The Crucible Group

Question:

jcroo2
jcroo2
Student
High School - 11th Grade

How did Betty Parris's mother die? Why does this cause Betty to scream out her name and miss her so much?

in the Crucible?

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Posted by jcroo2 on Thursday May 7, 2009 at 2:18 AM and tagged with betty parris, characters, crucible, the crucible.

Answers:


  1. scarletpimpernel Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    In reality, Elizabeth Parris, Betty's mother was still alive throughout the trials.  However, Miller chooses to portray Rev. Parris as a widower perhaps to explain Betty's freedom to run around with Abigail and the older girls and participate in their schemes.

    In real life, Elizabeth Parris was an invalid, and Betty was a sickly child.  She often was confined to bed or prevented from doing household chores, so she would have been especially interested in hearing Tituba's exciting tales as a diversion.

    In The Crucible Miller does not mention the cause of Elizabeth Parris's death; he simply describes Parris as a widower in his opening notes.  If Miller just intends for the audience to believe that Elizabeth died from her chronic illness, this would have frightened Betty because, as a bed-ridden little girl, she would most likely think that she was going to endure a life of illness and an early death as her mother had.

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    Posted by scarletpimpernel on Friday May 8, 2009 at 8:04 AM