In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, many of the characters were adapted or changed in order to better entertain the audience. For some the changes involved their name, age, story, or quite possibly their outcome. As for Rebecca Nurse, most of her fictional story remained true to her actual life. Rebecca was considered one of the most holy and wise women in Salem, but unfortunately she was eventually accused of witchcraft. The story of Rebecca Nurse is a very interesting, devastating series of events that eventually led to her shocking and unacceptable death. In real life, Rebecca Nurse was an elderly woman of 71 years around the time the Salem Witch trials were being held in 1692. She was married to Francis Nurse and together they had eight
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First, Rebecca actually had eight children, whereas in The Crucible it was written that she had eleven. Also, in The Crucible the final scene involves John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, and Martha Corey on their way to the gallows to all be hanged on the same day. However, in reality, according to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible: Fact & Fiction by Margo Burns, Rebecca was hanged on July 19th, followed by John Proctor on August 19th, and finally Martha Corey on September 22nd. Also not mentioned is that Rebecca was buried hastily in a shallow grave with some body parts still sticking out of the ground, so the Nurse family removed her body from the grave and laid her to rest properly on the Nurse family farm (Wildes). In addition, in Rebecca’s real life one of her sisters, Mary Easty, testified on Rebecca’s behalf at the trial, but Mary was later hanged after being accused of witchcraft as well (Burns), which was included in The Crucible. Yet, in The Crucible it was written that Rebecca Nurse and her sister Mary Easty were hanged on the same day, but Mary Easty was actually hanged on the later date of September 22nd. On the other hand, in both real life and The Crucible, Rebecca Nurse was a holy and respected woman, was 71 years old at the time of the trials, was married to Francis Nurse, was accused by a group of younger girls and
First, Rebecca actually had eight children, whereas in The Crucible it was written that she had eleven. Also, in The Crucible the final scene involves John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, and Martha Corey on their way to the gallows to all be hanged on the same day. However, in reality, according to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible: Fact & Fiction by Margo Burns, Rebecca was hanged on July 19th, followed by John Proctor on August 19th, and finally Martha Corey on September 22nd. Also not mentioned is that Rebecca was buried hastily in a shallow grave with some body parts still sticking out of the ground, so the Nurse family removed her body from the grave and laid her to rest properly on the Nurse family farm (Wildes). In addition, in Rebecca’s real life one of her sisters, Mary Easty, testified on Rebecca’s behalf at the trial, but Mary was later hanged after being accused of witchcraft as well (Burns), which was included in The Crucible. Yet, in The Crucible it was written that Rebecca Nurse and her sister Mary Easty were hanged on the same day, but Mary Easty was actually hanged on the later date of September 22nd. On the other hand, in both real life and The Crucible, Rebecca Nurse was a holy and respected woman, was 71 years old at the time of the trials, was married to Francis Nurse, was accused by a group of younger girls and