Examples Of Hysteria In The Crucible

“Even in an enlightened democracy, the media have to check themselves to make sure they are not contributing to an unnecessary mass hysteria” (Brainyquote). Even the most sophisticated governments can lead the public into a state of hysteria. Often times when people become hysterical, others take that opportunity to obtain power for their personal benefit. In history and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, public hysteria was exploited in order to obtain and manipulate power for personal gain.

Pointing fingers at someone can do a lot of damage to someone's reputation. Sometimes we point fingers at innocent people in fear the unknown or what may hurt us.. Fearing something or fearing the unknown can cause an uprising or reaction throughout a society or community. Throughout the story “The Crucible” and during the time of McCarthyism many people feared of what may happen to them, as known hysteria. Hysteria is an outburst of fear that spreads through society leaving consequences for blameless people, although with hysteria no one would know what to fear or believe in the society.

In today's society there are many cases of mass hysteria just like long ago. In the book John Proctor says a quote that hits big time for mass hysteria, he says “God is dead” while laughing insanely, and if that does not cause mass hysteria then nothing does.

Hysteria is an exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people. This can lead to lie being spread that people will believe due to hysteria. In the Crucible by Arthur Miller, Arthur use the red scare of post war america as his inspiration for his novel. During the red scare people were accusing any person of being a communist and people believed because due to hysteria. Arthur miller uses hysteria to show that it leads to Damaged reputations,lies ,and hurting people's lives.

Both Alan Moore in the novel ‘V for Vendetta’ and Arthur Miller in the play ‘The Crucible’ utilise stylistic and language features to explore the central themes of power, rebellion, and justice that consequently develop the idea of mass hysteria as a social construct. The portrayed power in both texts regards the exploitation an erroneous degradation of civilians rendered defenceless by the overwhelming hysteria of their counterparts. However, the context and depiction of power within both texts varies, as Moore presents power as a fascist government whilst Miller presents power as the exploitation of fear derived from religious ideologies. While both portray rebellion through the characterisation of the protagonists, Miller presents rebellion subtly through the protagonist’s mannerisms and cognition whereas Moore, a self-proclaimed anarchist (Moore, 2009), characterises the protagonist as a rebel intent

“Whatever hysteria exists is inflamed by mystery, suspicion, and secrecy. Hard and exact facts will cool it” (Elia Kazan). The Crucible by Arthur Miller is about the story of the Salem witch trials and how people react to the situation during the 1690’s. Miller’s message concerning individual conscience in an atmosphere of fear and mass hysteria in The Crucible is that people can turn on others and suspect each other or tell lies or false accusations in order to save themselves or loved ones.

1. Throughout The Crucible, the theme of mass hysteria is presented. For example, after Tituba “confessed” to have been working under pressure, Abigail screams “I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (54) The reason why Abigail suddenly “confesses” starts with Tituba. Tituba was under extreme pressure when Reverend Hale and many others were screaming at her; therefore she decided to just give them what they want – a confession – so they would stop. Seeing this, Abigail joins in that she will not be interrogated later, thus adding to the overall hysteria and madness of a witch hunt. In addition, the theme of vengeance is also displayed when John Proctor blatantly states “I'll tell you what's walking Salem - vengeance is walking Salem… now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom,

During the late 1940’s and the early 1950’s, America acted out of fear instead of their head. Author Miller motivated to write The Crucible due to his being alive during the late 1950’s when McCarthyism was prevalent in the U.S. He was trying to make the comparison of the two-time periods. Author Miller wrote The Crucible to point out the hysteria caused by the Red Scare by drawing comparisons with fear fueling hysteria, the ignoring of evidence, and types of people who were falsely accused.

In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, hysteria is being spread throughout the Puritan community of Salem. Abigail is the main reason for all of this, with her lies and her persuading her friends to follow along with the lies and blaming others. The historical setting, characters, and events have shown us hysteria throughout the play and how the people of Salem handle the feeling of being in constant fear. As we read the play it is easy to see that hysteria causes people to jump to conclusions.

Within Arthur Miller’s award-winning play, The Crucible, there is a constant trend that flows through time. As the tale persists, Salem, Massachusetts gets wound up in the witch hunt of 1692, creating an infectious hysteria on all the villagers. City-wide fear overtakes individual thought and reasoning as well as it can today in America’s “trivial” matters.

John Mellencamp once said, “When you live in hysteria, people start thinking emotionally.” Arthur Miller's drama The Crucible expresses many themes including the dangers of pride and envy. However, out of many themes conveyed in The Crucible the most applicable, that relates to Puritan America and the McCarthy Era, is the role that mass hysteria plays in tearing down a community. In The Crucible, hysterical fear becomes a senseless means of declaring the bitterness and anger subdued by Puritan society.

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, is a play that replicates the actual events of the Salem Witch Trials. The event is considered mass hysteria because there was a vast group of people who were behaving completely irrationally. The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts throughout 1962 and 1963. Salem was a theocratic town, meaning their laws were derived from religion. Children dancing in the woods with Tituba, the slave of the town Reverend, led to accusations of witchcraft because dancing was thought of as the devil's work. There were, of course, a few members of Salem who did not believe in witchcraft, but their opinions were ignored. The reason this became a hysteria is, all one had to in order to get someone arrested for witchcraft was state their name. These accusations then became a way to get revenge on someone who had done wrong to them. The large number of victims of the Salem Witch Trials, and the speed and senselessness of the spreading of accusations, makes this event a tragic part of our history.

Colonists believed that their fellow friends and family were dancing with the Devil, so they became mentally indifferent. People today struggle to accept others for their choices even though freedom is a right. When the community stresses over current events that is called mass disruption (“A case of Mass hysteria”). It is seen today in many places especially protests including refusing to stand during the National Anthem. In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, mass hysteria is represented in both the Salem Witch Trials and today when professional athletes kneel in protest.

There is no such thing as an honest person. Everybody has lied at least once in their lifetime. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, several girls in a highly religious and Puritan Salem, Massachusetts get caught dancing in the woods. In order to avoid punishment, these girls lie and accuse others of witchcraft. Eventually, it is revealed that the people in the town accused each other of witchcraft for ulterior motives. Regardless of their motives, these accusations created mass hysteria in Salem. The three people that were responsible for creating mass hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts were Parris, Abigail, and Hale.

The total hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts that quickly spread out of control in a rush of lies, witch accusations and death is known as The Salem Witch Trials. People in the 1600’s strongly believed in the existence of witchcraft, so much so that it led to mass hangings. The events are famous because of books and plays, like The Crucible, that are written about them. These books have led to more and more people becoming interested in the Trials More research is being done on why they happened and what kept them going. There have been many theories as to what actually afflicted the girls. People know from studying the history that religious turmoil and greed helped fuel the flame. The answer to what started the spark was actually a type of