The play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692. Miller writes about the effects of how the town of Salem use religion as a blinder to the events taking place during the Salem Witch Trials. A group of girls are found dancing and doing things they should not be in the woods, and when questioned they blame spirits. The young girls in The Crucible by Arthur Miller gain control of the town of Salem which results in the deaths of many people. They claim they are bewitched and begin to act erratically due to these bewitchments. The town does not know what to do with this information so they begin to believe these girls and the things they say, so when they begin to accuse townspeople of being witches, those who are accused are rounded up and most are sentenced to death. The whole play is based on the confusion of the subject of bewitchment and what the town did to solve it. Hysteria and gender are the main factors in the downfall of Salem during the time of the witch trials.
The hysteria spread so …show more content…
Historically, the women were accused of witchcraft more than men. "The far more women than men are accused and executed in Salem demonstrates that male privilege offers some protection from prosecution," (Bovard, 84). In the time that The Crucible took place, women were still seen as lesser; they were there as servants to their husbands and to the men of the community in general. There is a double standard for women and men not only in this story but just in real life in general. The way women are expected to act and get treated is very different than a man. Gender is literally killing the women of this time. At one point in The Crucible a male is asked to recite the Ten Commandments when accused of being a witch in order to clear his name, and he fails to do so correctly. If that were a woman, she would have been sent to death right on the
The hysteria spread so …show more content…
Historically, the women were accused of witchcraft more than men. "The far more women than men are accused and executed in Salem demonstrates that male privilege offers some protection from prosecution," (Bovard, 84). In the time that The Crucible took place, women were still seen as lesser; they were there as servants to their husbands and to the men of the community in general. There is a double standard for women and men not only in this story but just in real life in general. The way women are expected to act and get treated is very different than a man. Gender is literally killing the women of this time. At one point in The Crucible a male is asked to recite the Ten Commandments when accused of being a witch in order to clear his name, and he fails to do so correctly. If that were a woman, she would have been sent to death right on the