Last week I got a few questions from cast members. Here are those questions and their answers so you can return to them and in case anyone else would like the same information. I'm really happy with how involved the cast has been with researching their roles and how responsive you've been to my help and suggestions. Please keep the questions coming, I'm happy to help!
Resources in general: The library at IUP has a great collection to help with researching your character. A lot of these books get pretty specific but you can find broad topics too. In the section on witchcraft you can narrow down to New England witchcraft, Salem Witch trials, and specifics within that. Our actress playing Tituba was able to find a book on the real Tituba which she says has been a great help. Since we're all poor college students in this project, I recommend checking out the library before going out and buying anything. Also, some of the sources in the links on the side are in public domain which means you can find many of them online for free. I've been using Amazon.com which has a great selection of these books in their Kindle store to find free ebooks but there are other sites with similar collections. Try Project Gutenberg and Sacred-Texts.
What Bible did Puritans use at this time? Although the King James Bible had been published by this time my research shows that the Geneva Bible was still being used my Puritan ministers in New England. The Biblical quotes found in John Hale's book match best with this earlier translation. Although this question was brought up by the actor playing Samuel Parris, Puritans highly emphasized that every good Christian should be able to read the Bible so much so that all towns were required to have a school and teach their children (including girls) to read.
Where did ______ live? The University of Virginia has a nice collection of maps of Salem and surrounding areas dating from the trials. Some are originals from the period though a bit easier to read are the interactive maps they've made which highlight accusers and the accused over time and point out the homes of those involved.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Resources
I'm finding that this topic is a researcher's dream. There are so many sources that it's hard to know where to stop. I have especially found a number of primary resources which you will find links to in a new section on the side bar. These sources will be especially useful to the actors playing ministers and judges. I won't have time to relay all the great information in these sources to the actors but I want to share these links so you will have the chance to explore them on your own.
Malleus Maleficarum: The Hammer of Witches by Heinrich Kramer was written in the 1400s and served as a guide for witch hunters.
A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft... is John Hale's book about his participation in the Salem Witch Trials.
The Wonders of the Invisible World by Cotton Mather and Increase Mather. Increase and Cotton Mather were widely known and respected ministers in the 1600's and 1700's (Cotton Mather was a sort of role model to Benjamin Franklin when he aspired to be a minister in his early life before turning to politics). Their religious authority would have influenced the actions of the ministers and judges in the Salem Trials.
Malleus Maleficarum: The Hammer of Witches by Heinrich Kramer was written in the 1400s and served as a guide for witch hunters.
A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft... is John Hale's book about his participation in the Salem Witch Trials.
The Wonders of the Invisible World by Cotton Mather and Increase Mather. Increase and Cotton Mather were widely known and respected ministers in the 1600's and 1700's (Cotton Mather was a sort of role model to Benjamin Franklin when he aspired to be a minister in his early life before turning to politics). Their religious authority would have influenced the actions of the ministers and judges in the Salem Trials.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
What's a Witch?
Puritans had many beliefs about witchcraft: what powers they had, how to break their curses and even how to prove someone was a witch or under the influence of one.
Some powers were more innocent than others. Young girls in Salem dappled with fortune telling. One practice involved suspending an egg white in a glass and looking in it for a sign of a girl's future husband's profession. Some witches were first considered "wise women." Others would go to these women (or possibly, but not likely, men) for remedies, charms, and fortune telling. Though the ministers objected, popular belief was these women recieved their powers from God as long as they did only good and got along well with the community. It was still a dangerous position to be in; their eariler benevolent actions became evidence against them if their relationships with others turned sour or suspicion of witchcraft arrose in the community. Similarly, midwives sometimes came under suspision for their mysterious knowledge of health and reproduction.
Powers of a Witch:
Some powers were more innocent than others. Young girls in Salem dappled with fortune telling. One practice involved suspending an egg white in a glass and looking in it for a sign of a girl's future husband's profession. Some witches were first considered "wise women." Others would go to these women (or possibly, but not likely, men) for remedies, charms, and fortune telling. Though the ministers objected, popular belief was these women recieved their powers from God as long as they did only good and got along well with the community. It was still a dangerous position to be in; their eariler benevolent actions became evidence against them if their relationships with others turned sour or suspicion of witchcraft arrose in the community. Similarly, midwives sometimes came under suspision for their mysterious knowledge of health and reproduction.
