Keylian Ortiz-Tirado Mrs. Gardner English II Hnrs 24 February 2023 Mass Hysteria in The Crucible What is mass hysteria? Mass hysteria is defined as “an outbreak of unusual and uncharacteristic behaviors, thoughts and feelings, or health symptoms shared among a group of people” (Raypole). In the play there are multiple ways that mass hysteria is shown throughout the different acts. The events in The Crucible by Arthur Miller were deeply rooted in mass hysteria such as when Abigail was in the courtroom, when Betty woke up and started shouting names, and when there were poppets found in Proctor’s house. In Act Three, pages 108 to 109 of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, mass hysteria is shown when Abigail was in the courtroom. Abigail …show more content…
Cheever found Mary Warren’s poppet in the Proctor’s house. Even when Marry Warren admitted that that poppet was hers, Abigail charged murder on Elizabeth. It is stated that, that night Abigail was stabbed and that there was a needle in the belly of the poppet. The reason why Abigail charged Elizabeth and not Warren is because Abigail does not like Elizabeth as she is Proctor’s wife. In Act Three, pages 103 to 104, in The Crucible, Judge Danforth brought up the topic of the poppet found in the Proctor’s house. Mary Warren stated that she was making the poppet beside Abigail and put the needle in the poppet for safe keeping. Abigail said, “It is a lie, sir.” Then she proceeded to state that she always saw poppets in the Proctor’s house when no one else saw them. While trying to bring out the truth there is a lot of anger and frustration with each other, which causes Proctor to bring out that Abigail and the other girls were dancing in the woods naked. This created mass hysteria because throughout this act Abigail has been telling lies and others are trying to bring out the truth. When bringing out the truth, more confessions came up because they want the judge to forget what the others supposedly
Mary Warren's discreet selfishness led to Elizabeth Proctor being jailed and John Proctor being hanged. In Act Two, Mary came home from the courthouse and gifted Elizabeth with a poppet she spent all day sewing because it symbolizes something out of the ordinary, perhaps witchcraft (Miller 56). She is trying to frame Elizabeth for having something strange in her home that she should not have. Mary does this because her friend Abigail wants Elizabeth Proctor gone so Abigail can be with her husband, John Proctor. Mary wants Abigail to approve of her and will do whatever it takes to get that approval; however, Mary does.
In the Crucible by Arthur Miller, and in today's world, there are examples of mass hysteria. In The Crucible it tells the story of the times during the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts. Now people worry about Muslims and Islamics. They both have their catalysts, and motivation. In the crucible, the story starts of with girls in the forest doing a ritual, in which on girl drank blood, they were seen by a family member and that is when all the accusations began.
Through their reactions to the witch trials, characters in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible portray two major themes of self-preservation and mass hysteria. The play is set in Puritan Society in the late 1600’s in Salem, where most people are devout Christians and hold a strong belief of both God and the Devil. Through Abigail’s and Tituba’s actions of self-protection at the expense of others, Miller reveals the dangers of mass hysteria and its motivation towards self-preservation and false accusations. Abigail essentially begins the hysteria in Salem when she verifies the false suspicions of witchcraft, she then tells Reverend Hale that Tituba made her drink blood in order to draw the attention away from herself. Abigail points her finger at
Hysteria is a Disease Arthur Miller's The Crucible is a play that explores the theme of hysteria and its effects on human behavior and how it fuels the story. Hysteria, by definition, is an overwhelming fear or emotional reaction that leads to irrational or extreme behavior. In the play, the town of Salem is engulfed in mass hysteria, which leads to a series of accusations of witchcraft and the tragic consequences that follow. In this essay, I will explore the theme of hysteria in The Crucible by examining its definition and examples in the play, its influence on the characters and their actions, and the consequences that arise as a result. Through the use of quotes and analysis, this essay will demonstrate how hysteria is the driving force
Mass Hysteria In the book “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, the characters were strong believers of witches and witchcraft. What started off as a little lie, grew way out of portion, which can be blamed on a few specific characters. They caused the death of many innocent people that were falsely accused of being witches/doing witchcraft and/or working with the devil. The first major one being Abigail, she single handedly made all of the children afraid to speak about what happened in the woods.
Mary Warren not going against Abigail and confessing the truth shows that Mary Warren will do things even if she does not want to, to please Abigail. Second, Marry Warren makes a poppet in court and gives it to Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail accuses Elizabeth Proctor of stabbing her through the poppet with a needle. Then Elizabeth Proctor gets taken to jail and John Proctor tells Mary Warren she must confess that she made the poppet. Mary Warren shows herself being scared of turning against Abigail by saying, “She’ll kill me for sayin’ that!...”
