In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century the fear of witchcraft shook european society. Throughout England and other low countries of Europe, either the central control and government were in pieces or fear of witchcraft among religions grew out of control. Through irresponsible and unregulated accusation and execution, due to political hysteria, the lack of authority, and pure fear of the devil, we can clearly see this concept take place in Arthur Miller’s 1953 play, The Crucible. Because of this unusual trend, the following question is raised: To what degree do the political crashes and religious scares in Europe relate to the events that occurred in Salem Witch Trials as represented in The Crucible?
Dating back to before America …show more content…
As we saw in The Crucible, religion had a heavy influence on the government and judiciary process. Throughout the entirety of the trials in The Crucible, God and the devil were referenced regularly. “There is fear in the country because there is a moving plot to topple Christ in the country” (Miller 91). This exhibits the same fear created in the 1450s of Europe where witches were feared to be planning on destroying the Church. Then, following the chaos of the Church, more catastrophe is afoot in The Crucible. “I find here a poppet Goody Proctor keeps. I have found it, sir. And in the belly of the poppet a needle’s stuck” (Miller 71). First we see again the fact that the court is taking the word of a child, Abigail Williams, who has accused Elizabeth Proctor of sticking a needle into her through witchery. We then find Cheever entering the Proctors home in search of evidence of this claim where he finds a poppet doll with a needle stuck in it. This is poor evidence by not only the fact that the poppet did not belong to Elizabeth, but the fact that finding this doll, coincidentally, was proof enough. “...now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom” (Miller 73). All that was needed to be viewed as evidence of the court was the word of a child, as it grew out of hand the same way in Europe. Again this holds the similarity to the ridiculous claims of evidence that were accepted into the court as legible in
Dating back to before America …show more content…
As we saw in The Crucible, religion had a heavy influence on the government and judiciary process. Throughout the entirety of the trials in The Crucible, God and the devil were referenced regularly. “There is fear in the country because there is a moving plot to topple Christ in the country” (Miller 91). This exhibits the same fear created in the 1450s of Europe where witches were feared to be planning on destroying the Church. Then, following the chaos of the Church, more catastrophe is afoot in The Crucible. “I find here a poppet Goody Proctor keeps. I have found it, sir. And in the belly of the poppet a needle’s stuck” (Miller 71). First we see again the fact that the court is taking the word of a child, Abigail Williams, who has accused Elizabeth Proctor of sticking a needle into her through witchery. We then find Cheever entering the Proctors home in search of evidence of this claim where he finds a poppet doll with a needle stuck in it. This is poor evidence by not only the fact that the poppet did not belong to Elizabeth, but the fact that finding this doll, coincidentally, was proof enough. “...now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom” (Miller 73). All that was needed to be viewed as evidence of the court was the word of a child, as it grew out of hand the same way in Europe. Again this holds the similarity to the ridiculous claims of evidence that were accepted into the court as legible in