Hysteria is defined as an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear, often characterized by irrationality, laughter, weeping, usually among a group of people. The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller is a prime example of hysteria, portrayed in the town of Salem through a series of witchcraft trials. The witchcraft trial caused disorder within the town of Salem and resulted in many unreasonable deaths. Throughout the course of the trial, many characters play a role in expanding chaos in Salem such as Abigail Williams and Reverend Parris. Specific characters that considerably aggravated this dilemma could have theoretically also ended the hysteria in Salem such as Reverend Hale, Abigail Williams, and Betty Parris. Reverend Hale is one of the
When a community gets so caught up and engulfed in the hysteria surrounding them they will be ravaged and ripped apart. In the Crucible Arthur Miller shows the effects of terror on the town of Salem Massachusetts by showing the role that hysteria has in deconstructing a person's common sense and ability to recognize what is true and what is a lie. The town of Salem is entirely consumed by the effects of hysteria surrounding witchcraft. Hysteria put a fog over their eyes and had the townspeople and the court believing that their neighbors, the people they have known their whole lives, were capable of witchcraft.
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.
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.
Fear in The Crucible Fear plays an important role in the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. Fear motivated the accusers and accused in the play like Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Mary Warren. Abigail Williams was really scared in the beginning of the play because she was drinking blood in the woods well all the other girls watched and danced. Another one of her fear was getting convicted by the court so she kept lying to the court so she would not get in trouble.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller relates to many hysterias that happen in reality. This book gives us the attention to this repetitive problem, and to prevent it in the future we can be more aware of what’s happening, and how to handle it. Likewise, The Red Scare was caused by the people themselves, there were many concerns in Eastern Europe and China about the issue of communism. The general idea of this novel is that there are continuous cases of hysteria that have happened in the past which is why Arthur Miller decided to make this novel and based off of his own experiences, he decided to bring consciousness on this matter; he wants people to understand the concept of hysteria. Although Fear was influenced into their minds, one element that
What Truly Caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria. On the Merriam Webster Dictionary website hysteria is defined as “a situation in which many people behave or react in an extreme or uncontrolled way because of fear,anger,etc. ”This is the exact same thing that happened in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible which is based off of the Salem Witch Trial hysteria. What truly caused the hysteria within the play and in the actual Salem Witch Trial can be multiple things
Demonstrated throughout Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, is the effect mass hysteria had on Salem. The trials held in Salem Massachusetts, in 1692 led to the execution of many innocent beings because of the accusation of taking part in witchcraft. The perturbation of some of the characters in play led to the atrocity that the trials became. In The Crucible, fear became the root reason for the destruction of the misinformed society by being the element that contributes to the mass hysteria. This is depicted through some of the characters including Abigail Williams, Mary Warren and the girls that blindly followed Abigail.
“The Crucible” is a 1953 play by the author Arthur Miller. The play is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the U.S. government blacklisted accused communists. Arthur Miller was questioned by the “House of Representatives' Committee on Un-American Activities” in 1956 and convicted of "contempt of Congress" for refusing to identify others present at meetings he had attended.
Paranoia and Hysteria in The Crucible Society is a fragile thing. As history has proved time and time again, when emotions run high amongst people, societal order is often the first thing to dissolve. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the society of Salem, Massachusetts collapses due to the paranoia and hysteria generated by the witch hunts. The Crucible is set against the backdrop of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials.
“An era of chemical McCarthyism is at hand, and ‘guilty until proven innocent’ is the new slogan.” During the 1950s, a time period of mass hysteria came about in the United States whether someone was considered to be part of the Communist Party. The truth was nowhere to be found as people were condemned to being a communist and were sent to jail or their career was ruined with no evidence to prove they were guilty. Arthur Miller experienced this time period and wrote The Crucible as an allegory. In the play Abigail Williams and a group of girls were discovered dancing in the woods by Reverend Parris.
Throughout the town of Salem, Massachusetts fear has spread. It has affected everyone in the town and has brought nothing but chaos. The people of Salem are becoming more scared and determined to hunt down every witch they can find. In The Crucible, fear is appeared as a negative trait since it makes the people act differently during this period of time. Abigail showed fear when she said that Tituba was a witch and was performing witchcraft.
One cynical reason why people cause hysteria in society is to gain power. This is shown by a character in Author Miller’s play, The Crucible, and through the actions of past Senator McCarthy. Abigail Williams, a character in The Crucible, used the fear of witchcraft and being named a witch in Salem, Massachusetts to give herself leverage
The Crucible Essay The theme of hysteria is evident throughout Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and in everyday life and society. Driven by self-preservation, hysteria influences many characters’ actions and leads to the devastating witch trials in Salem. For instance, many characters in The Crucible are driven to execute drastic actions to sustain their reputation and protect themselves.
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” - Franklin D Roosevelt. Fear plays a major role for the tragic ending of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, because fear is upon the citizens of Salem, Massachusetts, it leads to unanticipated accusations, power, and hatred. This feeling, has occurred in everyone’s life at some point, which is more overpowering than some might think. Once hysteria arose about the girls dancing in the woods, due to all the fear it leads to unanticipated accusations, being a slave, Tituba was accused by Abigail to avoid any punishment.
Hysteria can be defined as the exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people. This definition proves true and exists throughout the course of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. In The Crucible, a group of girls go dancing in a forest around a cauldron, some even naked, and along with a black slave named Tituba. Reverend Parris, the local minister, then catches the girls in the act. As a result, Betty, one of the girls and Parris’s daughter, goes into what it seems like a coma.