Examples Of Hysteria In The Crucible

(35) This shows that Hale is so involved in his work that he could possibly end up accusing someone who was not guilty of witchcraft. Hale seems overly conscious about his own life and his duty to serve the people to find the devil in Salem; he doesn’t seem to like the idea that he himself could be wicked. This shows that Hale too, did not show himself to be truthful and courteous when it came to the

From the time that Hale arrived he didn’t make any assumptions as to whether there were witches in Salem; he only sought out the truth in facts and real evidence. He never wanted to “look to superstition” unless he could prove it (I,1042). Throughout the play Hale urges Judge Danforth to look into the idea that Abigail might be lying. He really beings to push Danforth when Rebecca Nurse, Martha Corey, and Proctor are accused of witchcraft and refuse to plead innocent and falsely accuse other members of the community as witches. Hale tries to persuade Danforth to see that “it is a lie!

(Overview) Since he had experienced witchcraft before, he was thought of as an expert of the issue. When he arrived, he was arrogant and acting as if he was an expert on witchcraft. He noticed that there was lots of evidence that witchcraft was present in Salem, but he didn’t want to jump to any conclusions until he had substantial proof. For example, “Although he was at first as overly zealous in his pursuit of witches as everyone else, very much as Miller has portrayed him in The Crucible, Hale began to be tormented by doubts early in the proceedings.” (Overview)

Reverend John Hale is a prominent character in Arthur Miller's play, "The Crucible," which depicts the events of the Salem witch trials in 1692. Hale is a respected and knowledgeable minister who is called upon to investigate the accusations of witchcraft in Salem. While he initially believes in the validity of the accusations, he ultimately comes to realize the flaws in the process and the danger of unchecked hysteria. If Hale had taken a different approach, he may have been able to prevent the tragic events that unfolded in Salem. To begin with, Hale could have been more critical of the accusations made against the accused individuals.

He then realizes his mistakes and  even goes against his religion to try to correct his mistakes. Arthur wrote this play to prove that every couple of years a specific group of people are persecuted. Reverend Hale is a complex character with a labyrinthine personality, he is a condescending, conflicted, and honest man.     Shortly after the Abigail claims witchcraft in salem is present Reverend Hale arrives in Salem from Beverly, Massachusetts. He arrives with multiple books

Reverend Hale, who enters Salem very confident of his greatness in discerning spirits, realizes he has caused irreparable damage. In order to right one of his many wrongs, he wishes for Elizabeth Proctor to convince John Proctor to sign a false confession in order to save his life. If John does not confess then he will hang and Hale will feel more guilt knowing Proctor is innocent. He has returned to try to convince the convicted to lie and confess to witchcraft in order to save their own lives because he now believes that lying is better than giving up one's life for no other reason than one's pride. He says in front of Elizabeth and Hathorne that he has arrived to save those who are blamed for witchcraft.

Proctor thought that a way for stopping the trials was to make a document with statements of the townspeople that revealed that many of the accused were good puritans; however the judges did not care, “Mr. Cheever have warrants drawn for all of these – arrest for examination”(87). Danforth assured Proctor that if they were good people they would be fine, but as we’ve seen before, once you’re accused you're going to be condemned, either by death or jail. In fact, when Reverend Hale proposed the idea that “not everyone accused is part of it. ”(91), Danforth said, "No uncorrupted man may fear this court, Mister Hale! None!

When Reverend Hale first enters the story he is depicted as someone with great knowledge and authority. Proctor tells Hale on page 185, “I’ve heard you were a sensible man, Mister Hale - I hope you’ll leave some of it in Salem.” Hale is well known to people around Salem and he is known for possessing great knowledge. The people will listen to what Hale has to say, but know that his presence means that there is suspicion of witchcraft.

Reverend Hale 's beliefs in witchcraft are strong in the opening of the play. In the beginning of the play Hale travels to Salem to help identify the presence of witchcraft .Reverend Hale 's craft is described when Miller says, “on being called here to ascertain witchcraft he felt the pride of a specialist whose unique knowledge has at last been publicly called for”(Miller 1146). Hale is a Reverend who has deeply studied the invisible world.

In the beginning, he believes the girls and the accusations they are making, but then he becomes doubtful. He first questions himself when he delivers the news to John Proctor about his wife being mentioned in court. He says, ““God forbid such a one be charged” (64) because Elizabeth was a very honest and uptight woman. He had also just been to Rebecca Nurse’s house to warn her she was accused of witchcraft, which was appalling to some people because of her caring, generous persona. Many innocent seeming people were being accused, and Hale didn’t know whom to trust; he couldn’t trust that he was making the right decisions for these people in

After continuous pressuring Mary Warren replies with ‘I cannot, they’ll turn on me— “showing us the mob has driven fear into people and how Marry is afraid to tell the truth in the case everyone will turn on her and blame her. Mary’s feeble attempt to recompense backfires, so when Abigail uses the poppet to blame it on Elizabeth, making Mary feel even worse thus she agrees to go with proctor to testify against Abigail in court. Later after agreeing to go to court to support Proctor Mary is asked who is at fault and in fear replies pointing to proctor “You’re the devil’s man!” (act three, page 119). This demonstrates how the fear of the mob and the overwhelming pressure from the Abigail makes her turn from the truth.

He says this because he realizes that some people will confess to anything to prevent them from getting hanged. Shortly after, on page 79, Hale told Proctor, “For there’s your way, believe it, there is your only way, when such confusion strikes upon the world.” Since everyone was in a panic, everyone was making irrational decisions, so after Proctor talked some sense to Hale, he realized that Proctor was right and that some people who were accused were innocent. Finally, on page 98, Hale states, “But it does not follow that everyone accused is part of it.” This shows that he still believes that some of the accused may be a witch but he knows that not all of them are, which weakens the integrity of the Witch Trials.

When Hale is told by Parris, Reverend of the town’s church, that the Proctors are not coming to worship on Sunday, then there must be some secret as to why. Hale’s first thought is that they are allegiance with the Devil and his witchcraft, so when he goes to their house he starts to question them about their faith. In the middle of the questioning Ezekiel Cheever comes in to take Elizabeth Proctor to jail for apparently performing witchcraft on Abigail Williams. When John Proctor tries to explain to Hale that Abigail is faking, Hale says, “Charity, Proctor, Charity. What I have heard in her favor, I will not fear to testify in court.

The first way he does so is by trying to stop the accusations. Proctor states, “I-I have no witness and cannot prove it, except my word be taken. But I know the children’s sickness had naught to do with witchcraft” (Miller 68). Because of this, Reverend Hale himself begins to doubt the accusations being made. Later on, he attempts to save Elizabeth Proctor by confessing to lechery with Abigail.

INTRODUCTION In “The Crucible”, Arthur Miller illustrates through the characters that fear and hysteria can destroy communities and makes society fight among themselves and against their religion. BODY 1 Arthur Miller uses the character of Abigail Williams to provide evidence about the impact of hysteria and fear that is caused in Salem by the accusations of witchcraft. When the people from Salem start to accuse the girls and Abigail williams of witchcraft, Abigail feels that she is being threatened and tries to stay away from the problem, “She made me do it! She made Betty do it!”.(Arthur Miller, 1154)