What Is The Hysteria In The Crucible

The reason for the mass hysteria and the trials of witchcraft in the book the Crucible were all because of Abigail Williams. There are many people to point fingers at in this book but activity of Abigail in this book is excruciating and outlandish. One of many reasons to point fingers at Abigail is because, after her affair with John Proctor, John went back to his wife and asked for forgiveness and then Abigail Drank blood and did so-called witchcraft to try and kill Elizabeth (John Proctor's wife). If Abigail never had the affair or never tried to drink blood there wouldn’t be such an issue in Salem. What also led to this was her and the girls allegedly dancing and making potions to form some sort of witchcraft to also kill Elizabeth.

Mass Hysteria Have you given into any thought on why individuals act out the way they do to their actions? Gary Small, a professor in psychiatry at UCLA, says, “Mass Hysteria can strike anywhere, anytime. ”(psychologytoday.com) Around the middle ages, a nun that lived in France started to meow like a cat and pretty soon the rest of the convent started to follow; the group would endure together for many hours at specific points during the day creating mass hysteria. During the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthy Era, most townspeople were very vulnerable to witchcraft or being accused of witchery because of their religious lifestyle. So vulnerability made accusing easy for most.

Miller wants everyone to know that people can and will use mass hysteria as a tool, or even a weapon for personal advantage. ​In the play, Thomas Putnam takes advantage of the fear of others for personal gain. He is a wealthy person who believes that accusing others of witchcraft can make him wealthier. The accused

who's to blame for the hysteria in salem ? In The crucible(1953), Arthur Miller expresses that mass hysteria is the product of several people and can cloud one’s judgement. A Group of girls were found dancing in the woods, which is illegal due to their religious belief. One of the younger girls was diagnosed with the symptoms of being a “witches”.

In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, Mary Warren, Abigail Williams, and Tituba, a slave, are instrumental in spreading the hysteria that resulted in the Salem Witch Trials. Throughout the play, Miller based the plot of his play on historical events and his characters show how paranoia and fear can escalate. Abigail Williams has a good sense of how to manipulate others and gain control over them. All these things add up to make her an awesome antagonist. She accuses Tituba for conjuring spirits which causes mass hysteria that blinded the people of Salem from the truth which is disregarded through the domino effect of accusations, the destruction of Salem, and death as the result.

Hysteria in Salem The Crucible is a play written by American author, Arthur Miller, in 1953. It is a somewhat fictional play about the Salem Witch Trials. Miller wrote it as an allegory to the Red Scare, the promotion of fear of a potential rise of communism. Miller himself was blacklisted for refusing to testify in front of the HUAC, a committee that was created to investigate any person who might be a communist.

Brook Mills Mrs. Brown English 10 11/03/15 Many individuals of Salem have to deal with everyday hysteria with many people accused of being a witch and being executed. Other than Abigail, three characters who are to blame for the hysteria in The Crucible are Judge Danforth, John Proctor, and Mary Warren. A character that contributed to the hysteria in The Crucible was Judge Danforth. He contributed to the hysteria because he sent men and women to be executed for no reason.

When people are placed under an intense feeling of fear, they begin to commit actions they never thought they were capable over. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a young group of girls commit witchcraft which eventually leads to the arrest of over 100 women. This is similar to a time in the 1950s when Joseph McCarthy accuses government officials of communism and that ultimately leads to hundreds of citizens losing their jobs. The Crucible reveals the similarities between The Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s and McCarthyism of the 1950s because it demonstrates how a society can be tremendously impacted by the feeling the fear.

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.

Do you understand my meaning?”. This is showing the the judge had complete trust in them and when John had pointed out that the things that the women were doing were kinda suspicious he questions it and realizes that the girls are faking all of it. Sadly he does nothing, still knowing what all the women are doing is suspicious he doesn 't stop the hangings and imprisonments. Judge Danforth may have not started the Hysteria started in the town but he fed into it by believing Abigail and not stopping her from lying when he found out she was lying to the court and the people in the town of Salem. You could say that Judge did not know that Abigail was lieing out of nativity and all his actions were lead by his dense nature because of his faith, blinding him from what was in front of him because he needed something to justify the reason for killing and imprisoning these women.

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.

The play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller demonstrates the implications of a society in complete chaos over an irrational fear of witchcraft in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Fear plays an immense role in the way people make their decisions, such as when the characters of Danforth and Mary Warren resort to hypocrisy when no other options remain. Danforth and Mary Warren both embody hypocrisy, as seen when Mary says she cannot lie anymore and then lies when she becomes scared for her life, and Danforth when saying lying will send a person to Hell, but then forcing people to choose between lying and death. Mary Warren exemplifies hypocrisy extraordinarily well in the scene when she and Proctor travel to the courthouse so she can confess that the girls have pretended everything and they never actually saw spirits.

However, at what cost? In supporting the Patriot Act, American citizens succumbed to a moment of absolute hysteria, and disregarded any rationale and concern for the future in order to assure temporary security. In doing so, Americans sacrificed their unalienable freedom for protection, granting the government direct access to their privacy. Similarly, in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, written in the mid-twentieth century, the people of Salem, Massachusetts capitulate their unalienable rights to reasoning and liberty at the price of safety. In his play, Arthur Miller juxtaposes humanity’s desire to feel safe with its needs for logic and all other rights through the character Parris, the willingness of the girls to lie, and the downfall of Salem society’s justice.

This causes tension between him and Judge Danforth who believes Proctor is guilty of adultery because of his affair with Abigail Williams. Danforth begins to conceive that Salem citizens can not only carry out sins and break away from the church, but from the government as well. This is perceived as a personal fear, but it’s the actions Danforth carries out that makes the fear spread among the community. He questions those who are convicted, and punishes them without a proper trial. Anyone can be accused, and many can be hanged because someone had accused them of going against Puritan standards.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is about the corruption, lying, strict actions of the Salem witchcraft trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Miller was inspired to write this play to relate to the era of McCarthyism during the 1950’s that he and American citizens were experiencing. In the 1950’s Joseph McCarthy starting accusing public figures of being guilty of treason by supporting the communist party (of Russia). But McCarthy had no physical proof or evidence that suggested his wild accusations. The accusations caused havoc in America, hundreds imprisoned, and thousands to lose their job.