Salem Witch Trials: SCRIPT "The first Accusations"

Salem Witch Trials of 1692
SCRIPT
The first Accusations

Characters:

·     Rev. Cotton Mather: Puritan minister who propagandized about the dangers of witchcraft being practiced in the town. A prolific author and pamphleteer, he undertook hybridization experiments and was socially and politically influential in New England.

·       Rev. Samuel Parris: Once a student in Harvard, when his father died he left school and maintained a sugar plantation in Barbados, where he bought two slaves. When his merchant life had difficulties, he became a Puritan minister in the village of Salem. He was father of one of the afflicted girls, and the uncle of another. An active prosecutor in the witchcraft cases, he was to blame in 1693 when his parish brought charges against him for his part in the trials. He later apologized for his error in an essay “Meditions for Peace,” but it was too late.

·       Elizabeth [Betty] Parris: The nine year old daughter of Samuel Parris. She was the first accuser in the witch trials, her accusations causing the direct death of 20 people.

·       Abigail Williams: An eleven-year old. She was most likely Samuel Parris’ niece, and Betty’s cousin. She was living with her uncle in Salem, and she undertook games in fortune telling. She and Betty were the first accusers in Salem

·       Dr. William Griggs: the doctor in the village who "diagnosed" the afflicted as bewitched.

·       Tituba: a black woman who was enslaved by Samuel Parris. She was the first person to be accused in Salem, by Elizabeth and Abigail. She accused other women as fellow witches; Sara Good and Sara Osborne included. Because she confessed having learned occult techniques in Barbados, she was sent to prison for one year, and released by someone who anonymously paid a fine.

·       Sara Good: a homeless single mother who knocked on people’s doors, laboring for food and lodging. She had a four-year-old daughter, and she was pregnant at the time of her accusation. Her husband had abandoned her years before, and he testified against her I the court. She was hanged.

·       Sarah Osborne: Wife of a prominent man, part of the unpopular Putnam family. She had not attended church in almost three years due to a long illness. She was still dealing with legal issues when she was accused. She died in prison.

·       Rev. Increase Mather: Puritan minister and President of Harvard College, who opposed accusations based on “spectral evidence.”

Material needed:

·       Chair(s), things to throw, witch-cake, chair(s), black cat, bird(s), dog, rats

Scene 1: The warning against witches

Narrator: The following events took place more than 300 years ago, in the cold winter days that fell upon Salem, a little town in Colonial Massachusetts.

[Cotton Mather walks through the square, raising his voice, and warning people about witches in the town[

Cotton Mather:  “Be wary people! Be cautious and steer clear of witches, for in neighboring villages, there have been depraved mortals cooperating with the devils in order to harm you, and your wives, and your children. I am here to tell you my oracular observations of how stupendous witchcraft is affecting children and killing livestock in this town.”

[Mather is interrupted by outbursts of the afflicted]

Cotton Mather: “Listen! Listen to me! I my self have been an eye-witness to a large part of what I tell! There are people here who hold spiteful alliances with the forces of evil! They are to blame for demonic possession that causes people to writhe and scream in a dreadful manner! These witches have fellows of contentious and stubborn character, witches who lead a lewd life… And if today, there are witches among us, here, hither or thither, it won’t take long for us to discover them!”

[Cotton Mather leaves…]

Scene 2: The afflicted checked by Dr. Griggs

[Betty Parris and Abigail Williams are in her sickbed, complaining of pain and screaming in agony. Samuel Parris enters the scene hastily, Dr. William Griggs following him...]

Samuel Parris: “Girls! I’m already here!... ”

Betty Parris & Abigail Williams: “Papa?”

Samuel Parris: “Doctor, please, follow me quickly...”

[The two men approach to Betty]

William Griggs: “So you are Elizabeth?”

[Betty is raving and she starts muttering strange nonsensical words and then she starts complaining too loud continually]

Samuel Parris: “Yes, she is! Please doctor, tell me what is this disease and how can you help my daughter. She’s been complaining like this for several days.”

[Dr. Griggs sits in the chair and checks Betty’s eyes, ears, throat, and feet, but he finds nothing abnormal. As the doctor checks Betty, Abigail, who is also raving in a chair, screams and throws things of the room to the doctor. Samuel Parris tries to calm her.]

Samuel Parris: “I’m sorry doctor, but also my niece Abigail has been having these fits since yesterday. She has been raving all this day. Can you please check her too?”

Dr. Griggs: “Certainly, but try to calm the girl or I will go crazy.”

[Dr. Griggs now approaches to Abigail and checks her too. As he is checking her, and almost about to finish, Betty stands up screaming, runs amok to the doctor and vomits on him. Dr. Griggs stands up disgusted]

Samuel Parris: “So doctor Griggs, what is it?”

William Griggs: “Mr. Parris, I must say I had never seen a case like this. I find no physical evidence of any ailment. They do not have fever and her body looks normal.”

[Abigail continues complaining, contorting herself into peculiar positions and Betty crawls under the chair. Dr. Griggs proceeds his diagnosis, removing his glasses....]

