Witchcraft Hysteria In The Film 'Three Sovereigns For Sarah'

Abigail Williams is the source of the witchcraft hysteria in Salem. Abigail is first accused of bewitching Betty Parris in the woods one night. She quickly disputes the accusation by saying they: Ruth Putnam, Tituba, Betty Parris, Mary Warren, and Abigail herself, were only dancing despite it also being highly looked down upon. By starting out with this single lie, her story snowballs and eventually leads to the downfall of Salem. By associating herself with Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam, both of which are sick while Abigail is well, Abigail is submitting herself to a fight she can’t win unless she lies.

Although there were many possible causes for the Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692, social division and drama were the most significant. Interestingly, historians have found out about the differences that were present between the accused and the accusers of the witches that fueled the witch hunt. Accordingly, the eastern side of Salem was more powerful and wealthier than the western side of town, which consisted of most accusers who charged people on the east (Doc E). As it is possible to see, there was a division, or crack, in the community, and the western half became jealous or disliked the others in the other half.

In the 1600 a large group of very religious people left their homes and went to the New World. In the Bible it states, that no witches (people who have the devil in them) should not live, so the Puritans would accuse people, mainly women, of being witches for simple reasons. This caused 20 people to be put to a painful death and more than one hundred in jails. What is the reason for the hysteria surrounding the Witch Trials in Salem 1692? The Salem Witch Trials hysteria of 1692 was caused by the belief in witches, the fear of being accused of witchcraft and the punishments all witches would fear.

Between the month of June 10 and September 22, 1692, the Salem witch trial which took place in Salem Massachusetts, claimed 20 residents life’s from Salem. This event shook the American History and left historians with one question decades after, what caused the Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692? In a Christian community this must have seemed strange, but superstition causing religious role to intervene and also social/economic class fueled the witch hunt. The Salem witch trial of 1692 all started when two young girls (Betty Parris and Abigail Williams) in Salem village Massachusetts claimed to have been possessed by the devil, accusing three women who had possessed them. As this hysteria continued, a special court was built just to hear

Why would anyone burn human beings at the stake because of avid hallucinations? Salem had this occur in 1692 because of the thought of witchcraft. Many factors induced this thought of witchcraft, and led to the mass murdering of more than 200 people. The first factor that induced the thought of witchcraft in Salem is the great amounts of sociological strife.

Mass Hysteria In the Salem Witch Trials Abigail is the one who starts the whole witch thing, when her and all the girl from the village were in the woods doing a ritual about who they wanted to marry. The girls didn't notice that someone had followed them into the woods and they were caught and a young child fell to her knees and into a comma. The townspeople thought it was to be witchcraft. Abigail didn't want the towns people to know so Abigail threatened the girls and told them if they were to talk she would kill them.

Finding nothing physically wrong, the doctors suggested the symptoms had been caused by witchcraft” (UXL 12). Having been immersed in a deeply-religious, fear-stricken atmosphere, Abigail and Betty lived in a constant state of terror. Horror was inflicted upon them through biblical testaments and Reverend Parris’s church sermons, permitting their development of paranoid mentalities. Although they sought a pastime that would ease their apprehension, the innocence of storytelling only intensified, worsening their frames of mind. It was only a matter of time until Abigail and Betty fell victim to their predominant weakness: fear.

Without the vengeful seventeen year old girl, Abigail Williams, the chaos that occurs in the small town of Salem would dissipate. While living in a Puritan society and having to move in with her uncle having fun was definitely not a top priority, but in Abigail's mind it was. In 1692, a small Puritan town known as Salem, Massachusetts youngs girls are about to face the death trial for dabbling in witchcraft. Abigail Williams, along with five other girls and her family’s slave Tituba, were caught dancing in the woods by her “perfect” uncle Reverend Parris. The next day Parris’s daughter who was also in the woods the night before will not wake up.

In Salem, Massachusetts, Puritans were strong believers in the Bible. The Bible states, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” The Puritans beliefs led to them accusing 20 innocent people of being a witch, this resulted in their deaths in 1692. Even though the Puritans couldn’t see it at the time, their accusations were really based off jealousy, lies, and Salem being divided into two parts. One cause of the Salem witch trial hysteria was jealousy.

Tracing back to the 16th century witch hunting has been around causing the lives of many innocent people destruction. Witch hunting has never died off, it is still here today. In my opinion witch hunting will always exist and occur as long as we have fear, ignorance and jealousy. Many people were accused of being a witch or committing witch activity mainly throughout the 16th and 19th century. Primarily because people fear for what they don't know or can't understand.

In Salem 1692, witchcraft drives the conflict between the people of the Puritan Society that reside there. Witchcraft is the perfect crime to settle disputes with your enemies. There are many explanations and symptoms, most of which are unprovable. The source of this conflict is the struggle for power and reputation between the people of Salem like John Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Hale.

Three Sovereigns for Sarah tells the Story of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, I will explain the Key factors as to why the Witchcraft Hysteria even took place over 300 years ago. First, it’s important to know the background of the dwellers from Salem and origins of the dwellers at the time. Almost 90 years prior to the trials, many British citizens and their families had finally migrated to “The New World” (America) at around 1607, after discovering the new land many sought to begin new lives pursuing a perceived economically successful Country. As Well as Religion played a Huge part in British Migration due to many seeking a Free land where one could freely believe and practice their beliefs without the threat of religious persecution amongst them. From the many Religions to sprout from this transition, the Puritan Belief was one

The Witchcraft Trials 1. Question: How did the Salem witchcraft trials reflect attitudes toward women and the status of women in colonial New England? Answer: The people of Salem looked down upon property owning widows or any women who did not fit the social norm. The upper echelon wanted the women of Salem to be of lower rank than the males and any women who was not subordinate to a man was considered suspect.

In Salem Village, Massachusetts 1662, two-hundred people became inaccurately accused, hundreds imprisoned, and twenty-four executed. What historical event caused this? In the fall of 1661, nine girls began exhibiting possession like symptoms and the situation seemed to have only one explanation, witchcraft; however, the symptoms they experienced caught the eyes of historians and resembles a disease known today as Ergotism. The start of the accusations began in Autumn of 1661, nearly one year after the Puritans moved to the New World after living in England. They moved to what present day Americans call Massachusetts, in search of religious freedom from the Roman Catholic Church; the Puritans sought to build a holy city, or a city on the

Many practicing Christians, at the time, believed that the Devil could persuade people to use the powers that he gave them to harm others. The Salem Witch Trials occurred because of resource struggles, many women were accused and tortured, and in the end the Governor realized that it was a big mistake. (“Salem Witch Trials”, 1). In 1689, English rulers William and Mary started a war with France in the American colonies which sent many refugees into the Essex County and Salem Village.