What is there about the society of Salem which allowed the girls stories to be believed?
What is there about the society of Salem which allowed the girls' stories to be believed?
In a small Puritan town called Salem in 1692, a group of young girls were discovered dancing and supposedly 'conjuring spirits' in the woods, something that was strictly forbidden by Puritan law. Ironically the girls avoided punishment by accusing others of the very things of which they were guilty. This led to a cycle of distrust, accusation, arrest and conviction in the town. The girls were totally believed and even praised throughout the witch trials. No one thought it could be possible that they were lying. Hence, by the end of 1692, the Salem court had convicted and executed nineteen men and women for practising witchcraft. But what was it that led the girls' stories to be believed?
The Massachusetts Bay colony was founded by a group of Puritan settlers who arrived from England in 1630. They had been persecuted in England under the rule of James 1 and after his rule they left to create a 'New Jerusalem' in America. In this settlement, there was only one religion, the Protestant one. The town of Salem was surrounded by forest inhabited by Indians. Initially the Puritans tried hard to convert the Indians but they had failed. Consequently the forest, where the 'heathen' Indians lived was considered to be not just evil but the 'Devil's last preserve'. This belief contributed to all the uproar that was made about the girls being in the forest in the first place.
The Puritans were very simple, hard working people who had virtually no pleasure in their lives.
Their life consisted of working the fields and going to church which was a must. They considered material and physical wants , especially sexual desire as the devil's work and a threat to the society. Dancing, courting and having fun were also considered by the ministers as socially unacceptable behaviour. The Puritans had no religious tolerance for inappropriate or unacceptable behaviour and punished any 'guilty' individuals severely. Witchery in particular was a 'hanging error'.
A key factor which contributed significantly, to the tragedy, namely the townsfolk's unusually strong belief in superstitions. Belief in the power of witches and the persecution of witches by the church was widespread throughout Europe. The Pilgrim Fathers shared these beliefs and carried them across the ocean to America. Witches were thought to be in league with the devil (who was their master). Whilst the devil himself was believed to roam the earth looking for souls to tempt into hell. Witches were also thought to have special powers, such as the ability to change shape and simply bewitch ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
A key factor which contributed significantly, to the tragedy, namely the townsfolk's unusually strong belief in superstitions. Belief in the power of witches and the persecution of witches by the church was widespread throughout Europe. The Pilgrim Fathers shared these beliefs and carried them across the ocean to America. Witches were thought to be in league with the devil (who was their master). Whilst the devil himself was believed to roam the earth looking for souls to tempt into hell. Witches were also thought to have special powers, such as the ability to change shape and simply bewitch a person by looking at them.
The reason why Salem's people were so convinced that witchcraft was real stemmed from their narrow-minded interpretation of the bible. People in Salem took the bible very literally, particularly the saying that 'Thou shall not suffer a witch live'. Hence they regarded the issue of exposing witches as their duty. They had very vain thoughts of themselves, which led them to believe that they were such blessed people that heaven was actually 'speaking through the children' of the town.
The superstitious nature of the Salemites is illustrated on Goody Putnam's belief that it was the 'devils work' that she was a mother to seven stillborn children. Although there could have been many reasons why her children died at birth, she blamed it on someone supernaturally 'murdering' them . Moreover, due to this superstition, she sent her daughter Ruth to the forest with the rest of the girls to conjure up the spirits of her dead siblings. Puritan law forbade what she did and yet she was never called in to account for it.
Lack of education also led to many people blaming every unfortunate incident that they experienced on witchery . When the people could not find any reason for an illness i.e. crops failing or children dying at birth, they were told 'to look to unnatural things for the cause of it' as was the case with Betty's illness . It is easy to see how in a society with so few scientific answers, its members might attribute such events to the 'devils work'. The Puritans narrow-mindedness is also apparent when Martha Corey was arrested on the allegation of 'reading strange books' as they thought reading books other than the bible as 'vain enjoyment'
Yet not everyone in Salem was uneducated; Reverend Hale for one whose 'books were weighted with authority' was regarded as a prominent educated figure. He was the minister of Beverley and a self-proclaimed expert when it came to 'finding signs of the Devil', but he too was fooled . Although he was the first to realise that the girls were nothing more than frauds, he did not actually quit the court until John Proctor was taken into custody.
Let us now take into consideration another 'educated' man , namely Deputy Governor Danforth - a supposedly God-fearing man who was sent to restore 'purity' to the town. Danforth also believed the girls and did not doubt them¸ In fact he actually claimed that 'Heaven is speaking through the children'. Furthermore he continued to believe them , even when he knew that Abigail was not an innocent child. Danforth saw himself as God's agent and somehow upholding divine law. Despite his Christian beliefs, he was heartless and arrogant as can be seen when there was some doubt to the girls' evidence, his only thoughts were 'postponement now speaks a floundering on my part; reprieve or pardon must cast doubt upon the guilt of them that died till now. In other words, he thought not of others, but only of himself and his own image.
Land at that time was very important, as it was the only source of industry and wealth the people had. It was the people's livelihood and they worked hard to grow healthy crops. To this end, people with the most land were seen as blessed and respected. Miller also states that 'the people fought for over land like heroes for ever grain of corn'. The fact that land was the Salemites only source of income, contributed to much bickering and disputes over territorial boundaries. For this reason, it also played a part in the Salem witch trials. For example ,Thomas Putnam emotionally blackmailed his daughter to accuse their neighbour George Jacobs of witchery because of his lust for land.
However not all the people were driven by lust for more property. One Salemite in particular was driven by a different kind of lust, namely Abigail William who was motivated by sexual desire for John Proctor. She in fact committed 'lechery' with him. John Proctor revealed this to the court but his wife denied it. Abigail at first was very clever in how she manipulated the girls into not revealing the truth and threatened that if they did she would 'come to them in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you'. Due to her conniving and forceful nature , people believed her and the other girls who followed her lead .
In any case, the people did not think that their children whom they saw as 'thankful for being permitted to walk straight, eyes slightly lowered, arms at side, and mouths shut until bidden to speak' would be involved in such activities.
The Salemites were quite prejudiced as well. This is shown in the way they treated the black slave Tituba. They assumed that she knew how to conjure spirits just because they had heard her 'sing her Barbados songs', i.e. because they couldn't understand her language, they automatically assumed she was singing Devil songs. This shows how prejudiced the people of Salem were towards other races. Social prejudice however was not just limited to the uneducated members of Salem, but was also present in the more learned and 'good' people. For example, Reverend Hale did not actually start to doubt the girls evidence until 'respected farmer's wives' were being accused. Similarly, when Goody Osburn and Goody Good 'half witted, drunk and slept in ditches' were being accused, very few people in the town were concerned. It was only when Goody Nurse and Goody Proctor were named that Hale and other town folk questioned the integrity of the girls' testimonies.
In conclusion, one can assert that there are many causes which contributed to the society of Salem believing the girls. The main cause however was the people's lack of education, as it created a superstitious, regressed and ignorant society. Ironically, although the Puritans tried so hard to preserve a 'pure' society, they ended up making their one worse by executing innocent people within it. No one was educated enough to realise the possible consequences but the townsfolk reassured themselves by falsely believing that what they were doing was right and that they would be rewarded for it.
Zahra Ridha Social and Historical Influences and Cultural Context GCSE English Literature Coursework ___________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Page 1