puritan values creating tension in the crucible by steven elmer, dallin jones, and dan radler
TRANSCRIPT
PURITAN VALUES
Puritans thought that the best way to survive was
through hard labor
They thought society should be lead by a good,
strong leader
They relied on the power of God for their dealings
Puritans had confidence and trust in God
They thought all sins would be punished
They believed that there was a Devil
PURITAN VALUES
Principles relied on God having supreme power over
everything humans did
They believed that prosperity was a gift from God
They were strongly against the Roman Catholic church’s
ideas on religion, and some thought the Pope was the
Antichrist
Aimed to make Christianity more mindful and intelligent
in beliefs, not mindless
PURITAN LIFESTYLE
Took everything very seriously and did their best in all they did.
Believed prosperity was a blessing from God.
Puritans worship was generally uncomplicated, but the Puritan’s
life outside of church was not simple at all.
Puritans were very uptight about their beliefs and had a lot of
integrity.
It was a law to go to church.
Children were supposed to behave maturely.
People weren’t supposed to express opinions or emotions
openly.
MORE PURITAN LIFESTYLE
There were so many beliefs, that it was impossible
to follow them all, sometimes they were beliefs even
conflicting with the others
Religious beliefs were law—if you didn’t follow the
religious rules of the Church, then you could be
punished
TENSION IN THE PLAY
If the Puritans were not so strict on rules like no
dancing, maybe Abigail and the circle girls wouldn’t have
wanted to dance secretly and none of the witchcraft
accusations would have happened.
The belief that Puritan society should be led by one
strong leader added to the tension. This gave power to
one person, which was what Parris desired. This in turn
caused him to add tension by lying about what he saw in
the forest to keep his position.
TENSION IN THE PLAY
The strong belief in the Devil and his presence added a
large amount of tension. People were very fearful of this
evil and any thought of his presence made the people
instantly ready to do whatever it took in order to rid
themselves of him (such as killing suspected “witches”)
There was also an idea that God had supreme power,
therefore if a person opposed the court empowered by God
then he/she was opposing God himself. This made standing
up to the court scary and much more difficult.
TENSION IN THE PLAY
Puritans strongly believed in “simple worship”. This
entailed few unnecessary luxuries for praying, so when
Parris demanded golden candles it did not rest well with
Proctor. This was an example of how Proctor disagreed with
Parris and created a lot of tension between them.
Because they were so religious it was hard for some like
John Proctor to decide if they should lie or die because they
had to choose between life and truth—two very important
things in religion.
WORKS CITED
“The Influence Of The Puritan Lifestyle.” 2010. Living-
Prosperity. 9 October 2010. http://www.living-
prosperity.com/puritan-lifestyle.html
"Salem Witch Trials the world behind the hysteria." Discovery Education. 10 October 2010. http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures
/salemwitchtrials/
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