The principle accusers in The Crucible are young, unmarried women. From what you’ve read so far, what can you deduce about the status of single women in Puritan society? Could the celebrity effect of allegedly being able to identify witches change their status? Can you think of any examples of women in today’s society who have done something similar to change their own status? Use the reading and personal experiences to support your argument.
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Blog #3
In modern society, because of how powerful and large the media is, many women do things that make them really popular and change their social status. For example, recently a contestant on the Miss. Universe Canada pageant announced her opinion that she does not support gay marriages, a very popular debate in politics and society today. The media was all over this story and she went from a person on a TV show that a certain number of people watch to a really popular person just stating her opinion and being criticized for it. Female actors after a hit movie or TV show can become very famous and very powerful. Women who undergo cosmetic surgical procedures can change their social status because of their surgery; everyone knows who they are and that gives them power.
These young unmarried women don’t seem to be much assets to Puritan society. Since they are unmarried theyre seen as more of a burden similar to Indian culture where the daughters are seen as burdens because they have to provide dowries to marry them off. At this point the girls don’t have much significance to society, the boys on the other hand can provide labor and such. In the play elizabteth proctor tried to change her status by telling the truth which got her no where, now a days women can do the opposite and try and tell a lie to change their status. Such as lying about a false affair with a someone famous, an actor or politician. Or try and get plastic surgery or use some sort of facade to appear a certain way and possibly change their status that way. Like if I began to self tan on a daily basis and put large amounts of make up on, fist pump and blow grenade horns to change my status and become a guidette. The change of status can be as significant as that or as slight as changing a hair style to appear a certain way. I would classify a status change as either ranking higher in society or sometimes lower, regardless it would be a change.
In the Crucible, single women are classified to be the lowest of the group in the Puritan society. The church/court would be considered the highest because in their society, religion is the most praised thing. The single women aren’t much of importance because they can’t really do much, unlike married women or men in general. By them claiming they were witches has brought up their social status all the way to the top. An example of this in todays society would be like Snooki. She had worked at a mall and to get famous, or be at the top, she went onto a reality tv show. In almost all the reality tv shows, women have done this just so they can have attention onto them.
Many women of the puritan society are infact single, mostly because their the loswest in the society itself, and church/court and religion are the highest. They have to stay focused on their responsiblities, and not have any useless distractions that take them away from their daily deeds. Women of the puritan society would do anything to raise their class and bring light and attention on them. Being a proclaimed witch in Salem made the women the focus of everyday life, which boosted their popularity not only in salem, but all over Mass. as well. A perfect example of this behavior in todays society would be Tiger Woods and all his mistresses. Once his story went public, all of the girls he was with came clean with their stories so they could be in the spot light and on the cover of newspapers and magazines everywhere. Women would do anything to raise their social status.
The accusers tended to be young unmarried women. In this kind of society, women had a low status and could only bring up this status with marriage. However, by making all the noise and pretending to be able to see the witches’ spirits, their power and status was raised greatly. Even in the society, the girls had as much power as the court did in condemning people to death. Abigail had been able to sway the whole court’s opinion of Mary Warren and destroy the credibility of the testimony by pretending to see or feel things. She pretended to see a bird that she said was Mary Warren’s spirit trying to attack her. He actions ended with Mary giving up and having to side with them to save herself. The power that the girls had was more than many men had at the time. In today’s society, sexism and discrimination by gender is frowned upon and women do not have a lower status that sense. But many still do marry up the social ladder in the case of being in poverty. Women may try to be married to men that have more money so that they are well off (also known as gold-diggers). In general, not just women, but people may try to create controversy to make their name known. For example, Lady Gaga puts on strange and eccentric dressed to make controversy and attention. It helps someone’s status to do so.
the young unmarried women of puritan society probably felt like they had no place yet in society so i think they thought that if they could point out a witch hear and there they would have a chance to be talked about in the community and when it first started they noticed that people were watching them so they came up with more lies so they kept calling people out doing witch craft and such but then it went to a whole new level when they started going over board and calling out anybody that was in there way it seemed so yes i belive the celebrity effect started to kick in
From what I read it seems to be that young unmarried woman carry much weight in Puritan society when they mkae wild accuisations upon others, otherwise the men carry much more weight without having to make such wild accusations upon other villagers. The girls had as much power as Judge Danforth did when it comes to condeming people to death.
Single young women in the play “The Crucible” did a lot of work and kept to themselves. Women weren’t really aloud to do much. That’s why in the beginning when they are dancing it is a major crime. The fame they got from being the witnesses was because people thought they were one victims and two powerful for speaking against the devil. These were all just lies though. Rachel Ray was someone who wasn’t doing much with her life but after starting her cooking show she became famous for baing on tv and being an excellent cook.