The amount of hysteria that Aruther Miller expresses through his characters in the crucible is more than relevant to what was going on at the time. Aruther Miller shows hysteria through many characters throughout the story. The characters I choose to focus on are Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Elizabeth Proctor. The ways that he includes hysteria helped show the public how they were treating people at that given time. One of the characters Miller chooses to cause hysteria is Abigail Williams.
Mary Warren put a needle inside of the poppet, later on Abigail fell to the floor screaming with a needle in her stomach. Cheever finds the poppet in Elizabeth's possession and she is convicted of witchcraft. John Proctor knows the truth and speaks up to receive justice for his wife. In act II, Cheever arrives at John Proctor's house with a warrant for the arrest of his wife, Elizebeth was accused for the needle being found in Abigail's stomach. John Proctor rips the warrant out of Cheevers hand for Elizabeth's arrest and tears it in half.
In “The Crucible” (1953) Arthur Miller asserts that mass hysteria leads to high tensions and heated relationships between people that once were great friends. these tensions begin in the town of salem Massachusetts in 1692 where witch hysteria was beginning to run rampant. A rampancy that caused the unjust deaths of nineteen of the town's residents. Nineteen people who had nothing to do with the theorised witchcraft that was spawned by people’s fear of the unknown. A fear that manifested due to untrustworthy people.
What is hysteria? Hysteria refers to a psychological condition characterized by a state of intense emotional distress, often including symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and uncontrollable outbursts of emotion. In the context of The Crucible, hysteria refers to the mass panic and fear that swept through Salem, leading to the persecution and execution of innocent people accused of witchcraft. Similarly to the mass panic and anxiety that swept through Salem during the witch trials, the 1950s in America was also marked by widespread fear and paranoia. This period was denoted with a deep-seated anxiety about the perceived threat of communist infiltration in the United States, which was fueled by Senator Joseph McCarthy and his supporters through
(90). All of the proof Judge Danforth listed can be easily faked, like the choking, or is something that someone could do to themselves, like slashing themselves with daggers and sticking pins in themselves if they wanted to. Judge Danforth is so convinced that Abigail is telling the truth, that not even testimony from an ex-accuser stating the falsehood of the accusations would satisfy him. Mary Warren, who works at the Proctor home, was one of the girls found dancing in the woods and was one of the girls who was on Abigail’s side, was forced to testify against Abigail in court when she returned to the Proctor house one night, informing John Proctor that his wife, Elizabeth Proctor had been accused of witchcraft. Mary Warren said to Danforth that she and the other girls were faking everything and
The play "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller is a timeless illustration of the pernicious effects of hysteria, the power of reputation, and the truth of justice. The famous witch trials that plagued the town are recreated in the drama, which is set in the Puritan environment of 17th-century Salem, Massachusetts. The drama inspects how crazy fright may take over a community and the outcome of the persecution of harmless individuals. According to one character, "The devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone, And I must tell you all that I shall not proceed unless you are prepared to believe me if I should find no bruise of hell upon her". (Miller 38).
Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" is a timeless portrayal of the destructive impact of hysteria, the power of reputation, and the truth of justice. Set in the Puritan society of 17th-century Salem, Massachusetts, the play is a dramatization of the infamous witch trials that plagued the town. The play explores how a community can be consumed by irrational fear, leading to the persecution of innocent people. As one character notes, "The devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite" (Miller 38). This quote highlights the pervasive sense of paranoia and the desire to find scapegoats that characterize the world of the play.
Hysteria is an exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people. In The Crucible people become hysterical and start accusing others of witchcraft, which leads to many innocent people being falsely accused and punished. Arthur Miller uses the concept of hysteria in The Crucible to show how people can be easily manipulated and how the truth can be distorted in times of fear in uncertainty. Arthur Miller demonstrates how individuals and communities can be blinded by their own fears and prejudices, leading to the persecution of people who have done nothing wrong. As demonstrated in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, mass hysteria numbs people’s consciences and makes them vulnerable.
In The Crucible mass hysteria starts to spread throughout the town when the girls lead by Abigail start to accuse townspeople of witchcraft. This is shown in Act 2 when Mary Warren tells Elizabeth and John Procter, “ No, sir. There be thirty-nine now—(She suddenly breaks off and sobs and sits down, exhausted.)” (Miller 490). The numbers went up rapidly from 14 to 39 in a short amount of time meaning that the fear of witchcraft, which stemmed from false accusations, has now spread and caused mass hysteria.