The Facts and Fictions of the Salem Witch Trials

The idea of witchcraft has been a controversial topic since the begging of time however, witchcraft became better known in 1692, with the begging of the Salem witch trials. Many stories have been written about the Salem witch trials. Some are found in journals, other stories are exaggerated from those journals. The comparison of historical facts and the play the Crucible are the perfect example of an exaggerated actual event. During the Salem witch trials, Tituba was asked to make a “witchcake” in order to figure was afflicting Betty Parris.
She was later accused of witchcraft by Betty and Abigail Parris. Betty and Abigail Parris were the first to be afflicted. Actual symptoms consisted of violent physical tantrums. Rebecca Nurse was hung on July 19th , John Proctor on August 19th, and Martha Corey on September 22nd. Tituba brought stories of voodoo and other supernatural events from Barbados. This alone compelled the girls to take part in harmless fortune-telling. Mrs. Parris was alive during the incident and died in 1696, four years after the incident. The Parris family consisted of Mr. and Mrs.
Parris, Betty, Thomas, and Susannah, Abigail was only “kinfolk”. After the trials Betty was sent away. Tituba was acutally an Indian woman who had a husband named John and a daughter Violet. She was also tortured for a long time before she confessed. John was actually 60 and a tavern keeper. Elizabeth was is 3rd wife. John had a daughter that was 15, a son that is 17, and another son that is 33 from a previous marriage. Mary Warren was 20. The adultery between Abigail and John is unlikely to occur as they lived far from each other and Abigail never worked for them.

Rebecca Nurse was considered least likely to be a witch- she was seen as saint-like. The Nurses were not extremely respected because they owed money. Martha Corey was accused of witchcraft and didn’t enter a plea. He was pressed with stones in an attempt to force him to plea either was, but he refused. In The Crucible, Tituba was accused of leading 6 girls into the forest to cast spells and charms by a wild dancing ritual. Ruth Putnam was the first girl to be afflicted. The only symptom of bewitchment was not being able to woke from a deep slumber.
John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, and Martha Corey were all hung on the same day. Mrs. Parris has been dead for years and the family consisted of Betty. Mr. Parris, Abigail, and Tituba. Betty was present for the trials. Tituba was a single and didn’t have a family as a slave. Tituba confessed quickly. John Proctor is young and is a farmer. Elizabeth is his only wife. John Proctor only has 2 young sons. Marry Warren was 17. John and Abigail committed adultery. Abigail worked for the Proctor before Mary. The daughter’s named Ruth Putnam.
Ruth was the only child of 8 the survive. Both of the Nurses were deeply respected and revered. Giles Corey was executed for refusing to reveal the name of a witness. But, none of this really occurred during the Salem Witch Trials. In my opinion, The Crucible reflected a lot of what happened during the Salem witch trials, but I feel like Arthur Miller exaggerated the historical facts. Miller changed the people’s lives. I think he intentionally changed the story like that to make it more interesting, but he changed it just a little to much.