Summary Of The Crucible By Arthur Miller: The Salem Witchcraft Trials

In The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, occurring in 1692 in the little town of Salem, Massachusetts where outbreaks of the witchcraft trials had taken over many of the townspeople’s everyday lives (Miller, 1124). When accused of witchcraft, they were brought to trial at the court where there was a group a girls, including Abigail Williams, Betty Parris, and Ruth Putnam. These girls had accused many of witchcraft sending them to be hanged or to jail unless they confessed. In the courtroom, when watching those who were being tried, the girls would all sit together and mimic the movements of those who were brought to trial. After looking into why the girls were performing these actions, one of the most reasonable explanations is that these …show more content…
When researching what could have been wrong with these girls, Maia Szalavitz stated “stretch back to the middle ages and early Renaissance, when outbreaks of twitching and tics lead to witch hunts and persecution of those who were thought to have caused the problem”, but then later mentions that there had been recent incidents like these having to do with the same symptoms as these girls and had been diagnosed with conversion disorder. Showing that these girls had most likely had this disorder but were unaware of what it was for they did not have the right research back then. Moreover, many also claim that they do not have conversion disorder for they believe the girls only follow Abigail and no one else. This is a common misconception for the girls always followed the convicted and would act at the same time without having to talk to each other or double thinking about it (Miller, 1210). Mainly, people believed that the girls were faking it and were just seeking attention. This could not have been just faking having a problem if these many girls were involved and they obtain so many