Historical Inaccuracies
Trevor Lloyd
Ms Smith
English III Honors
13 November 2014
The Crucible by arthur Miller
Historical Inaccuracies
Back in this period of time, it was not the clergy's responsibility to sign any death warrants or participate in that legal determination. It is stated in the play the Reverend Hale actually signed a total of seventeen death warrants. We know now that this never happened, because this was not the Reverends responsibility. The only two death warrants that came to pass were both signed by William Stoughton.
Within some of the historical context that was actually included in the play, and key events that took place during the Salem witch scare, there are some rather important people that are completely missing from the context despite them playing a very important role in the actually history. Most notably was Cotton Mather, who was a preacher at that time and wrote a lot about the Salem trials and hysteria that was occurring, but is nowhere to be found.
And finally, in the play there is a character named Reverend Parris. Within Miller’s context, Reverend Parris claims that he is an esteemed graduate from Harvard University. And although this is partially true, it is not the complete truth. In reality, Parris attended Harvard
University for a short period of time, but never did finish because he dropped out of the
education.
Ms Smith
English III Honors
13 November 2014
The Crucible by arthur Miller
Historical Inaccuracies
Back in this period of time, it was not the clergy's responsibility to sign any death warrants or participate in that legal determination. It is stated in the play the Reverend Hale actually signed a total of seventeen death warrants. We know now that this never happened, because this was not the Reverends responsibility. The only two death warrants that came to pass were both signed by William Stoughton.
Within some of the historical context that was actually included in the play, and key events that took place during the Salem witch scare, there are some rather important people that are completely missing from the context despite them playing a very important role in the actually history. Most notably was Cotton Mather, who was a preacher at that time and wrote a lot about the Salem trials and hysteria that was occurring, but is nowhere to be found.
And finally, in the play there is a character named Reverend Parris. Within Miller’s context, Reverend Parris claims that he is an esteemed graduate from Harvard University. And although this is partially true, it is not the complete truth. In reality, Parris attended Harvard
University for a short period of time, but never did finish because he dropped out of the
education.