“During the colonial period, nearly three hundred women were accused by their neighbors of performing witchcraft. Although those accusations spanned approximately the first century of English settlement in North America, about half were voiced during one ten-month period in 1692.”(Salem Witchcraft Trials). In 1962 in…
Salem Witch Trials Essay Examples and Topics
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History generally regards the period of Salem witchcraft trials as a radical in-statement of religious zeal which favored superstition over reason and targeted a large number of women over a much smaller number of men. Admittedly, the 1692 witchcraft crisis is a very complex historical…
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Salem, Massachusetts 1692, faced a bizarre incident where number of girls begin to display strange behaviors of uncontrollable fits and even curling up their bodies into weird positions and this rose a lot of suspicion in Salem. Under pressure to explain their peculiar behavior, fearing…
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Social, religious and other factors can be suggested to have caused the mass hysteria that occurred at the Salem Witchcraft Trials in 1692. Many people within the Salem village and town were accused of witchcraft, with a supposed 20 facing execution in a series of…
Date
2002
Created by
Maria Nation
Type
Drama
Genre
Historical
Major Characters
The main characters in the film Salem Witch Trials are Tituba Indian, Lizzy Porter, Willian Stoughton, Rebecca Nurse, Annie Putman, Samuel Paris, May Walcott, and Elizabeth Parris.
Based on
The drama film Salem Witch Trials is adapted from The Crucible; a 1953 play written by Arthur Miller. The Crucible is a fiction story from the Salem Witch Trials story of 1950. The actual trials took place in the late 1600s as the Puritans attempted to preserve their religion.
Symbols/motives
The main symbol in the film Salem Witch Trials is fire. It represents fear, anger, danger, and death. The gallows/ropes used for hanging victims are another important symbol. It represents crime, guilt, and injustice. Darkness is associated with witches and fear.
Influence
The Salem Witch Trials film reminds audiences about the effects of ignorance and fear. When society is bound by these two, they can act in devastating ways. The audience is reminded to take courage and lean on the power of reason. If they allow fantasy to guide them, too many people will suffer.
Plot
The Salem Witch Trials revisits the events that took place during the witch trials in colonial America. It details the actions that climaxed into the trials.
Why is this topic important
The Salem Witch Trials posed a serious threat to the government of Massachusetts Bay. The Puritans were determined to preserve their religion but it was the beginning of their end. People lost trust in their government.
Main Ideas
The main idea in the film Salem Witch Trials is how people can easily be guided by fantasy to commit a crime. The Puritans are religious people who were supposed to bring sanity to society but instead, they brought persecution, hatred, and deceit.
Key Quotes
- Adriana: “When the time comes for change, she will bring peace with her. You will have to bow to her will because she will not bow to yours."
- Bernice: “Tass lived like an echo for many years.”
Interesting facts
- The trigger to the Salem Witch Trials were two young girls who displayed unexplainable fits.
- Tituba admitted to witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials trials
- The Salem Witch Trials stopped due to mass condemnation from the people
Why should this topic be used
During the Salem Witch Trials, 19 innocent lives were lost and hundreds of others went through humiliating times. These are things that could have been prevented. If people fail to learn the lesson today, the very things of the 1600s could be replicated today.
Arguments for
- Tituba was a witch and she deserved to die. She confessed to witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials.
- Witch trials were the norm in colonial America. The Salem Witch Trials were nothing new or out of the ordinary. The people already knew the punishment was fire, gallows, or drawing according to traditions.
Arguments against
- The protestant Puritans were the biggest lie during the Salem Witch Trials. In reality, the church was supposed to be reaching out to witches to help convert them. Instead, they reached out to them to condemn them to death.
- The Massachusetts Bay government didn’t serve the citizens but instead served religion. They agreed to honor the Puritans' request without considering the people they serve.
