The Effects Of Mass Hysteria In Arthur Miller's 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

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.

How does fear and hysteria play a significant role in creating and driving the conflict and the chaotic events that take place in Arthur Miller’s ‘ The Crucible’?

Hysteria has been seen throughout history, but what dictates the outcome is how the community reacts. Hysteria can be defined as uncontrollable emotion among a group of people. It has been depicted throughout human history, which can be seen during the the Cold War, 9/11, and terrorist threats. The Crucible evidently shows how hysteria leads to the disunification of a community through the human obsession of reputation, the Puritan lack of respect for privacy, and human anger.

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.

Throughout history, mass hysterias have occurred as the result of psychological stress and the irrational fear of the unknown. In fact, the Salem Witch trial was the result of the irrational fear from the town that the devil was present in their everyday lives. In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller presents the consequences of the fear of witchcraft spreading through the community of Salem. Laura Dimon furthers Gladwell’s argument in “What Witchcraft is Facebook” by arguing that hysterias occur because of preexisting tensions and psychological stress. Thus, as long as the fear of the unknown is present in a society, oppression and psychological abuse will endure, resulting in individuals to feeling vulnerable and succumbing to the pressures of their disordered and dysfunctional environment.

“There is a misty plot afoot so subtle we should be criminal to cling to old respects and ancient friendships. I have seen too many frightful proofs in court-the Devil is alive in Salem, and we dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points!” (Hale, Act 2, p. 68) Throughout the book by Arthur Miller known as, “The Crucible”, there are numerous examples of thematic writing and hidden meanings to the words on the pages. Some of these themes include vengeance, fear, emotion vs. reasoning and many more. One theme, however, shines above all others within the piece, that of hysteria.

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.

“No matter how smart we get, there is always this deep irrational thinking that makes us potential hosts for self-replicating information” (Stephenson). American writer, Neal Stephenson, perfectly summarizes why we, as a society, continue to allow mass hysteria to occur. The hysteric events of Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, and the controversial Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell military policy compare and contrast in many ways.

“It is a providence the thing is out now! It is a providence” (Miller 19). At the beginning of Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, Thomas Putnam, a greedy farmer incites the outset of mass hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts by convincing the villagers that witchcraft is being practiced by those in their midst. Mass hysteria is defined in Witchcraft and Mass Hysteria in Terms of Current Psychological Theories as “a phenomenon that transmits collective illusions of threats, whether real or imaginary, through a population in society as a result of rumors and fear” (Wolf 23-28). As written by Gary Small M.D. in “Mass Hysteria Can Strike Anywhere, Anytime”, “Most often, the outbreaks afflict children and teenagers, girls more than boys, and fainting

“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

People have used multiple ways to manipulate people to carry out crimes, spread rumors, and to get themselves into a high position like a king or president of a certain groups. Famous people in history like Senator Joseph R. McCarthy who used mass hysteria to control the people to supposedly get rid of communist and Abigale who accused people of witches. Mass hysteria is an easy way to get people involved in something that does not apply to them, just so that one person can obtain power, for instance Abigale in the story “The Crucible.” Why do people exploit mass hysteria, is it the only way to get what you want in life, or is there another way? Mass hysteria has impacted the people by manipulating them, for that person to obtain power in the past, as well as its portrayed in a story to the people.

The hysteria behind the Salem Witch Trials seems to have come from nothing. There are multiple theories that go from a mental mass hysteria to a physical prejudice. Going through the timeline of the trials, theories become stronger and weaker and in the end, the answer is a matter of whichever theory you believe has the strongest evidence, an opinion. Albeit, the easiest way to explain the hysteria could be the easiest one to explain, which was that it was all subconsciously coincidental mental mass hysteria.

Mass Hysteria Throughout The Crucible Mass hysteria is when a group of people panic over a false fear or threat. Arthur Miller uses and develops the theme of Mass Hysteria in hiis play The Crucible to show readers the major effects that it had on people throughout history. Mass Hysteria plays a major role in The Crucible as the people of Salem here of the accusations of witchcraft they go wild out of fear and anxiety and begin accusing people over something that wasn’t even real. One example of Mass Hysteria in The Crucible, is when Abigail accuses Tituba of witchcraft. This is an example of mass hysteria because Abigail was beginning the witch hunt in Salem.

Throughout history, many horrific incidents based on an act of violence or disagreement have resulted in panic and mass hysteria. These historical events include but are not limited to, The Holocaust, mass shootings, and 9/11. Many of these tragic events have led to people being immensely afraid. These events often create fear for those who participate in everyday activities. A healthy community consists of a support system, peace, trust, and adhering to societal laws. Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, illustrates parallels between the Salem 17th century witch trials and the Communist Red Scare in the 1950’s to exemplify how destructive irrational fear and mass hysteria can become. When a community is overcome with fear it creates an insalubrious system of mistrust, corruption, hypocrisy, and the defiance of laws. Conflict relating to witchcraft in The Crucible, led to tension and struggle for the people of Salem. In his allegory, Arthur Miller illustrates the devastating impact of irrational fear on a community through the actions of the characters of Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth and Judge Hathorne.