Arthur Miller, The Salem Witch Trials, and Joseph McCarthy

Right is right; wrong is wrongYou have the responsibility to inform

authorities about the questionable behaviors of your neighbors

You are judged by your associations.You, as a member of society, have the

obligation to obey the law.

b. New York City, Oct. 17, 1915

Miller began writing plays while a student at the University of Michigan

His father, Isidore Miller, was a ladies-wear manufacturer and shopkeeper who was ruined in the depression. The sudden change in fortune had a strong influence on Miller

To study journalism he entered the University of Michigan in 1934, where he won awards for playwriting

Miller married the actress Marilyn Monroe in 1956; they divorced in 1961.

The Salem Witch TrialsWitchcraft in the 16th and 17th CenturiesPuritan Religion and BeliefsJoseph McCarthyCommunism and HUACThe Red Scare

Daily life was governed by the ChurchMusic, dancing, celebration of holidays such as

Christmas and Easter, were absolutely forbidden, as they supposedly had roots in Paganism

The only music allowed at all was the unaccompanied singing of hymns—the folk songs of the period glorified human love and nature, and were therefore against God.

Toys and especially dolls were also forbidden, and were considered a frivolous waste of time.

The only schooling for children was in religious doctrine and the Bible and all the villagers were expected to go to the meeting house for three-hour sermons every Wednesday and Sunday.

The supernatural was part of everyday lifestrong belief that Satan was present and active on Earth.This concept emerged in Europe around the fifteenth

century and spread to North America when it was colonized.

Witchcraft was then used by peasants, who invoked particular charms for farming and agriculture. Over time, the idea of white magic transformed into dark magic

and became associated with demons and evil spirits. From 1560 to 1670, witchcraft persecutions became

common as superstitions became associated with the devilMen and women in Salem believed that all the

misfortunes were attributed to the work of the devil; when things like infant death, crop failures or friction among the congregation occurred, the supernatural was blamed.

Fear

Series of hearings and prosecutions regarding witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts

“And now Nineteen persons having been hang'd, and one pressed to death, and Eight more condemned, in all Twenty and Eight, of which above a third part were Members of some of the Churches of N. England, and more than half of them of a good Conversation in general, and not one clear'd; about Fifty having confest themselves to be Witches, of which not one Executed; above an Hundred and Fifty in Prison, and Two Hundred more accused; the Special Commision of Oyer and Terminer comes to a period.— Robert Calef

AccusationInterrogation

Encouraged to confessSuperior CourtSummon witnesses before a grand juryExecution or imprisonment

Convicted witches were excommunicated from their churches and none were given proper burial.

Thrown into shallow graves

In 8 simple steps!

What's a witch cake, you ask? You take the urine of the people who are thought to be under the spell of the witch in question, mix it with rye meal and make a little patty. Then you feed the patty to a dog. Because some of the powers the witch used to cast a spell on the afflicted people were in their urine, when the dog eats the cake, it will hurt the witch and she'll cry out in agony

If the suspected witch is heavier or lighter than the stack of Bibles, then clearly she's guilty of evil-doing. If the scales balance out, she's in the clear. You can imagine that a perfect balance doesn't happen often.

That's a sure sign right there, but if you need even more proof, try pricking the Devil's Mark with a blade. If it doesn't bleed or hurt when it's pricked, you've definitely got a witch on your hands. During the Salem Witch Trials, some unscrupulous witch-hunters actually used knives with retractable blades, so of course when they appeared to puncture the Mark, nothing happened.

During the Witch Trials, one accused woman, Sarah Good, was partially damned based on the fact that she was sometimes seen muttering to herself, and sometimes this even happened when she was leaving people's houses. Her accusers knew she was casting spells on people, even though Sarah claimed she was just reciting the commandments or a particular psalm. Her claims weren't enough to save her, because she was hanged on July 19, 1692.

If they don't, they're guilty. If they do, they're guilty too. George Burroughs, the only minister to be executed during the Trials, ran across this problem. He was standing at the gallows to be executed when he recited the Lord's Prayer to prove his innocence - it was believed that a witch (or warlock, in this case) would be unable to utter the holy words. People were momentarily convinced that the jury had wronged him until a minister named Cotton Mather told the crowd that the Devil allowed George Burroughs to say that prayer to make it seem as if he was innocent. Ahhh, of course. With Satan himself apparently working right through him, Burroughs' fate was sealed and he was hanged moments later.

A woman who has pets - or says hello to the neighbor's cat - is surely using that animal as a familiar. In fact, if a fly or a rat entered a woman's cell while she was awaiting trial, it was assumed that the witch had used her powers to summon a familiar to do her bidding.

Sarah Osborne, one of the original three to be accused on March 1, denied all witchcraft accusations that were thrown her way. Her downfall was when she admitted she had recurring dreams that an Indian would seize her by the hair and drag her out of her house. Apparently that was enough to convince the village she was likely casting spells on them. However, Osborne ended up dying while being held captive and never stood trial for her "crimes."

At least a couple of the women tried for witchcraft were married two or more times and were accused of killing their former husbands ("bewitching" them to death) or evilly seducing them.

It's the spring of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts.  You've just been accused by "an afflicted girl" of being a witch.  The reason for the accusation against you might have been any from a long list of possibilities.  Perhaps you're reclusive, talk to yourself, or exhibit some other form of eccentric behavior.  Perhaps you were involved in a previous dispute with the family of the afflicted girl.  Perhaps you don't go to church, or go to the wrong church, or sided with the wrong faction in recent congregational strife within the Salem Village Church.  Perhaps you speak French or are suspected with having aided the Wabanakis in the recent Indian wars.  Or perhaps you expressed support for a recently accused witch or--worse yet--accused the accusers of lying.  Whatever the reason, you're in big trouble now.  What do you do? 

(A)  Flee Salem(B)  Accuse someone else(C)  Quick! Get Pregnant(D)  Confess, even though you are innocent(E)  Plead innocent and stand for trial(F)  Refuse to stand for trial and face the consequences

1. Flee – only available to those with money and influence2. Accuse someone else – you can’t be a witch if you are

one of the afflicted. This led to many people accusing friends, neighbors, and family members

3. Quick! Get pregnant – they did not execute pregnant women; however, you will be executed eventually

4. Admit to witchcraft – escape execution, but your name will be forever ruined and associated with wrongdoing

5. Deny accusations - face trial and likely execution6. Refuse to answer questions – pressed to death

FearPersonal vendettasShift the spotlightConformity

The episode is one of the nation's most notorious cases of mass hysteria, and has been used in political rhetoric and popular literature as a cautionary tale dangers of isolationism, religious extremism,

false accusations and lapses in due process

a literary device in which characters or events represent or symbolize ideas and concepts

Similar to an extended metaphor

George Orwell – Animal Farm: The pigs stand for political figures of the Russian Revolution.

Edgar Allan Poe – The Masque of the Red Death: an allegory for how no one can evade death

1. a vessel of a very refractory material (as porcelain) used for melting and calcining a substance that requires a high degree of heat

2. a severe test3. a place or situation in which concentrated

forces interact to cause or influence change or development

abomination, conjured, contention, deference, innate, licentious, manifestation, paradox, prodigious, vindictive

Definition, part of speech, ORIGINAL sentence using context clues