid it’s regarding witchcraft, however he is not fearful for her health. He is concerned with keeping his reputation and position as the Church’s minister. This selfishness is not only a characteristic Parris demonstrates but other people in the town as well. A lot of characters of characters share this interest in saving their own skin under the influence of fear and shame. This will sooner than later contribute to the downfall of the town as a whole. Another reactive character includes Ann Putnam. Another paranoid woman in the town, ready to throw around accusations regardless of how logical or faulty they are. This may be due to the loss of 7 of her 8 children she’s given birth to. On account of this, she is convinced they were murdered by supernatural means, particularly witchcraft. For example she is immediately use Tituba as a scapegoat and blame her for the death of her babies. Other characters within Salem, not only Parris and Ann, will use any opportunity they can to assure their own safety and to save face in front of others. Their lack of consideration for the wellbeing of others will get others into danger and cause a load of anarchy and

In this situation Parris acts as if he is extremely concerned with Betty; however the only thing that worries him is the way others perceive him. If others find out that Betty is sick from witchcraft and Abigail danced with the devil; people will think that Parris, along with his house, has been afflicted by

That Little Betty Parris was sick, and that the Dr. Griggs (who was too proud to say that he could not diagnose Little Betty illness) claimed she was bewitched (Richardson 7), were enough reasons for court authorities to suspect witchcraft was the cause of the illness. In addition, several young girls in the village had participated in 弎lack magic?experiments ?harmless adolescent games ?in the company of Tituba, Reverend Parris slave. The restless young girls allegedly met in Parris shed, and created and listened to Tituba incredible tales of sorcery and black arts, which were doubtless an outlet for their repressed feelings. Soon, faulty cause-and-effect relationships sparked delirium.

“They must be; they are weighted with authority” (Miller36) Reverend Hale makes a conclusion that Betty’s sickness is unnatural. Later he hears that other family’s children are in a similar state as Betty. Reverend Hale understands he is dealing with a sort of witchcraft. Many of the girls are in danger of this witchcraft he assumes and proceeds to come to different conclusions. ”I cannot tell. If she is truly in the Devil’s grip we may have to rip and tear to get her free” (Miller39) Then soon after when the girls awaken they proceed to make different accusations. Everyone accused by the girls is brought to court and charged with being a witch. Some confess to being a witch which contributes to the hysteria.

The main accuser, Abigail Williams, had an ulterior motive to destroy Elizabeth Proctor. Beforehand, Abigail had an affair with Elizabeth's husband, John Proctor, and Abigail believed if she removed Elizabeth, she would have John to herself. Most of Abigail's allegations were based on false claims, believing the relationship between her and John Proctor to be true love.

Moreover, Nathaniel’s great great-grandfather, John, son of William Hathorne was known as, “the witch judge,” who was involved in the Salem witchcraft trials in 1962.This idea was portrayed through the character if Mistress Hibbons. As quoted, “She is commonly known to be a witch who ventures into the forest at night to ride with the “Black Man.” Her appearances at public occasions remind the reader of the hypocrisy

As the fear and stress between Hale and Abigail grew, Goody Ann opened the door and shoved Tituba at the knees of Hale. Abigail immediately points at Tituba, Abigail’s defiant blue eyes clashed with Tituba’s petrified brown eyes.

During the play, the attitude is awaiting destiny in the presence of widespread irrational belief and growing hysteria in the Salem society. Nearly

Elizabeth and John Proctor had two kids, both were boys. They were a part in the Salem Witch Trials. But they were not the first to be accused. John knew this was all fake from the start. They had a servant who was included in the group of girls. Her name was Mary Warren. She helped out around the house. After John found out she kept going back to Salem he was not very happy. He got really mad and almost beat her. She knew it was all pretend, but she wanted to play along with her friends, which was not the smartest idea. Mary just did not want to upset Abigail.

After the doctor’s analysis, the townspeople then gathered up all of the girls with the symptoms. The collected girls accused three women: Sarah Good, an odd homeless woman who lived the streets of Salem Village, Sarah Osborne, who had married her servant and rarely attended the church meetings, and Tituba, an Indian slave from Barbados who was in service of Reverend Samuel Parris. Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne denied the accusations, while Tituba confessed, and claimed there were multiple other witches working by her side in Salem.

If witchcraft is discovered in the Reverend's own home, it can very quickly ruin his reputation. Parris is worried “they will howl [him] out of Salem for such corruption in [his] house”(14). The Reverend is the one preaching God and against witchcraft. If the Devil is found in the Reverend's home, his reputation will be destroyed and he will probably have to leave town. The reverend will be seen as corrupt. Betty is aware of this, but does not change the way she is acting. Betty’s act causes her father to act with . He is supposed to be a calm and a role model. Quaking with fear, mumbling to himself through sobs, he goes to the bed and gently takes Betty’s hand. Betty. Child. Dear Child. Will you wake…” (8). Daughters typically do as their fathers say, but Betty is ignoring her father’s begging. She is able to make her father, the village’s Reverend, cry for his young daughter to do as he says. In a way, Betty causes Parris to lose his ‘masculinity’. During this time, women are the ones thought of to be hysterical and men are supposed to show little emotion, especially strong sadness. Now, the reverend is hysterically crying and repeatedly asking his daughter to wake up. Betty is controlling her father’s emotions and his job. If Betty seems to be working with the Devil, it can force a witch hunt to occur in the town. Reverend Parris wants to stop this from happening. She is in control of whether or not she wakes up and stops the witch hunt. If Betty was to wake, the whole situation would be over. Since she is not, Hale asks Tituba, Abigail, and Betty to “give [them] all their names,” (47). The religious leaders are seeking information from people who are typically of low power. Tituba and the girls start to name ‘witches’ in Salem, which is going to force Parris and the other authoritative figures to make accusations. Betty, regardless of her power status before, now

The play begins in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris, whose daughter, Betty, lays ill. Parris lives with his daughter and his seventeen-year old niece, Abigail Williams, an orphan who witnessed her parents' murder by the Indians. Parris has sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly, believing his daughter's illness stems from supernatural explanations. Betty became ill when her father discovered her dancing in the woods with Abigail, Tituba (the Parris' slave from Barbados) and several other local girls. Already there are rumors that Betty's illness is due to witchcraft, but Parris tells Abigail that he cannot admit that he found his daughter and niece dancing like heathens in the forest. Abigail says that she will admit to dancing and accept the punishment, but will not admit to witchcraft. Abigail and Parris discuss rumors about the girls: when they were dancing one of the girls was naked, and Tituba was screeching gibberish. Parris also brings up rumors that Abigail's former employer, Elizabeth Proctor, believes that Abby is immoral.