Religion

Religion

Throughout the play religion plays a very important part. The town is strictly religious and are all devout Christians. The act of witchcraft is against this religion and is a hangable offence in towns like this.

Setting

The play is set in a Puritan village and Act 1 is set in Reverend Parris’s house. It is rather ironic that witchcraft be discovered in these locations as puritans live their lives exactly how they believe God wants them to and all they read is the bible. They lived their lives in strict fear of God and any unholy deed would be punished. Everyone in these communities believes in the bible and God so completely. The girls are believed to be the voices of God so arguing against them in these puritan communities would be practically impossible to succeed in. ‘The devil can never overcome a minister’ The irony in this quote is that the first signs of witchcraft are discovered under the minister’s own roof.

Characters

John Proctor – Throughout the play John becomes more and more religious. At the start he is rarely in church, he plow’s on a Sunday and when questioned by Hale he cannot recite all Ten Commandments. At the end of Act 2 however he is preaching to Mary ‘Now Hell and Heaven grapple on our backs and all our old pretence is ripped away’ and in the court scene he tells her to ‘Remember what the angel Raphael said to the boy Tobias’. Near the end of the play when John is being asked to confess to the crimes of witchcraft he struggles with his conscience, believing that a confession will damn him but that he has already lost his ‘goodness’. ‘Let Rebecca go like a saint, for me it is fraud’. At the end of the play John Proctor redeems himself and tears up his false confession even though it means he will hang for it. ‘He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him’.

Reverend Parris – Parris is supposedly the religious leader of the community however as we see from the play he is a greedy corrupted character.’ For twenty week he preach nothing but golden candlesticks until he have them’ At the start of the play we see him praying over his sick daughter and it make us wonder if it Betty he is praying for or whether he is praying for his reputation to remain unharmed.

Reverend Hale – Reverend Hale is called from Beverly by Parris to help in the witch-hunt, as he is already known to have caught a witch in his hometown. He always wanted pure intentions and he follows his conscience when he believes there are witches in Salem. He quits the court when he begins to doubt the legitimacy of the proceedings and he spends time with the prisoners willing them to confess and save their lives. In contrast to Parris Hale appears a genuine man of God more concerned for others than for himself.

Symbolism

Religion is symbolized by both light and talk of the devil.

Light

‘Through it’s leaded panes the morning sunlight streams through’
This is like the light of God or heaven is shingling down of them. This is ironic, as soon a great darkness will fall over Salem.

‘The place is in darkness but for moonlight seeping through the doors’
Even though he is alone and near dead the light of God is still with him

Devil

‘ There is either obedience or he church will burn like hell is burning’
Said by the Reverend Parris whose preferred method of preaching we discover is by scaring people into having an opinion.

by Callum, Kirsty and Danielle