The Impacts Of Mass Hysteria In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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

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.

Many things can be accounted for when analyzing someone's behavior and thoughts. Hysteria, uncontrollable emotion among groups, is a major leader in past and present day society when it comes to how people act and think in different situations. The Crucible provides great examples with how hysteria can affect a group of people. Back in Salem, Massachusetts 1692, hysterics swept the town, creating a storm of emotions. Everyone wondering, what to do? What to think? In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the effects of mass hysteria to reveal his purpose of using it in his writing, how society at that time reacts to hysterics, and the consequences of these incoherences, which still appear in present-day.

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.

Mass hysteria is a phenomenon that transmits collective allusions of threats through a population in society as a result of rumors and fear. The Crucible by Arthur Miller accurately portrays mass hysteria that took place during the Salem witch trials of 1692. People were accused based on revenge or other malicious motives and to make the situation worse, nothing about the trials was logical. After a few people were accused, fear set into the town and everyone was viewed as a witch until proven innocent. Mass hysteria not only happened during the Salem witch trials, but right after the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001 as well. Mass hysteria ties into both the accusations made in The Crucible and the islamophobia that set in after 9/11.

In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, hysteria is being spread throughout the Puritan community of Salem. Abigail is the main reason for all of this, with her lies and her persuading her friends to follow along with the lies and blaming others. The historical setting, characters, and events have shown us hysteria throughout the play and how the people of Salem handle the feeling of being in constant fear. As we read the play it is easy to see that hysteria causes people to jump to conclusions.

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.

The Crucible, mass hysteria leads to the wrongful accusation and hanging of dozens of Salem citizens for witchcraft. It also happened in 1962 when 62 textile workers came down with a disease that was blamed on the bite of a Junebug. When fear becomes widespread and delusional as it has in Salem, it is not fear anymore; it is mass hysteria, a condition affecting a group of persons, characterized by excitement or anxiety, irrational behavior or beliefs, or inexplicable symptoms of illness. The human behavior of mass hysteria is evident in both Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and in the modern event The June Bug Epidemic.

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 the actual history of the Salem witch trials over 150 people were accused of bewitchment. Though most were hung they were all innocent. The Crucible was not only allegory to Arthur Miller's anti-communist ideals but a great text about some of the actual accounts in history during the actual Salem witch trials. In the play Arthur Miller used fear, hysteria, and revenge as important elements to keep the story going also to keep the readers wanting to read more and find out what will happen next

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 is when a group bans together and acts as one as a result of rumors and fear, that may cause one to think irrationally. Mass hysteria has been seen in many events throughout history, that has led to an overwhelming outbreak of fear. In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller presents how mass hysteria can quickly and easily overtake a group of people and wreak havoc on everyone by inflicting fear. Mass hysteria is a controlling force in the play and is seen in the accusations of the guilty and innocent, the judging of the accused, and in the actions of the major characters.

One of the most recent Ebola outbreaks occurred in West Africa in March 2014, and it was the largest outbreak in history. Two cases came to the United States because of West African outbreak (Ebola in the U.S.). Ebola virus disease (EVD) has a high fatality rate of 40-50% due to its high hemorrhagic fever, and is one of the most serious viral diseases currently known. In some outbreaks, the fatality rate even reached up to 90%. The threat to the community is even greater because currently there are no therapeutic strategies or vaccines available for EVD (Ebola Virus Disease 2013-2014).