Who caused the Salem witch trials in The Crucible?

Abigail Williams

Who is responsible in the Crucible?

There are three people depicted in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible that are most responsible for this and they are, Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Thomas Putnam. Abigail Williams is mostly responsible for the Salem witch trials because she was the first person to start accusing innocent people of witchcraft.

Who is to blame for the tragic events in the crucible essay?

For that reason, Abigail Williams is to blame for the deaths of those innocent Puritans who died during the witch hunt. The first reason Abigail Williams is to blame for the deaths of those during the witch hunts is jealousy. Abigail is lustful of John Proctor, which ultimately begins the hysteria in this play.

How did the Salem witch trials end?

As 1692 passed into 1693, the hysteria began to lose steam. The governor of the colony, upon hearing that his own wife was accused of witchcraft ordered an end to the trials. However, 20 people and 2 dogs were executed for the crime of witchcraft in Salem.

How many people died in the Salem witch trials?

25 people

Why is Abigail a villain?

Abigail is the antagonist of the play. She stands opposed to John Proctor, even though she claims to love him and want to be with him. Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft and makes up lies that send both Proctors to jail, and John to his death. Abigail always acts selfishly and to save her own skin.

Does Abigail die?

October 1697

How were witches killed in the crucible?

In accordance with English law, 19 of the victims of the Salem Witch Trials were instead taken to the infamous Gallows Hill to die by hanging. The elderly Giles Corey, meanwhile, was pressed to death with heavy stones after he refused to enter an innocent or guilty plea.

Is the crucible a true story?

It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as an allegory for McCarthyism, when the United States government persecuted people accused of being communists.

What is the story behind the crucible?

Using the historical subject of the Salem Witch trials, Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible (1953) presents an allegory for events in contemporary America. The Salem Witch Trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, and were based on the accusations of a twelve-year-old girl named Anne Putnam.

How did the court determine who was a witch?

Courts relied on three kinds of evidence: 1) confession, 2) testimony of two eyewitnesses to acts of witchcraft, or 3) spectral evidence (when the afflicted girls were having their fits, they would interact with an unseen assailant – the apparition of the witch tormenting them).

How did they determine if you were a witch in the Salem witch trials?

Swimming Test As part of the infamous “swimming test,” accused witches were dragged to the nearest body of water, stripped to their undergarments, bound and then tossed in to to see if they would sink or float.