Puritanism- the beliefs and practices of people who follow very strict moral and religious rules about the proper way to behave and live
Act 1
Characters:
Reverend Samuel Parris- He is in his 40’s and in his life has constructed a villainous path. There is not much to say good about him. He felt persecuted everywhere he went. He is very sad and quaking with fear because his daughter will not wake up
Betty- is Reverend Samuel Parris’s daughter and she is age 10. She is asleep and wont wake up.
Tituba is Reverend Samuel Parris’s slave and is in her forties. Was brought by Samuel when he was a merchant in Barbados. Was yelled at to leave the room from Samuel when checking on Betty.
Abigail Williams- She is Samuel’s niece. She is 17 years old. She is a beautiful girl, an orphan, with an endless capacity for dissembling.
Susanna Walcott- is a little younger than Abigail, is nervous and hurried when entering Samuels house.
Mrs. Ann Putnam she is a twisted soul at age 45, she is a death ridden woman.
Thomas Putnam is around 50 and is a well to do , hard handed landowner. He grew up rich and fought the Indians.
Mercy Lewis is the Putnams’s servant who is fat and is 18.
Marry Warren is naiive lonely girl who is 17
John Proctor is a farmer in his mid 30’s
Rebecca is a nurse and is 72 years old.
Giles Corey is 83 who is knotted with muscle and inquisitive but still powerful.
John Hale of Beverly- He is a tight skinned intellectual man nearing 40.
How Puritanism is Shown:
Reverend Samuel Parris feels insulted when children rise to shut the door without asking for his permission. He had no interest in children or talent with them. He regarded children as young adults. And saw them as not being thankful for anything.
The people of Salem felt as if they had the candle that would light the world.
How fear acts as a motivator:
The people of Salem had fear the the Virgin forest was the Devils last stand, his base or citadel, and that the American forest was the last place on earth that was not paying homage to God. For these reasons they carried out an air of innate resistance and some persecutions. They would deny any other sect its freedom.
Info:
People believed that in time of confusion deep darkling forces had been brought upon them. Mystical suspicions came around because of Social Disorder (people who have a hard time talking to people and making friends) in Salem . So wonders like spirits are brought up below the social surface meaning people would not talk about them with others. The people with the Social Disorders that believed in the wonders and spirits would not hold back for long and would use force due to being Frustrated.
The witch hunt was a mere repression where a person could express his guilt and sins publicly but feel relieved in such a way. Accusations could be place on people, like crying “witch” against ones neighbor and and that person would feel perfectly justified in the process.
Act 1 Play Info:
- Susanna tells Parris that the doctor believes unnatural things have cause Betty to not wake up. Abigail tells Susanna not to speak of anything outside of the house because of the rumor of witchcraft spreading. Parris wants to blame Tituba for what has happened to his daughter. Parris claims that he heard screeching and gibberish coming from Tituba’s mouth while she was waving her hands over the fire like a dumb beast, also saying he saw someone running through the forest naked. Abigail defends Tituba by saying that they always dance to her songs from Barbados and that no one was naked.
- Ruth is sick and Mercy says she walks like a dead person. Parris now knows that Tituba conjured up Ruth’s sisters to come out of the grave.
At the end of act one Tituba and Abigail confess their relationship with the devil and how they saw people of their village with the Devil. After Abigail starts to confess, Betty finally wakes up and confesses with them.
