The Crucible by Madison Mendez

99058961 — 2024-11-15 18:55:30 UTC

Arthur Miller's The Crucible was a significant event. In this particular image it presents the court meetings for the potential witches to be seen as guilty or not guilty. Several who were seen as witches would go through tests in order to make sure they were not with the devil. Many courts would strip clothing to look for the devils mark, also known as a third nipple, to see if she had been feeding the devil spawn. Aside from the stripping, they would often use torture methods to force the truth out of them, many stated they were witches and would repent from the devil just to be freed from death.

99058961 — 2024-11-15 19:01:44 UTC

Crucible, pot of clay or other refractory material. Used from ancient times as a container for melting or testing metals, crucibles were probably so named from the Latin word crux, “cross” or “trial.” Modern crucibles may be small laboratory utensils for conducting high-temperature chemical reactions and analyses or large industrial vessels for melting and calcining metal and ore; they may be made of clay, graphite, porcelain, or a relatively infusible metal. The play Crucible was named after this pot due to its meaning of a test or trial. It was also due to its strength to be able to endure the heat of the fires, similarly to the witches who were burned at steaks.

99058961 — 2024-11-15 19:07:45 UTC

There was a group of girls who would admire an old woman named Tituba. Tituba would practice what the girls called witchcraft and soon were intrigued, yet later on they were soon caught in the action of performing this witchcraft and began to blame Tituba. They stated that she was possessing them and controlling them for what to do. Later on this led to the girls beginning to accuse others in hopes to get rid of them too. Sooner or later as the girls began accusing more and more people, in court they would often imitate what the accused motions were, as if they were being controlled. They would yell about the witch of biting or scratching them, giving the judge more a reason to imprison or execute them.

99058961 — 2024-11-15 19:09:50 UTC

Corey was accused of witchcraft and refused to plead guilty or innocent. The court used a coercive measure called peine forte et dure, which involved pressing him with weights until he agreed to enter a plea. He was pressed to death in an empty field on Howard Street, next to the jail in Salem Village. He died after three days of being crushed. Corey's famous last words were "More weight".

99058961 — 2024-11-15 19:17:31 UTC

In "The Crucible," the idea of children being "seen and not heard" reflects the strict Puritanical societal norms of the time, where children were expected to be quiet and differential to adults, essentially only acknowledged when necessary and not allowed to express their opinions freely. This is particularly relevant because the play centers around a situation where young girls' accusations of witchcraft are taken very seriously, despite going against this societal expectation of children's silence. The Puritans held a strong belief in obedience and hierarchy, where children were considered subordinate to parents and elders. Due to not being able to do much as a child, many were intrigued with witchcraft leading to many of them who would begin to worship the devil. One step out of line for these kids and it could end horribly for their parents or the child themselves.