Single young women in a puritan society carry a big burden as their often looked down upon for everything they do. Someone who is single wants to have fun however in their society that was looked down upon and considered witch craft. In today’s world a perfect example is… the show 16 an pregnant they used this show to change there personal status.
In the play, and throughout most of pre-20th century history, young and unmarried women have usually been regarded as lower within their respective societies. This idea is evident in “The Crucible”, as all of the accusers are young women. I feel as if their social status was, at the very least, moderately changed by their witch-identifying abilities. In regards to today’s society, many women have changed their social status due to stupid things. The Kardashians are famous just for being famous. This shows that stupid people can be famous for stupid things, even to this very day.
From what I have read it seems that young unmarried women in Puritan society do not have a very large role in what is done in the community. But it seems that they are viewed as pure and innocent, this is because when the girls started accusing people of witchcraft no one even questioned them. I think that people in the community did not see any reason for the girls to lie and what they said must have been true because of there pure and innocent reputation. When the community started to believe that the accused were actually witches, they believed the girls could identify the witches in the community. This led to the people in the town glorifying the girls and believing whatever they said. This was especially true for Abigail who was the ring leader of the girls, she started to have dinner with high ranking officials and had a large increase in social status in the community. In today’s society women have changed there social status but they have also changed the way they are viewed. More women are getting jobs and working outside of the house than rather staying at home. Women are also doing more extravagant jobs now a days and doing jobs that have been less typical for women to have, like working for the highway department.
“The Crucible” definately demonstrates the submissivity expected of women during this time period. Once Abigail and the others figure out the influence they can have over the other townsfolk, especially the men, they go mad with power. Their manipulation over Danforth and the other hysterical men is clearly seen and emphasizaed throughout the play. This can be seen today in reality TV shows, where what one woman says completely affects the views they have on their other friends.
In this society the woman are often looked down upon. They carry a huge burden. The woman would accuse others of being witches towards them so that their own personal image would be altered in a way. a perfect example of this would be lady gaga how she changes her image to a crazy style and she is looked upon differently.
From what you’ve read so far, what can you deduce about the status of single women in Puritan society?
From what I can assume, in Puritan society, single women are seen as pure and innocent. They have not been as vulnerable to evil because they are virgin and therefore, they are well respected. For example, Abigail is viewed as innocent even though she admits to having contact with Lucifer. She admits to the contact but she makes it very clear that she wants to be resolved and pure again. However, similar to children, single women do not hold a lot of power. Also, it is preferred that women are married so that their somewhat contained, and do not receive too much power.
Could the celebrity effect of allegedly being able to identify witches change their status?
The women’s statuses absolutely changed due to their position in the court during the time of the trials. They are seen as the ‘saviors’ that will rid the town of all evil that may be present. At first they were all accused of witchcraft, and the tables have completely turned where now, they are the leaders of court who are accusing others of that very thing. This savior status created a celebratory environment for the girls. They were looked at as being most trustworthy, more respectable, and much more experienced than regular single women.
Can you think of any examples of women in today’s society who have done something similar to change their own status?
For an example, I knew of a woman in a business job that was barely getting by. She was put on a “Performance Improvement” watch-list and was soon to be fired. Before her cut, she accused her boss, who was a male, of sexually harassing her. She used her position as a woman to be seen as innocent but at the same time, she made herself very powerful. She was able to accuse the man right away, and he was suspended from work. Similar to the girls, the female worker changed her status to become a very powerful figure.
The unmarried, single women of the Puritan society are on the bottom of the status quo. To draw attention to themselves, they accuse others of being witches to get attention, and power that they are seeking because they dont have power due to the fact of not having a family, and a husband that owns alot of land and is seen highly in the community and church. I think that they should have been pointed to as the witches, due to the dancing in the woods casting spells and being single young women. They went after the happily married women I think as a small revenge because they were envious. Real life examples such as Amy Fischer and the Movie Obsessed portrait women to be acussing, manipulative and will go to great lenghths to get the man, life they want, and the power they desire.
Women place in society in the time setting of The Crucible was not of a high position. The puritan society was patriarchal, leaving women as second class citizens. The church was the center of puritan society, and was held at the highest esteem. When the Abigail and the girls began blaming people for witchcraft, they became the leaders of the court, which was interlinked with the church, and thus getting to the position of celebrities.
Young, unmarried women in the Puritan society had a very low status. This inevitably lead to them striving for attention. They realized that making a scene or false accusations against people, claiming that they practice witch craft could get them some attention. People in the highest status of the Puritan society, the court and the church were interested in what these girls who once were never heard had to say. Similar to women in today’s society who have done some extreme things to have a higher status or get some attention. For example, many girls act immature and stupid in front of certain people to get attention. They do this to make sure people notice them and will be thought of as cute or funny when really it’s something so fake and silly.