Mr. Giles Corey, one of the most upstanding members of our community, has been allegedly accused of withholding information from the official courts. He “...has six hundred acres, and timber in addition….” (Miller 1316). Mr. Giles Corey is over an astounding eighty years of age and in no condition whatsoever to be held in the jailhouse. His third wife in this lifetime, Goody Martha Corey, has been accused as a witch. He allegedly withheld information, by refusing to name the man who has confirmed the hypothetical rumor that a certain Mr. Thomas Putnam is accusing neighboring landowners of witchcraft and wizardry to obtain their land. When my client, Mr. Giles Corey, heard this confirmation of his fears about Mr. Putnam, he gave his word that his source would have complete and utter anonymity in any report or repetition of his news. As an honorable man of this Puritan community, Mr. Corey has the right to protect his honor and is word. It is precious to all in the community and as Mr. Corey is in good standing with the community, his word is highly valued to everyone he gives it to. In a petition brought forth by a Mr. Francis Nurse, “ninety-one...all landowners, members of the church...” (Miller 1321), signed their names as a testament of these families good nature; of which families include the Corey’s. These …show more content…
This is Mr. Giles Corey’s side of the story. He testifies that Goody Corey was only reading books much to the puzzlement of her husband. Not illegal and not a piece of evidence of witchcraft in the official courts of
Richard Godbeer presented an excellent picture on how puritan life was structured, how it functioned, and how they perceived the super natural in this novel. Reading "Escaping Salem," I was thrown several different scenarios displaying how witchcraft was addressed in early puritan society and how they reacted towards it. The supposedly bewitching of Katherine Branch showed the reader how the people of Stamford and the court system handled the act of witchcraft. After reading this novel, I can say that I do believe the accused in the Stamford witchcraft trial received a fair trial.
A visiting minister described the situation in court. Martha Corey’s accusers thrashed in pain and were forced to mimic the movements that Martha was making. She was asked why she had afflicted her accusers, but she denied such actions. Her accusers claimed that Martha had bit, pinched, and strangled them. One woman, Ann Putnam, claimed to encounter a figure with the shape of Martha Corey praying to the devil.
It's a pretty insignificant part of the website, but the thing that intrigued me was the Giles Corey story. I knew, prior to reading the article, that he had been "pressed to death," but I wasn't aware that he was put to death because he refused to speak in a trial. While his wife, who was also accused, was put in a jail cell to rot, Corey refused to accuse anyone else of witch craft or wizardry. He plead for death, as opposed to confessing to a "crime" in which he was innocent, just to be certain that his farm that had been deeded to his two son-in-laws, wouldn't become state property after his death. Giles Corey was extremely courageous and honorable in the face of death. "
Accusing Putnam shows that Corey is brave enough to accuse a powerful and influential man in the courts of trying to steal his neighbors land. Putnam has the power in Salem to have Corey accused of being a witch in court by persuading his daughter, who is one of the afflicted, to say that Corey is one of the witches tormenting the young girls in Salem. Also, Corey refused to give up the name of the man who provided him with information about Putnam’s plan to steal his
Giles Corey is an old eager to fight resident of Salem… Giles fate turns tragic when he, in a way, accuses his wife of witchcraft, when he out loud wonders about the strange books that she reads at nights. He isn’t very educated and is on his third wife, Martha. Since he isn’t very educated he cannot read the way that his wife does, and is suspicious because the other two wives he had did not read like Martha either. He then asks Reverend Hale a simple question that is misinterpreted.
In the book, the reader sees how individuals accused their loves ones of “compacting with the devil”. For instance, Martha Corey was accused of witchery from her own husband. With this accusation, there was no evidence to be seen, other than what her husband, Giles Corey, suggested; therefore, these accusations were only based on here-say. Martha Corey states, “I am innocent to a witch. I know not what a witch is” (83).
However, he appealed and won but he still remained on the blacklist until the late 1960s. Giles Corey, an elderly man, was condemned for not giving the names of other suspected witches, so they thought that if they tortured him then he’d give up the names. “He would not answer aye or hay to his indictment… Great stones they lay upon his chest until he plead aye or nay. They say he give them but two words. ‘More weight,’ he says.
One of the biggest shocks people hear when it comes to the Crucible is that those characters were real, which makes the weight of their deaths that much heavier. A total of 20 people died in the Salem Witch Trials: 19 of them were hanged, and one was tortured to death by pressing; that person was Giles Corey. Not much is said about Giles Corey in the play, but it is said that actions speak louder than words, and that is true for him. When he refused to utter the names of others that might’ve been involved with witchcraft, he set himself up to be tortured to death and yet never said anything other than “more weight” (Miller, 207). Although he is a minor character, Giles Corey plays the role of an anti-hero, who not only displays probably the biggest act of bravery in the whole play, but also demonstrates the fact that although the judges were “learned and all-powerful”, a high education and obsession for power cannot silence the tenacity displayed by such a truthful character.
Carol Karlsen 's The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England provides a sociological and anthropological examination of the witchcraft trends in early New England. By examining the records, Karlsen has created what she suggests was the clichéd 'witch ' based on income, age, marital status, etc. She argues that women who had inherited or stood to inherit fairly large amounts of property or land were at particular risk, as they "stood in the way of the orderly transmission of property from one generation of males to the next." These women, Karlsen suggests, were targeted largely because they refused to accept "their place" in colonial society.
Crucible Theme: Power and manipulation Universal Theme Statement: When trying to gain power, people will often manipulate the people around them in order to attain more power for themselves. Quote #1: “She thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat.
“Mr. Cheever, have warrants drawn for all of these-arrest for examination.” (Danforth 182). The girls that were caught doing witch craft now they have warrants out for them because of it. The girls’ good reputation has been ruined now that they got caught. “…I have here an accusation by Mr. Corey against you.
Giles Corey is one of the most notable victims of the Salem Witch Trials. Corey was born in Northampton, England, in 1621. After marrying his first wife, Margaret, the two migrated to the Thirteen Colonies, settling in Massachusetts Bay. In 1659, Corey relocated to the Village of Salem and soon thereafter, became a successful and well-known farmer.
Giles Corey was a very important part of the Salem Witch Trials as he was the only one who was pressed to death, showing the lengths people would go to to compromise the beliefs of others in order to gain influence in the community. Giles was one of the few men, even as a true member of his religion, who was accused of witchcraft (ORR; User). Giles Corey had been known for killing his first wife which had brought suspicion to him. People of Salem would go these lengths to just prove him guilty. He was an eighty year old man when he was accused, while bringing conflict as he was one of the few elderly men accused (User).
An historian who reiterated the misogyny argument popular since the 1970s was Anne Barstow. Her book ‘Witchcraze’ published in 1994 had a significant impact on the on-going historical debate of witch hunting. Anne Barstow believed that misogyny had caused the Early Modern European Witch-hunt. Furthermore, she believed that the witch hunt was caused by the publication of ‘Malleus Maleficarum’. She states that, “[…It] launched the witch persecutions as an attack on women.
Thomas Putnam was accusing all of his neighbors of witchcraft so that he can buy their land. Giles Corey tells the court that a man told him that Putnam was wrongfully accusing people so he could buy their land, but Giles would not reveal to the court who gave him this information. Giles Corey states “you know well why not! He’ll lay in jail if I give his name!” (Miller 187).