Mass Hysteria In The Crucible

Hysteria is an uncontrollable outburst of fear among a society. Throughout the story “The Crucible, hysteria spread by fear of others throughout the community in many ways. Abigail was one of the main characters in the story that showed great hysteria fearing others that mentioned her name. At the beginning of the story Abigail and some girls were found dancing in the woods. Fearing that she would be accused for witchcraft Abigail responded “Uncle, the rumor of witchcraft is all about; I think you’d best go down and deny it yourself. The parlor’s packed with people, sir. I’ll sit with her” (Miller, 10). This is showing how Abigail was worried about her reputation in the community and how she wanted her uncle to go to the parlor to deny it to the people. This is also showing how over one night an uprising of fear spread throughout the town, fearing

The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, was a historical play written about the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692-93. The Salem witch trials created mass hysteria throughout the entire village of Salem, which was also mainly inhabited by Puritans. Puritans had a set ideal of firm beliefs that managed how they lived. Essentially, they were living as an elect, which meant they (referring to the Puritans) had a place in heaven for the righteous acts they have done in the physical world. Meaning, any sinful acts could potentially hinder the chances of entering heaven as an elect. The Crucible, questioned everything the Puritans abided by. It questioned the basic morals of a pure lifestyle, adultery and

Remember those Disney movies where the witch had a huge wart on her face? Well that idea came from the Salem Witch Trials. To prove that a person was a witch, people would check for big freckles or moles on their body. This was supposedly a place where evil spirits could stay. During the spring of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, a group of girls were caught dancing in the woods, which was considered illegal in the Puritan times. When confronted about it, Abigail and Betty start to scream out the names of the witches in the village that made them commit the crime. This started up the accusations of the Salem Witch Trials. In the Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is to blame for the mass hysteria in Salem because she wants to be with John Proctor, she tries to kill Elizabeth, and she tries to save her name.

Human nature is a word describing our reactions to events, our own inner struggles, and our interaction with others, a tendency that every human has in common. (Human Nature in The Crucible) In, The Crucible, several of the characters are constantly feuding, not only among themselves but with the entire community as well. Many citizens spread ridiculous lies and rumors accusing innocent people of being “under the influence” of the devil. The people of Salem fall victim to an eruption of delirium, caused by natural human tendencies. Arthur Miller illustrates blame, majority versus minority, ideology as being natural human tendencies and driving forces to the mass hysteria in the town of Salem.

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.

To start, hysteria can change multiple characters actions’ in the book The Crucible. For example a woman named Ann Putnam, formerly known as Goody Putnam has had 7 children die during labor. She believes that the devil or a witch has taken her babies from her. She thinks this due to the fact that it is not natural to lose all 7 children during labor. Mrs Putnam claims, “I’ll not have you judging me any more, is it natural work to lose seven children before they live a day?” (Miller 40). As you can see Ann is getting angry with other people due to the fact that she doesn’t want to be sinned by god. She feels a need to blame other people including her good friend Rebecca Nurse. Mr Putnam even says, “She cannot bear to hear the Lord’s name, Mr Hale; that’s a sure sign of witchcraft afloat” (Miller 39). This shows that Ann’s husband Thomas Putnam is also blaming it on witchcraft to protect his wife. This is one of the first signs of hysteria in the play/book The Crucible. One man who even believes there is no witchcraft for the safety of his position or role in the village is Reverend Parris. He even states, “No-no. There be no unnatural cause here. Tell him I have sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly and Mr. Hale will surely confirm that. Let him look to medicine and put out all thoughts of unnatural causes here.

     Hysteria was a very obvious theme shown throughout the play, The Crucible. It was all started by a few young girls in Salem, Massachusetts. They were all dancing in the woods one night and were caught by Paris, the reverend in that small town. The next day two of the young girls were sick and would not move, talk, nor eat . The town began to start talk of witch craft

Hysteria in society can spread rapidly leading to panic, chaos, and disaster, and in The Crucible this is exactly the message trying to be sent to the readers. The Crucible is aiming to tell audiences about the dangers of mass hysteria and what damage can be done. In the beginning we find out that at least three girls, Abigail, Betty, and Tituba, are involved with a forest dancing and calling upon the Devil, after more girls are accused and word is spread thru the town and mass hysteria begins.

“The little crazy children are jangling the keys to the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law now.” In Arthur Miller’s dramatic tragedy, “The Crucible”, he examines how mass hysteria has effected people throughout the ages, with the idea that one accusation can change a life instantly. Mass hysteria led to the tragic events of The Crucible because the power and leadership that comes with making accusations can have a dramatic impact on a community. The story also illustrates how people would rather kill others than get killed themselves.

The Crucible has many components where the characters experience moments of hysteria. The play introduces the concept of witchcraft where in a Puritan society is strictly forbidden as it goes against all God-like practice. Hysteria is introduced with Abigail Williams, and the other girls, who concoct a lie to prevent themselves from punishment. Abigail lies, “I want to open myself! . .

Mass Hysteria is strong reactions by groups of people based on misunderstood facts, suggestions, imagined stimuli, or blindly following a false authority. The impacts of mass hysteria on a society can be damaging and deadly, not only physically, but emotionally too. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is about the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. During the Salem Witch Trials, several girls in Salem, Massachusetts accused multiple people in and around the town of being witches. Being Puritan and wanting to please God, the community immediately started trials for the accused people. As a result of the trials, twenty people lost their lives. Mass Hysteria leads to rash conclusions based on few reliable facts; The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the 2014 Ebola outbreak, and allegations that vaccinations can cause permanent challenges, such as autism, are all examples of mass hysteria.

“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

Hysteria and paranoia have been a part of human life for a very long time. This tactic was used to scare people in many different ways. It has also become a byproduct of terrorism in modern times. An earlier event where hysteria and paranoia played a big part is in the Salem witch trials. This event is described in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the theme of hysteria and paranoia is present in the character of Rev. Parris; the development of this theme demonstrates Miller’s belief that hysteria can create an entire chaotic problem.

While portraying his groundbreaking role as Qui Gon Jinn in the 2002 hit movie Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Liam Neeson is quoted as saying, “Your focus determines your reality.” In the context of Salem, Massachusetts, this means that if one focuses on witches and witchcraft, their reality will then become witches and witchcraft. This is exactly what happened during the Salem Witch Trials during the late 1690’s, as immortalized in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The small Puritan colony became so engrossed with fear of the Christian Devil™ that they began to suspect their own neighbors, and a select few individuals began using that fear for their own personal benefit, accusing their neighbors for the sake of righting wrongs

Mass hysteria is caused by fear in a large number of the population. This fear leads to actions that they would not normally do. In the case of Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible” those actions have deadly consequences. Many people died and many children became orphaned in this play and in the real Salem Witch Trials; however, in the play two characters could have stopped theses events, Reverend Parris and Abigail Williams.