William Griggs: “Mr. Parris, I’m afraid these fits are beyond the power of epileptic fits. They are beyond any natural disease to effect. I must conclude, Mr. Parris, that the girls are under this tormenting affliction because of an evil hand.”

Samuel Parris: “An evil hand?”

William Griggs: “Yes, reverend, an evil hand.”

Samuel Parris: “…and evil hand?”

William Griggs: “Yes… an evil hand.”

Samuel Parris: [rubbing his chin] “Of course… That must explain it. But, doctor, it must be the devil at work… or maybe his demons… or even their allies. But, this must be made clear. If the demons have been raised among us, who has invited them?

[To the raving girls]: Girls, what were you doing before you got these pains?”

Betty Parris: “Nothing daddy”

Samuel Parris: “Where did you go?”

Elizabeth Williams: “Nowhere uncle”

Samuel Parris: “What did you do?”

Elizabeth Williams: “Nothing”

Betty Parris: “We only spoke to Tituba”

Samuel Parris: “To the slave?”

Betty Parris: “Yes, we did so.”

Elizabeth Williams: “She’s strange.”

Betty Parris: “Yes, papa. She is.”

Samuel Parris: “Oh, that woman!... ”   
[Taking coins out of his pocket to pay to the doctor]  
“Dr. Griggs, thanks for coming. The door is open. I must now ascertain the issue….”

Scene 3: The examination of Tituba

Narrator: “Tituba was Samuel Parris’ slave, a very popular figure with the children in Salem. Kids would come from all over to hear her stories, and she taught them to bark like dogs and meow like cats as a fun game that she would tell to children in her homeland. But it was not a game to Samuel Parris, who thought they were under a spell of a witch.”

Tituba: “Tituba! Come here!”

[Tituba enters the room and the two girls start go through agonies complaining even harder]

Tituba: “Yes Sir?”

Samuel Parris: “Tituba, were you talking to Betty and Abigail yesterday?”

Tituba: “Yes Sir, they came to me Sir. I told girls ‘bout my homeland.”

[The girls start complaining of pain again, this time flailing their arms, ducking in the floor and trying to climb up the walls]

Samuel Parris: “Are you doing witchery Tituba!? Why do you hurt these poor children? What harm have they done on to you?”

Tituba: “They doe no harm to me, I noe hurt them at all.”

Samuel Parris: “Why do you ally with devil to do this?”

Tituba: “I doe nothing Sir. I can‘t tell when the devil works.”

Samuel Parris: “What does the devil tell you that he hurts them?”

Tituba: “He tell me nothing Sir.”

Betty Parris: “I see a shape in the window papa! I see the shape of a woman!”

Samuel Parris: “Tituba, do you see the shape?”

Tituba: “No Sir, I see anything”

Samuel Parris: “Tell the truth Tituba! Who hurts them?”

Tituba: “I know not Sir.”

Samuel Parris: [Beating Tituba]: “Where were you yesterday Tituba!? Why did you left in the afternoon?”       

Tituba: “Yesterday I being in the plaza buying the groceries Sir.”

Samuel Parris: “Who did you see?”

Tituba: “Sara Osborne and Sarah Good Sir.”

Samuel Parris: “Oh! Those women! What did they say?”

Tituba: “They tould me hurt the children and would have had me if I would not go and hurt them. They would do so to me. First I did agree with them but afterward I tould them I doe so noe more.”

Samuel Parris: “Tituba, you have to do a witchcake. Take Betty’s and Abigail urine, and feed the dog with it. If the dog has symptoms like them, you will be in serious trouble, because then I will know you are a witch.”

Scene 4: The examination of Sara Good and Sara Osborne

[Samuel Parris takes Betty Parris and Elizabeth Williams goes at the plaza and he finds Sara Good and Sara Osborne]

Samuel Parris: “You rampant hags! Confess now you are accomplices of the devil!”

Sarah Osborne: “Excuse me Reverend? How dare you?”

Samuel Parris: “Do not pretend! Tituba has just told me you are her fellow practitioners of witchcraft!

Sara Good: “I beg your pardon! What do you mean!?”

Samuel Parris: “Speak out once and for all! You know your deal with demons has caused this disease of astonishment.”

Sara Osborne: “I have no familiarity with the devil”

[Increase Mather hears the shouting and he approaches.

Increase Mather: “What happens, Mr. Parris? Why the uproar?

Samuel Parris: “Someone has bewitched my daughter and my niece and they saw a shape like the shape of these women. My slave Tituba said they were allied with the devil”

Sara Good: “I am clear of that sin. I serve God and I have prayed against the devil all my days.”

Betty Parris [Pointing to Sara Osborne]: “Papa, the apparition of the shape looked like hers, and as she’s staring at me, I’m feeling even more painful!”

Increase Mather: “Well Mr. Parris. You know the devil often had been transformed into the Angel of Light. The devil could impersonate even the innocent by appearing in their shape.”

Samuel Parris:  “The devil could not use a person’s shape without that person’s permission”

Increase Mather: “No, the person can use anyone’s shape to afflict. We cannot rely on spectral apparitions to accuse anyone.”

