Theme Of 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.

The Crucible, a historical play based on events of the Salem witchcraft trials, takes place in a small Puritan village in the colony of Massachusetts in 1692. The witchcraft trials, as Miller explains in a prose prologue to the play, grew out of the particular moral system of the Puritans, which promoted interference in others' affairs as well as a repressive code of conduct that frowned on any diversion from norms of behavior.

“The Crucible” is a play that takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The play starts in the woods, the characters Abigail, Betty, Tituba, Mary Warren, and Mercy Lewis were casting spells in the forest. Samuel Parris catches them in the woods and Betty passes out. They go to the Proctors house to make sure Betty is okay. Parris is contemplating on what the town will think of him when they find out what has happened. He tells Abigail to tell him what happened in the woods. Abigail tells him they were dancing.

In a small village close to 300 years ago one girl named Abigail Williams would change the town forever. When Tituba, a slave from Barbados is doing “voodoo” with a couple of the girls by Reverend Parris in woods they believe it is the sign of the devil in the small village of Salem. In the book The Crucible by Arthur Miller he powerfully portrays what life was like in 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts. When hysteria takes over a small village it can cause madness for as long as people believe that witchcraft is taking over the village. Hysteria is the poor decisions people make when fear has overcome them. More than 200 innocent people were accused of witchcraft in May of 1963. Hysteria isn’t just a thing of the past it also happens a lot currently in the world. During historic tragedies people sometimes become hysterical causing them to have poor judgement and sometimes hurt others.

I believe the overall theme of the play The Crucible centers around hysteria. Arthur Miller mentions in his essay “Why I Wrote the Crucible” the presence of fear and desperation in the wartime days that “formed The Crucible’s skeleton”. Arthur goes to hint at the similarity of “liberals who, despite their discomfort with the inquisitors’ violations of civil rights, were fearful, and with good reason, of being identified as covert Communists if they should protest too strongly…” to the villagers in the town of Salem within The Crucible, and how they were afraid of being accused of witchcraft by the courts. Arthur Miller is attempting to convey the message that people act recklessly when overwhelmed with confusion and fear-led excitement.

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! . .

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.

Fear in The Crucible Fear is a powerful emotion. It defines humanity. The sole reason humans continue to progress and invent is due to the fear of the unknown. Humans have feared the unknown since the beginning of time. Therefore, it is logical that knowledge creates security. In scientifically ignorant societies such as puritan Salem in 1692, fear runs rampant when dozens of innocent people are accused of witchcraft and some hanged. In Arthur Miller’s famous play

“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 is a play that takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the 17th century and is based on true events. The Puritans believed in witchcraft and were gullible. At the start of the play, the audience learns some girls were caught dancing naked in the woods by Reverend Parris. They had supposedly “conjured up spirits” and this led to the accusations of the girls as witches. In order to escape the punishment, they accuse other women of the town of being witches. They say that they were approached by the devil but did not go over to his side so they are used as members of the jury.

“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