... . If man dislikes "black night and yawning chasms,"2 then should he not even consider them? Shouldn't man seek out the sunshine, instead? The remedy is very simple: Avoid the darkness and seek the light. But, no. Mankind would never submit to this. He will immediately turn to the darkness. Drawn by his own cords of fear and longing, man will imagine that he is tired of ... mother. She is also another unnatural link to this story. It is of common belief that Mistress Hibbins, the town witch, often dances in the forest with the Devil.49 One day, she calls to Hester, saying "there will be m...

• Word Count: 3126
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... that Hester was charged, where Dimmesdale came to seek comfort in the night, and where he eventually admitted his crime to the Puritan people. Nature itself represents temporary relief from the outside world. It includes all that is pure; where light is the dominating force. Although Hibbins always invites the characters to see "The Black Man," the forest is the only place where Hester can let down her hair and display ... her pride. The brook within the forest symbolizes a "boundary between two worlds" (p. 191). It is a boundary between the lawless nature and the stern rigid Boston com...

• Word Count: 1296
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... he wanted, but as no one was willing to work on the farms of accused witches and wizards, the properties soon fell into disrepair. The motives and actions of Abigail Williams are driven by greed and self-improvement, which is proven by her deceit in regards to what she and the girls were doing in the forest with Tituba, her plot to eliminate Goody Proctor, and her quick ... thinking when Mary Warren tries to testify against her. Abigail was a servant in the house of John Proctor, but when Elizabeth suspects that John was having an affair ... changed when Goody Proctor is brought up. Ab...

• Word Count: 2562
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

... some need to be part of a group; she gains a sense of power amongst the others. Mary's loneliness and the deprivation of freedom being a female servant is a reason to why she involves herself in the initial event in the "forest". A transition in her behavior is presented in Act 2 as she finds a new sort of power in being an accuser. Given what she states to John and Elizabeth Proctor, she ... with what she feels is God's assignment. Of this she states "it is God's work we do..." She is most likely taking these phrases from the judges themselves, and has found courage in light of her "im...

• Word Count: 881
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... filled with evil, possibly even home to the devil. It is the forest, on the towns unexplored outskirts, where the girls first become involved with thewitchcraft?, and this location may have had a part in people's disbelief that they might be doing anything but trafficking with the devil. At the time the play takes place, around the turn of the 18th Century, a fear is sweeping across the Christian world. For over half a Century ... where executed for witch crimes. This dreadful phase famously hit Salem very badly, spiralling completely out of control and reaching truly horrific proportio...

• Word Count: 903
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... and ultimately recanted her confession. Betty Parris Reverend Parris's ten-year-old daughter. Betty falls into a strange stupor after Parris catches her and the other girls dancing in the forest with Tituba. Her illness and that of Ruth Putnam fuel the first rumors of witchcraft. Martha Corey Giles Corey's third wife. Martha's reading habits lead to her arrest and conviction for witchcraft. Ezekiel Cheever A man ... have criticized Miller for oversimplifying matters, in that while there were (as far as we know) no actual witches in Salem, there were certainly Communists in 1950s Americ...

• Word Count: 4038
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: High School

... embarks on his physical and emotional journey into the forest, Hawthorne illustrates the many differences as they leave the city, such as the contrasting light and dark. Brown is at first afraid that his old catechism teacher will see him, until he learns that she has hypocritically kept the company of the same devil that is accompanying him to the satanic communion in the forest, "I marvel they never spoke of these matters ... ; or, verily, I marvel not, seeing that the least rumor of the sort would have ... ...

• Word Count: 787
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... symbol in the story. It is crucial in order to emphasize the separation of man's inevitability to evil and corruption, and man's insight into personal sin. In the town, there is light everywhere and churches around. But in the deep forest, there are no churches, representing the lack of faith and religion in the area. Brown's journey through the forest is on a narrow, dark, and dreary path. The darkness and dreariness symbolize the evil that lurks in the forest. The idea ... that Brown may never return to the state of innocence from which he came is ... ...

• Word Count: 859
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... name are opposites, indicating a conflict with Goodman Brown. A conflict going on with his name, a conflict going on in his head when he is fighting the forces of evil and a conflict going on in his dream when he sees the good people of Salem at an evil meeting in the forest. If he is a good man Hawthorne should have named him White, a color associated with heaven and angels ... is evil just like his father. Hawthorne named Goodman's wife Faith, as an allegory that he believes in her, has faith in her as his wife and also has religious faith. She seems to be a foil who sharpens the read...

• Word Count: 845
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Salem happens to be the one who catches the girls dancing in the forest. Of course the girls were doing more then just dancing, they also "conjured spirits," one of the girls by the name of Mercy is seen running naked in the forest, and in Abigail's case drank chicken blood to kill the wife of the man she dearly loves. But of course when Abigail is questioned of the incident in the forest she simply leaves ... everything but the dancing out. ... he is an expert in, in this case it is witchcraft in the town of Salem. And when names begin to rise as witches Abigail sees her chance to esca...

• Word Count: 903
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... What do those who practice witchcraft deserve? Because of the nature of witchcraft, do accused witches owe anything to general society? Can the opportunity for benefit cause upstanding citizens to accuse neighbors of witchcraft? The conflict of religious ideals and governmental rule in the parochial society of the Puritans, combined with inherent flaws in the social hierarchy, led to the corruption of three citizens of Salem: Abigail Williams, ... to witchcraft, and he wanted to know who was tormenting them.(Wilson 65.) Parris was concerned more with his reputation than anything else. P...

• Word Count: 886
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School