Fear, Hysteria, And Hysteria

Hysteria is defined as an exaggerated or irrepressible emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people. In Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, hysteria rocked a small Puritan community. Over the span of four short months, nineteen people were hanged to death and another was pressed to death by stones. Puritans in the community accused one another of witchcraft—a crime punishable by death—and so hysteria swept the village. The causes of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 remain a mystery to this day; however, religious, economical, and social reasons were undoubtedly to blame.

During both the devastating Holocaust in the Germany and the tragic Salem Witch Trials in the small town of Salem, innocent people were brutally killed, causing hysteria among the people. Both groups of people endured hardships because of the hysteria that occurred among them. This hysteria caused people to react in ways that they would not usually act. Both of these events are very historical and help The United States of America be a unified and prosperous country that it has grown to become today. Hysteria is defined as an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear, often characterized by irrationality, laughter, weeping

Mass hysteria can strike anywhere, anytime. Mass hysteria is an illusion or condition that affects a group of people, and is caused by anxiety, fear or stress. It can sometimes put people at risk because in most cases, it makes people sick. Mass hysteria has a negative impact on people like it did on the people of Salem who were killed and locked away. The Crucible was one of many examples of how fear can cause mass hysteria and unfortunately there are many more. Fear causes mass hysteria and has many cases that can prove that this is true.

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.

Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, focuses on the inconsistencies and injustice of the 1692 witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts. The restrictive Puritan society of Salem in the 17th century was based upon religious intolerance, where faith was demonstrated through physical labour and by strict adherence to religious doctrine. Material, physical and sexual desires were considered the Devil’s work and a threat to the very fabric of society. In summary, it is said that Puritanism discouraged individualism on all levels. The literal way in which the Bible was interpreted by the Puritans, provides a paradox within the play. This is because although the Bible says “thou shalt not kill,” the people of Salem are willing to sentence innocent

Fear is a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil or pain, whether the threat is real or imagined.1 It causes feelings of dread and apprehension. Fear can lead to hysteria- a condition where community wide fear overwhelms logic and ends up justifying its own existence. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, fear and hysteria are the foundation and antecedent behind the bedlam and conflicting events that take place in the community of Salem. It is the key factor that results in the degeneration of the community. It is fear and hysteria that incited the Salem Witch

In late winter and early spring of 1692, residents of Salem Village, Massachusetts, a thinly settled town of six hundred began to suffer from a strange physical and mental malady. Fits, hallucinations, temporary paralysis, and “distracted” rampages were suddeny occuring sporadically in the community. The livestock, too, seemed to suffer from the unexplainable illness. With the limited scientific and medical knowledge of the time, physicians who were consulted could only offer witchcraft as an explanation. Psychiatric disorder is used in a slightly different sense in the argument that the Witchcraft crisis was a consequence of two party factionalism in Salem Village in this account the girls are unimportant factors in the entire incident. Their behavior “served as the kind of Roschach test into which adults read their own concerns and expectations.” Possessed individuals exhibited learned behavior patterns and that words and actions varied only slightly among them. The affected women experienced an inner conflict which was explained by the ministers as a struggle between good and evil. As to the physical symptoms: the fits, trances, and paralyzed limbs, among others, Karlsen attributes them to the afflicted girls’ actual fear of witches as well as the idea that once they fell into an afflicted state they were free to express

    Fear can control your life. It can make you hallucinate and think of doing evil things. People used this as an advantage to get what they wanted during the Salem Witch trials. The  Salem Witch Trials was a horrific event for family, friends, children, and parents. During the year of 1692, Salem Village, Massachusetts had a fearful downfall. In the Salem Witch hunt times, there was so much paranoia that anyone could and would be accused. These accusations spread like wildfire and caused chaotic pain.(Fear) The villagers used fear to control other people’s minds; which made it easier for

The creaks of the swaying rope were loud in the deafening silence. The victim’s life was hanging on a thread—just like the noose around her neck . . . . In Salem Village, the year 1692, twenty men and women were accused of witchcraft and was executed accordingly. Many historians are still bewildered at what exactly caused the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. There were a few possible origins of the hysteria; however, jealous, young, single women; sexism against women; and lying little girls stand out as the main sources.

Hysteria and Fear The rise of hysteria and fear seems to build and evolve and it has a huge impact on the way things are viewed in the world today. The relevance of the theme hysteria in The Crucible does relate to modern society in different ways. In the crucible mass hysteria can have a massive impact on any community and the results can be devastating.

“The Crucible” displays hysteria in many ways throughout the play, but the main act of hysteria was that it wrecked the people of Salem. Hysteria is an exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion, which is mainly demonstrated by divisions of society. Hysteria takes a main part of the play because it caused the people of Salem to do such unreasonable acts. One hysterical act in “The Crucible” was during the Salem Witch Trials, one hundred fifth people were accused for practicing

Fear and faith can drive a person to death or a divine life. The Crucible takes place in Salem during the Salem witch trials. The Crucible makes a point to include that the population’s main religion is puritan. The puritan religion has many distinct rules. People that are puritan have extremely strong faith and guidelines. Fear is another extremely strong force. The Crucible makes a point to include that the people accused of witchcraft are very fearful of death and this element drives the entire play. People get ear in their heads and start to lose their faith. The people want to live so when they are accused of dancing with the devil, they disobey their faith and lie and confess until they are set free. They all do this to save themselves

A third theme that is developed in The Crucible is hysteria. Hysteria is defined as a state of violent mental agitation. Hysteria plays a great role in the storyline

Many people ask, “What is hysteria?” According to dictionary.com, the exact definition is: an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear, often characterized by irrationality, laughter, weeping, etc. As well, there is a psychological answer for hysteria. Many psychologists state that hysteria can range from numbness to paralysis as well as vomiting to erectile dysfunction. With that being said, many people know hysteria as the state when people become irrational. Throughout history, there have been many cases of hysteria, one of the most well-known being the Salem witch trials. There have been more recent cases of mass hysteria. With the year 1999 coming to an end, many worried and in their panic launched the world into believing

On the contrary in the play “The Crucible” is a different story that was told. When Paris asked his niece, Abigail about the rumors about her innocence, all she said was “She hates me, uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave. It’s a bitter woman, a lying, cold, sniveling, and I will not work for such a woman!” (Miller.43) She portrayed her former employer, Elizabeth as a cruel person in the reality she is the one who is evil, having an affair with her husband. A community where supposedly they have faith in their God and not blasphemy others. Like how Mrs. Putman determine Betty’s situation and called it, “I’d not call it sick; the Devil touch, is heavier than the sick. It’s death, y’know, it’s death drivin’ into them, forked and hoofed.” (62) Her statement highlights the points in which their community don’t believe in each other, where there is no reliances on one another. Then people jumps to conclusion that seems absurd like being paranoid about witches. Causing so many to lose their lives due to ignorance and insanity however they somehow still manage to move on from a tragic event.