Puritans believed that children were to be seen and not heard, and they expected to hear from female children even less than male children.
The witch trials and accusations made Abigail Williams and the other girls rock-star famous. Suddenly, people were hanging on their every word, breathless with anticipation (or fear) to see who they would point the accusing finger at next. Abigail seems to feel especially powerless prior to Betty's apparent illness; her parents have, evidently, been killed by Native Americans, and she now lives with her uncle, the Reverend Parris. She does not seem to be his biggest fan. Further, she had an affair with John Proctor, for whom she still has feelings, but his wife fired her seven months ago, he has declared their relationship to be over, and someone has been spreading rumors about her in town.
By accusing the women who Tituba has already named, and by professing that she is anxious to return to God herself, Abigail can capitalize on the fact that others belief Tituba to be guilty of witchcraft. Once she begins to accuse, she is believed because people—like the Putnams, and soon, Parris—are so anxious and willing to believe. The Putnams want someone to blame for the deaths of their children, and Parris wants to protect himself from a loss of position and power. This has the effect of empowering Abigail and the other girls who do the accusing with her.
This question centers around the idea of social mobility—who has it, how they use it, and how the whole framework gets tossed in the air in the midst of the witch trials. In the context of late-seventeenth-century Bay Colony society, few other people besides white, land-owning men possess any real rights or influence in the eyes of the law. The witch trials—both in real life and in this play—created a strange opportunity for women, people of color, the young, the disabled, and other undervalued members of Puritan society.
Consider Tituba's position. As an enslaved woman, she has absolutely no rights. When she is questioned about whether she facilitated the young girls dancing in the woods, she frantically confesses to communicating with the devil and begins to accuse others of witchcraft. In the eyes of the law, a person could be granted immunity if they accused another person of witchcraft. This, quite obviously, led to many false accusations and confessions. Tituba, who otherwise would have suffered severe and unjust persecution for dancing in the woods, is able to save herself by playing into this blame game. She temporarily can enact her status as an accuser to suspend any blame placed on her.
Abigail quickly recognizes what Tituba is doing and joins right in. Abigail has a childish romantic obsession with John Proctor and a vendetta against his wife, Elizabeth. Yet she is a young girl and an adulterer to boot—once again, very few rights to speak of in the context of this setting. However, she too leverages her position...
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as an accuser in the whole witchcraft mania and is able to put innocent adults in serious peril.
The trials enable Tituba to preserve herself and allow Abigail to cast away blame and enact her revenge. While at first glance Abigail's action hardly seems like "empowerment," it should be considered that she is a young girl and that Proctor, a fully grown man, took advantage of her. In short, the trials create an environment in which guilt and innocence are turned on their heads, and those who otherwise would have no say with the leaders of their society, or in the courts, are suddenly quite powerful.
The individuals who would have felt entirely powerless during the Puritan era would have been servants, children, women, and people who did not own land. Ironically, the girls who were given power by the magistrates who believed them fit all 4 of the aforementioned categories. For the first time in their lives, these girls were being listened to and their words meant consequences would happen for others. That was a great amount of power after having been previously powerless. The Crucible gives these girls various teenage ages for the sake of the story and growing the manipulative power of Abigail Williams. However, research shows that they were much closer to the ages of children who were very likely well manipulated by the Putnams. In this regard, the Putnams previously had felt powerless because they had a new choice for minister that the town did not agree with and they felt slighted because of that. Now, with the children acting as puppets in their hands, the Putnams felt great power over both the new local minister and their enemy John Proctor.
How do the Salem Witch Trials empower individuals who were previously powerless, particularly Abigail Williams of The Crucible?
This is an important question when reading The Crucible. Abigail was a trouble-maker. She succeeded in getting the girls to agree to help her lie about Betty. Shortly after that, she made an effort to draw John Proctor out of his finally appropriate relationship with his wife.
Abigail uses the opportunity to accuse several townspeople of being seen "with the Devil" to position circumstances to her advantage. In fact, from the end of Act 1 until the beginning of Act 4, whenever anyone did something that Abigail disagreed with, she got the rest of the girls to help her accuse the person and then she defamed the person and got them killed or at the very least, arrested. In this same manner, she was able to manipulate John Proctor into giving his life away. This phenomenon is most at work with Elizabeth Proctor in Acts 2 and 3 as Abigail sends a poppet home with Mary Warren that Abigail later used to testify that she had been treated as if by voodoo by someone. Then it turns up that Elizabeth has a doll.
Up until this point, Abigail was previously powerless to such adults in the town. She was to be subservient. These accusations brought her new opportunity to exert power over others. The court listened to her and the girls over logical testimony.
How do the witch trials in The Crucible empower some individuals who were previously powerless? Is it possible that the situation that happened in The Crucible is capable of taking place today? How would it be different/similar?
Throughout the Puritan town of Salem, young women were expected to be obedient, quiet, and God-fearing. Living in a society where males were culturally and economically dominant, young females were essentially powerless. Abigail Williams is the niece of Reverend Parris and is treated as an afterthought before the witch trials begin. She is dismissed from working at John Proctor's home and lives in the shadow of her uncle. Mary Warren is another young girl who goes unnoticed throughout the community before the witch trials begin. However, both characters find prestige and influence by accusing others of witchcraft. Abigail is the ringleader of the group of girls that are accusing citizens of witchcraft. She is respected by the judges and enjoys the power of manipulating Salem's community. Mary Warren also enjoys her position as an official of the court. She even brags to John Proctor at the beginning of Act Two about the importance of her position. Abigail, who was somewhat of a social outcast, and Mary Warren, a timid young girl, both are empowered by their positions in the Salem court.
It is not out of the realm of possibility that a situation similar to the events that transpired in Salem would happen in today's society. Arthur Miller's play was inspired by the second Red Scare, which was when Senator Joseph McCarthy falsely accused many citizens of having communist ties. Miller explores the concept of hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts, which parallels McCarthy's 1950s communist "witch-hunt." Although citizens would probably not be accused of witchcraft in today's society, it is possible that hysteria could result in false confessions from innocent individuals. The government could utilize propaganda to stir American citizens into a state of hysteria and create a situation where innocent individuals are forced to falsely accuse their neighbors of various crimes.
As seen in The Crucible, how do the witch trials empower victims who were previously powerless?
Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" depicts the hysteria which erupted in Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials. Although the play is not historically factual, specific elements from the trail significantly influenced the play.
As for the power which the trials gave to those who were powerless, the girls of Salem were initially the weakest (lead by Abigail Williams).
Historically, those who were deemed powerful were the one in charge of the Puritan lawmaking. Given that the Puritans defined Theocracy (divinely ruled government officials) as the ruling government. Therefore, the men of the government were those who were defined as the most powerful. It is not until the girls come forward making accusations of witchcraft that they begin to be given power.
The court believes that the girls know the identities of the witches of Salem. This knowledge gives the girls power over the village, the villagers, and the court. Regardless of the falsehoods told, the power is real and exists.