Mass Hysteria In The Crucible Essay

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

Abigail is to blame for the mass hysteria in Salem because she wants to be with John Proctor. John and Abigail both had an affair when she started working for him. John tries to get over his sin and forget about her, but she is very persistent in him remembering their love and to

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.

In The Crucible, there was a lot of senseless behavior. The purpose of The Crucible is to educate the reader on the insanity that can form in a group of people who think they are judging fairly upon a group of people. Judge Hawthorne believes what he is told by certain people is the truth even if little evidence is to be shown. The young girls with Abigail convince Hawthorne of others being witches so that Abigail can get what she wants, John Proctor, also so that Abigail does not blackmail the girls. The Crucible by Authur Miller investigates the effects of hysteria, superstitions and repression on the Salem Community in the late 1600’s.

Abigail Williams is Reverend Parris’s niece and is the most arrogant and deceitful character in the play, even more so than Danforth, Parris, and Putnam. Abigail uses her power and intimidation to manipulate friends and eventually the entire town into accusing others of alleged witchcraft. The start of Abigail’s terror is in response to John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth Proctor removing Abigail as

Many civilians can recall the Puritans as people who believed that the Bible was God's true law, and that anything that was not found within that law was deemed sin worthy. In 1692 a group of adolescent Puritan girls decided they would go against their religion and lie to their whole town claiming they were victims of witchcraft. Their lying and dishonesty then caused the Salem witch trials to take place. The play The Crucible by Arthur Miller thoroughly explains the truth behind the history that occurred in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the trials. The genre of this well written play is tragedy and allegory.

Mass hysteria played a big role in The Crucible. It was mostly played out by Abigail Williams. She was lying to everyone in Salem thinking that she could see spirits. She would tell everyone that she saw these spirits from other. Now this whole dispute started because she wanted to be with John Proctor. For instance in act three in the book Abigail yet lies again saying,“I- I not. A wind, a cold wind, has come.” As she is saying this she falls her eyes to Mary Warren. Now as the reader we all know she is faking it and is trying to get revenge on Mary Warren for ratting her out. It doesn’t stop there though. Soon after Abigail and all the girls say,“Abby, you mustn’t!” Everything at this point is simple. Abigail and all the girls are copying Mary trying to make everyone think she is a witch. Of course it didn’t work because Mary Warren tells the court that John is a witch and manipulated her to doing all of this.

In today's world, there are multiple examples of mass hysteria. For example, ISIS is a popular mass hysteria in today's world. They give the world fear with terrorism, similarly to witchcraft in "The Crucible". ISIS's major begining was at a tragic event known as 9/11. This is an event where many planes were hijacked and crashed into the twin towers.

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.

Hysteria an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear “An old dream with a shiny new veneer. It's fascinating, you know, how an obsolete madness is sometimes adopted and stylized in an attempt to ghoulishly preserve it. These are the days of second-hand fantasies and antiquated hysteria” (Thomas Ligotti, The Nightmare Factory). Mass hysteria, through superstitions and false accusations, creates uncontrollable fear and animosity in a close community. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, discusses the events that transpire in Salem, Massachusetts during the chaotic times. Mass hysteria plays an important role in the play The Crucible because the nature of hysteria causes chaos and mask the truth.

The play titled The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place in the town Salem, Massachusetts, in 1693. The hysteria begins when Betty falls into a coma-like state after dancing in the woods with others and being caught by her father, Reverend Parris. The town is startled as the witchcraft rumors spread, causing Reverend Parris to send for an expert, Reverend Hale. Both reverends begin to question the participants including Abigail, Tituba, and Betty. Although they denied it earlier they begin listing off names of townspeople, Tituba confessing it herself. Meanwhile in the Proctor house a glimpse of the problematic marriage between John and Elizabeth Proctor, that has been ruined by John and Abigail's affair. The reverend appears at the house

Often in literature an author presents us with behavior that seems somewhat odd or different in the Crucible, by Arthur Miller, several girls get caught dancing in the woods and this sparks a controversy so large, that eventually more than 80 people lose their lives by various means. Hysteria sometimes plays a role in how people behave and in what they believe, in the play the girls pretend to be “witched” because Reverend Parris, while walking in the woods, comes across them while they dancing around a cauldron. Some of the girls have taken off their garments and this horrifies the Reverend. The girls disperse, and two cannot wake up the next day. The girls behave in this manner for several reasons; they do not wish to be punished, they seek revenge, and they gain a sense of power and like it. This occurs in life today. One may go to any sporting event and see chaos ensue in the stands or on the field. This can be seen by our

Mass hysteria has affected many different groups and has led them to do very exorbitant things. Some such groups are: the people of Salem in 1692-1693 who held the Salem Witch Trials where 20 people were executed, the townspeople of Halifax who claimed to be attacked by a man with a knife, which caused many people to wound themselves for attention, and the 90+ students of an all-girls school in Tanzania who laughed uncontrollably for up to fifteen days. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller effectively uses the Salem Witch Trials to show: what can cause mass hysteria, what mass hysteria can lead to, and how mass hysteria can be manipulated for someone’s gain.

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, hysteria plays an important role of tearing apart the town of Salem, Massachusetts. The semi-fictional story takes place in the 1690’s during the Salem Witch Trials and gives readers an idea of what it was like to be a Salem citizen during that time, which was very chaotic and hectic for everyone. In the play, a lot of the characters are to blame for causing the mass hysteria, but three stand out the most. Abigail Williams, Governor Danforth and Mary Warren are the characters to blame for starting the madness in the small town.

The Crucible is a play that was written by Arthur Miller and draws parallels to the Salem Witch Trials and ‘Communism witch-hunts” in the 1950s. The play is set in 19692 in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. One night, a black slave named Tituba takes a group of young girls dancing in the woods. A few nights later, Betty Pariss, one of the dancers fell into a mysterious coma-like state. The ring-leader of the girls, Abigail along with a various number of girls are accused of witchcraft and communicating with the devil. After Abigail admits to nothing beyond dancing, she urges the other girls to do the same. John Proctor, a local farmer soon speaks to Abigail alone .Not known by anyone else, Abigail and John had an affair the previous year that