Marry age neared twenty years old at the time of the trials, and she was on her own. Both of her parents died before this time in Mar’s life leaving her with not so much as a home. To support herself, Mary worked as a maidservant in the home of John and Elizabeth Proctor- a wealthy farming family. John and Elizabeth both disagreed with everything that had to do with the witch trials, so when they discovered that Mary had not only been secretly attending them, but also taking part in them, they were not happy.
Mary began to have fits and accused an elderly man, Giles Corey, of coming to her n spirit wile she dreamed with messages from the devil. The article “The Salem Witch Trials” says “When his maidservant, Mary Warren, began to have fits, he sat her down at her sewing wheel and threatened to beat her if she did not stop. ” (Referring to John). Ironically, Marry fits stopped, at least for a little while. Through Marry fits subsided for the time being they returned relatively quickly with the growing excitement of the trials.
Mary stayed in town for the night after Rebecca Nurse’s examination, and from that point on, everything went downhill. Mary became an active character in the trials through accusations. Emotions from the loss of her parents surfaced in the trials when she accused Alice Parker of killing her mother and bewitching her sister Elizabeth, who was both deaf and dumb. Mary had no one to look out for, nothing she needed to protect, so she had nothing to lose by taking part in the trials. As the craziness of the trials continued, many innocent people were accused of witchcraft.
Elizabeth Proctor was one of these. When Elizabeth was taken away, John pleaded with Mary to tell the truth. She knew that there were no real witches, and by telling the judges that she had never truly been afflicted, he could have proved that the girls who were making the accusations were lying and that Elizabeth was innocent. Overcome by John’s forceful pleading, Mary agreed to tell the truth; however, when she attempted to reveal the real Story, the other girls who had also been making accusations turned on her.
Quickly, Marry role of accuser evolved into something more: she began to be accused of witchcraft herself. On April 16, 1 692, the judges in Salem began questioning Mary. The first words out of Mar’s mouth were “l am innocent! ” Mary was not a witch, but because of her plead to innocence, she was put in ail for some time. If she stuck to her innocence, she risked being hanged. With that knowledge, Mary ‘confessed’ to the court, the judges, and the rest of the town that she was a witch and had made contact with the devil.
Her confession saved her life. Now that Mary was a confessed witch, she held nothing back and aggressively accused many people of witchcraft. Benjamin Ray said “By the end of her examination, Mary was an established accuser, and she safeguarded her life by providing the magistrates with ample accusations and evidence. ” The most outstanding of these is the Proctors. By accusing John ND Elizabeth Proctor, Mary created the first wizard (male witch).
Mary turned her back on the Proctors and used her newfound authority as an accuser to take John’s life while Elizabethan was narrowly saved. Mary warren played a big role in the witch trials not only as an accuser, but also as one of the accused. Her hands and words took lives. Marry evolution from an afflicted girl to an accuser to one of the accused gives insight to the mass chaos in Salem in 1692. Rumors indeed flew, but they did not need the help of witched dressed in black robes riding broomsticks; all they needed were scared little girls like Mary.