Powers of a Witch:
- Cause illness or death
- Related to childbirth and pregnancy. A witch can cause:
- Infertility
- Miscarriage
- Infant death
- Still Birth
- Deformities
- She might also attempt to abort a pregnancy of her own
- Animals and home goods
- Spoiled beer or other foods, moldy/maggoty cheese
- Sickness or strange behavior in animals
- Cows stop giving milk; chickens stop laying/lay fewer eggs
- Yarn tangles or won't spin or weave properly
- Take the form of a specter to
- Prevent men from sleeping
- attack victims
- bite
- cut
- stab
- pinch
- See the future or tell fortunes
- Made a compact with the Devil, usually signed in blood
- Had a familiar spirit to do their bidding
- Gift from the Devil
- It needed to be fed at least once a day
- Witches had a "witch's teat," an unexplained mark or third nipple on their body, to fed the familiar
- Used poppets (dolls)
- Used in a manner similiar to the modern popular understanding of a voodoo doll
Upcoming
I've got a series of entries in mind but they will be gradual in appearing so I want to give you a heads up on what you can look forward to. I'm calling this series "The Real..." For these I'll be focusing on the characters in the show and the real historical figure their character is based on. In this series, we'll find that Arthur Miller took liberties with historical figures for the story he wanted to tell. My purpose is not to contradict, Miller, who admits that he made these changes. Rather, my hope is to inform you about the real people and perhaps gain some insight to the fictional characters based on the changes Miller chose to make. For example, the historical Abigail Williams was only 11 years old at the time of the trials. Obviously the change in her age to 17 was essential for Miller's story and her romance with Proctor.
The nature of research require for these entries will depend on information scattered across many resources so they'll be trickling out. I'll also be updating these entries as I uncover more information so keep checking back to see if an entry you were interested in has been added to.
The nature of research require for these entries will depend on information scattered across many resources so they'll be trickling out. I'll also be updating these entries as I uncover more information so keep checking back to see if an entry you were interested in has been added to.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Visit to Salem and Danvers
Last week I made a trip to Salem, MA to visit the location of the real events seen in this play. If anyone else is planning a similar visit, let me warn you that Salem's off season is roughly Nov-Early April. Check out the links on the side for more information about some of the places I visited. Here's what's available to see in the "off seasons".
Rebecca Nurse Homestead
This memorial was built in 1992 on the border of the Old Burying Point to commemorate the deaths of the accused in the 1692 witch trials. The Old Burying Point is Salem's oldest cemetery and the resting place of John Hathorne, one of the judges who presided over the witch trials. Please note that this is only a memorial and not actual graves.
Because of their crimes, witches were considered unfit to be given a proper burial. According to tradition, the executed witches were buried unceremoniously in a pit near the gallows. In secret, some families retrieved the bodies of their loved ones to bury them at home. Both Rebecca Nurse and George Jacobs were reburied in this way. Rebecca's grave remained unmarked but is known to be somewhere on her family's homestead where the original house is still standing in Danvers, MA. In 1885 a memorial was built for Rebecca in the graveyard on her home. An additional memorial with the names of those who petitioned Rebecca's innocence was added in 1892.
A very kind women at The Trolley Depot in Salem told me the following story about George Jacobs:
After his execution, George Jacob's family secretely stole his body from its mass grave for a proper burial at home. The site remained unmarked but its location was passed down from generation to generation. When photography developed, the tradition evolved, each family was photographed pointing to the same spot on the family farm. In the 1950s when the property was sold to developers, George Jacob's body was found in this spot. In 1992 he was given a funeral and reburied in the graveyard of the Nurse Homestead.
The Project
This blog is primarily to record my research for IUP's production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible and to be a resource for our actors. I'm personally very excited to be working on this project as a fan of the show and a lover of this period of history. My goal is to bring the cast and our audience into the panic of Salem, MA in 1692. Whether you're an actor in this production, an audience member, or just a fellow history lover who's stumbled on this blog, please feel free to ask questions and share your own findings.
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