A Whole New Standard: The Puritan Way of Life

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her “Betty darts of the bed… and flattens herself against the wall: I want my mama!”

Another value that the Puritan’s took very seriously was to attend church every Sunday and in the play it was called “Sabbath Prayer”. The puritans felt it necessary in order to truly be a good and pure Christian. In act one John Proctor was questioned by Parris and others as to why he didn’t attend church every Sunday. There is an instant John Proctor was questioned by another townsmen and the conversation went like this:

“Putnam- I never heard you so worried so on this society, Mr. Proctor. I do not think I saw you at Sabbath meeting since snow flew.

Proctor- …I come five mile to hear him preach on only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God anymore.”

In this Proctor does not agree with the preacher’s style of preaching and in that society, having an opinion against the preacher was not common at all. The preacher was blessed by God.

Finally, the puritans in Salem strived to live a life holy and pleasing to God. The people of Salem lived simple lives that only left room for work and prayer. Their values of going to church and staying away from evil were exhibited in the first act of The Crucible. Not following the rules or going places that the society did not allow resulted in young girls, like Abigail and Betty, getting into trouble. There truly wasn’t any room for sin to enter this small community and when it did, the community truly becomes chaotic. Accusations of witch craft swarm the community like a plague and that is introduced in Act One.

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