Mass Hysteria In The Crucible

In the story/play mass hysteria plays an important role in Salem in the late 1600s. For instance Abigail Williams one of the girls in the crucible that uses mass hysteria to exploit the people of Salem around her. Mass hysteria means a group of people who over exaggerate something and becomes a fear. According to a quote from Abigail Williams says ”She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold sniveling woman! And you bend to her! Let her turn you like a-” which means she only accuses people because she wants

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.

Abigail was so in love with John Proctor she would have done anything to be with him so she did . “ You did, you did you drank the charm to kill John proctor’s wife! You drank the charm to kill proctor's wife!” ( Miller 468) . Abigail wanted revenge on Elizabeth because she was John's wife and he was not going to leave her for Abigail. In his mind it was a silly mistake he

“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 complication that initiated Abigail to start the Salem Witch Trials was her affair with John Proctor. Abigail worked as a maid for the Proctors, John and his wife, Elizabeth; it came to be known by Elizabeth that John and Abigail had an affair. As said by Elizabeth in act III on page 113 of The Crucible, “I came to think he fancied her. And so one night I lost my wits, I think, and put her out on the highroad.” Elizabeth decided to discharge her from the house. Abigail went to live with her uncle, Parris, in Salem. After this event in the novel, Abigail despises Elizabeth, and wants revenge on her. John went to Salem after he heard about the witch findings; Abigail caught up to him in private and

In the Crucible I believe it was a mass hysteria because the girls Abby and Betty were accused of doing witchcraft in the woods with other girls and their slave Tituba. After Betty’s dad caught them at the forest. He says on page 10 in the book, “I saw Tituba waving her arms over the fire when I came on you”. He saw everything that happened in the woods that day. After that day Betty would not wake, or she would have her eyes open but would not talk or walk. A lot of people believe that it’s witchcraft, Mrs. Putnam believes that Tituba murdered her seven born babies and that Tituba can also speak to the dead. Mrs. Putnam is a very strong believer of witchcraft. Her daughter Ruth Putnam is also very sick she has the same symptoms as Betty. Mrs. Putnam thinks Ruth was very close to speaking to her dead sisters. Abby blames Tituba for making the girls drink chicken blood, Tituba confesses it. She also accused Tituba of making her laugh at prayers. Tituba accuses Abby for making her conjure and charm.

Have you ever been accused of something you didn’t do? Well, in The Crucible, a lot of people were accused of something that they didn’t do. Then it becomes a game that everyone blames one another for their own selfish needs. In the story, things got complicated and when everyone noticed, it was too late. A lot of people died and no one could stop it anymore. Even after everyone noticed, they couldn’t do anything against the judges. The Crucible is an good example of mass hysteria along with the events in The Halifax Slasher. They both show similar events but are different because of their setting in history.

In 1692 mass hysteria struck Salem, Massachusetts. The hysteria was caused by accusations against others for performing witchcraft, and since no one knew the truth, the accused often were put to death. Witchcraft was seen as an act of the Devil, and though this play may seem like it is simply about witchcraft, it actually is not. It is about using the accusations of witchcraft to manipulate others and to establish power. In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller wonderfully and dramatically displays these events, and subtly shows how people can be manipulated through jealousy, abuse of authority, and even by using the church’s influence to further their own ends.

While reading the Crucible people may believe that witch trials are a thing of the past, but the truth is that witch hysteria is a conflict people even face today. Witch hysteria was first felt in 1692 when a group of young girls said they were possessed. This started to spread and everyone would accuse others of being witches. Lot of people were tried, and if they denied being a witch they would be hung. 20 people were put to death as a result of the trials. Looking at the Salem trials, as well as more recent events we can tell that human nature wants an explanation for the unexplainable.

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.

In both Salem during the 1690s and in the entirety of the United States in the 1930s, mass hysteria took over for short times due to word of mouth. In Salem, Massachusetts, twenty people were convicted and hanged for the crime of witchcraft in the time between February 1692 and May 1693. It began mainly with a pair of young girls, nine year old Betty Parris and her eleven year old cousin, Abigail Williams, who began displaying fits of what was deemed devil work by doctors who could not diagnose it as a known illness (and if you know about colonial medicinal practises, you wouldn’t be surprised). The hysteria during the night of Halloween of 1938; while the threat of Hitler’s invasion of Europe were constantly broadcasted via radio throughout an already paranoid United States; was in the form of a radio dramatization of H.G.Wells’ novel, War of the Worlds. In both instances, the use of a common paranoia - in

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.

Miller’s “The Crucible” is less about the details of the witch hunt and subsequent trials, and more about how events of this nature affect the communities in which they take place. It also demonstrates how a mass hysteria can lead to socially justified violence.