... 's uncle, and the minister of 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 ... 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 escape from dange...

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

... the harshness of the Puritan society and the atonement for sin. It was there 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...

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

... asking her why she hasn't been requested to work for another family, the duplicitous girl vehemently exclaims, "Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar!"" (12). This went on seven months before the events of the play began. She had established her "good girl"" reputation earlier in Act I. The girls had gone into the forest the night before to conjure up Ruth Putnam's dead sisters and have their ... when Goody Proctor is brought up. Abigail houses great envy for Elizabeth, even believing herself superior to her. This obsession for Proctor comes to light when he enters the room to see what every...

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

... "lonely" shows that Mary's participation with her fellow accusers provides her with the fulfillment of 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 ... on their words, she has taken her "authority" seriously, along with what she feels is God...

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

... 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 ... hit Salem very badly, spiralling completely out of control and reaching truly horrific proportions. It is in this light that the play focuses on Salem, and the fictional eve...

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

... 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 from Salem who acts as clerk of the court during the witch trials. He is upright and determined to do his duty for justice. Judge Hathorne ... witches in Salem, there were certai...

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

... 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 the light and his small, familiar world.3 "No amount of rationalization... or Freudian analysis" can overcome "the thrill of the chimney-corner whisper or the lonely wood."4 Why? Children will always be afraid of the dark and men will always shudder at what ... "such personifications [and] marvelous interpretations"32 as to reveal their own morbid fascination with the unnatural. Arthur Miller's The Crucible best illustrates this hypocritical attraction-abhorr...

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

... pink they symbolize the loss thereof. The fourth piece of symbolism is the staff which his new friend is carrying, "which bore the likeness of a great black snake" (653). This leads the reader to first assume that the strange man is in fact the Devil, present to begin his corruption of Goodman Brown. Hawthorne also uses the forest as a symbol of darkness and mystery, as it is separated from the safety and light of the city. When ... Brown embarks on his physical and emotional journey into the forest, Hawthorne illustrates the many differences as they leave the city, such as the contrast...

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

... 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 suggested ... by the fact that the woods seem to close ... ...

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

... What is his tragedy you ask? Goodman Brown fights the forces of evil throughout the story. Hawthorne's major theme is evil and witchery. The setting is Puritanical Boston after the witch trials. Having the flavor of the witch trials woven into the story suggests that Goodman remembers the trials and the evil associated with them. His concern is " shall I be the first of the name of Brown that ever took this path and kept." (806 ... 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 o...

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

... witchcraft, and he wanted to know who was tormenting them.(Wilson 65.) Parris was concerned more with his reputation than anything else. Parris: ...But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it.(Miller 10.) "Parris: There is a faction that is sworn to drive me from my ... covers his face and sobs.)"(Miller 132.) Because he was a minister, people were forced to think of him as pure and godly. "Hale: ...The man's ordained, therefore the light of God is in him."(Miller 69.) "Parris: ... You people seem not to ...

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