Tituba

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  • Created by: Maisha19
  • Created on: 10-04-16 17:19

Personality

Role

  • Timid - in Act 1 the stage directions show that she is frightened - page 6 - 'already taking a step backward' 'backing to the door' -
  • Socially inferior and submissive - Miller's notes - page 6 - '***** slave' - Parris can threaten her openly - page 36 - Act 1 - '..or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!'
  • Motherliness/empathetic - this evokes sympathy for her because the other characters do not treat her this way - Act 1 - page 6 - 'My Betty be hearty soon?' - page 36 ' I love me Betty' - Miller's notes describe her as someone who 'no longer bear to be barred from the sight of her beloved'
  • Vulnerable/Desperate -Miller's notes - page 6 - 'she is also very frightened because her slave sense has warned her that, as always, trouble in this house eventually lands on her back' - page 36 and 37 - she admits to compacting with the Devil right at the end - 'No, no don't hang Tituba! I tell him I don't desire to work for him, sir'
  • Strong - doesn't let the fear of Reverend Parris stop her from seeing to Betty's health - page 6 - 'Parris: Out of here!' 'Tituba: 'My Betty not goin' die'
  • Spirited and entertaining - the Puritans girls put a lot at risk to listen to her songs - page 8 - Act 1 - 'She always sings her Barbados songs, and we dance'
  • Inferior person in society/shows the amount of power others have – easiest to pick on and blame - Miller uses her to show how the disturbance initially began - Act 1 - page 36 -Abby says 'She comes to be every night to go and drink blood!'. Tituba is responsible for creating panic in society but the fact that the audience knows that she was forced into lying because of society’s pressure reflects how Miller believes in modern times, our fear of communism has no basis because it is the few powerful people in society that create the panic
  • First person in the play to confess to witchcraft - she abuses the trust that the others suddenly place on her because of her  confession in order to express her anger about Parris which would otherwise not have been permitted, the Devil acts as a barrier protecting her - page 38 - Act 1 - 'He say Mr Parris must be kill! Mr Parris no goodly man..'                                                                   Similarly, Miller believes that during the Communist witch hunt, people were using communism as a shield to reveal their anger towards others without any restraint.
  • To display how illogical Salem's society is through the lack of physical evidence used against Tituba in Act 1 - she was accused through what the girls had said and nothing more - page 36 - Abby: 'She sends her spirits on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer!'

Development (Growth & change)

Other information              

  • In Act 1, through pages 36 and 37 she is seen to be desperate but logical minded - when she realises that she has been accused and there is no one to support her claim of not compacting with the Devil, she finally gives in and lies to save herself
  • She is also very timid and submissive throughout Act 1 - seen in page 6 where she does not speak her mind as Parris becomes angry with her
  • In Act 4 Tituba has lost all sense of sanity. Perhaps her long stint in jail combined with her already superstitious nature caused her to lean toward insanity - her last words being 'Take me home, Devil! Take me home! '  - beginning of Act 4
  • In Act 4 she openly speaks her mind and stories about the Devil (showing her mental derangement) - page 98 - 'Oh, it be no Hell in Barbados...but in Barbados he just as sweet and...' or that she is so discouraged by what has happened in Salem that it would be better for her to remain and accept the Devil openly
  • Does not care about how Betty's condition will damage her reputation unlike Parris who does - she is mainly worried about Betty's well-being
  • She is both innocent and guilty due to social circumstances in which she confessed to compacting with the Devil - threatened by Parris
  • Tituba sings her Barbados songs but this is misinterpreted by the Puritanical society for 'voodoo' possibly because of how other Tituba is in comparison to everyone else
  • Tituba cannot refuse the girls from hearing her Barbados songs due to her social status - 'a ***** slave'
  • Orientalism - curious about other cultures
  • She has a reputation in the village of Salem for being able to speak to the dead - as said by Ann Putnam - page 12 - 'Tituba knows how to speak to the dead, Mr Parris'

Comments

bradyw

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thanks!