Abigail Williams: [Pointing to Sara Osborne]: “Uncle, but I was once in her house and I discovered she had curious containers of various ointments. She could have used them to afflict us at home.”

Sara Osborne: “Oh, girl! If that were the case, all mothers with preserved food in the kitchen would be witches.”

Betty Williams: “Dad, they might have tortured us by impaling a voodoo doll! If so they may have pinched us and picked us with pins!”

Sara Good: “I am falsely accused. God knows I’m innocent of this nature.”

Abigail Parris: “Ohhh! Uncle Parris, I'm aching all over while they are near to me!”

Increase Mather: “Mr. Parris, these are simple women. I would rather judge a witch to be a honest woman, than judge an honest woman as a witch.”

Samuel Parris: “No, we cannot let them go. It is clear by the deposition of the afflicted that they are witches.”

Sara Osborne: “It is a shameful thing you hear them. They must be out of their wits.”

Samuel Parris: “You witches! Confess and you will only go to jail. But if you don’t confess, you will be hanged!”

Sara Good: “You are a liar. I am no more a witch than you are a wizard. If you take my life away, God would give you blood to drink. I can say before Christ Jesus, I am free.”

Increase Mather: “Mr. Parris, to take away the life of anyone merely because of a ghost, could bring the guilt of innocent blood on the land. It is better than a guilty person should be absolved, than that you without sufficient grounds of conviction condemn her.”

Samuel Parris: “No! What if there are other ten witches like these out there?”

Increase Mather: “In such a case, it would be better than ten suspected witches should escape, than that one innocent person should be condemned.”

Samuel Parris: “No way! If I let them go, they could continue practicing black magic. These witches must be tried for sorcery like this!”

[Mr. Parris takes the suspected witches by the arm with the purpose of putting them in the jail. As this happens, a mob starts shouting asking for them to be burned…]

Sources

The whole plot of this dialogue is inspired or based on historical records about Salem’s witch trial, particularly, on the examination of Tituba and the examination of Bridget Bishop.

The real accusations of witchery are mentioned. The dialogues by Increase Mather, Sara Good and Sara Osborne are direct replies or quotes they – as well as Mary Easty and other victims – gave to their prosecutors.

Key & curious information about the Salem Witch Trials

• The events took place in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693.
• Twenty-four people died during the Salem witch trials. Of them all, 19 women were executed, 4 of which died in prison (Sarah Osborne, Roger Toothaker, Lyndia Dustin, Ann Foster), and 14 of which were hanged (Bridget Bishop, Sarah Good, Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth How, Sarah Wilds, Martha Carrier, Martha Corey, Mary Eastey, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeater, Margaret Scott, Wilmott Reed, Mary Parker).
• Six men were executed, 5 of which were convicted and hanged (George Burroughs, George Jacobs,, John Proctor, Samuel Wardwell, John Willard), and 1 of which was pressed to death for refusing to cooperate with the court (Giles Corey).
• More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft. 30 percent of the people accused were ministers. Rev. George Burroughs was the only religious leader executed.
• No actual “witches” were burnt.

About the Victims:

* Reverend Samuel Willard. He strenuously opposed the witchcraft trials, and served as acting president of Harvard from 1701. The Reverend Willard published many sermons;

* Rev. William Milbourne, a Baptist minister in Boston, publicly petitioned the General Assembly in early June 1692, challenging the use of spectral evidence by the Court. Milbourne had to post £200 bond (equal to £27,319 today) or be arrested for "contriving, writing and publishing the said scandalous Papers".

* On December 17, 1696, the General Court ruled that there would be a fast day on January 14, 1697, "referring to the late Tragedy, raised among us by Satan and his Instruments." On that day, Samuel Sewall asked Rev. Samuel Willard to read aloud his apology to the congregation of Boston's South Church, "to take the Blame & Shame" of the "late Commission of Oyer & Terminer at Salem"

* Rev.Increase Mather- worte sermons to cool the heated atmosphere. Opposed spectral evidence.

He said: "It were better that Ten Suspected Witches should escape, than that one Innocent Person should be Condemned."

* Samuel Willard. Devout puritan against withc trials: denounced spectral evidence, claiming that the devil could impersonate even the innocent by appearing in their shape. After the trials ended, Willard was to push hard for reconciliation between the pro-Parris and anti-Parris factions of Salem Village.

http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/people?group.num=G06&mbio.num=mb27

* Mary Easty: "I can say before Christ Jesus, I am free."

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/salemwitchtrials/people/eastywindow.html

* REV. George Buroughs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Burroughs

Others:

*Afterwards, Ann Putnam Jr., one of the most active accusers, joined the Salem Village church, she publicly asked forgiveness. She claimed that she had not acted out of malice, but was being deluded by Satan into denouncing innocent people, and mentioned Rebecca Nurse in particular,

* An examination of a Puritan leader “Increase Mather” who along with Cotton Mather (his father) and others came to oppose the trials and work to end the methods used against witches altogether.

* In June 15: Twelve ministers of the colony advised the court not to rely on spectral evidence for convicting suspected witches.