Catie Hassett Mrs. Hodges H American Literature 25 October, 2017 Hysteria in Salem From the Merriam-Webster dictionary, hysteria can be defined as behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess. In The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, hysteria serves as a major theme that controls many of the characters, both in their mental beliefs and physical actions. The tightly-knit Puritan society that makes up Salem, in the 1690s where the play takes place, did not accept a single idea of witchcraft and wizardry in any way, shape, or form, due to their strict religious beliefs and principles. The rumors of witchcraft alone makes the people of Salem act by hysterical fear which leads to multiple innocent deaths and …show more content…
At the beginning of the play, Abigail triggers the mass hysteria in Salem as she spreads rumors about the witchcraft directed to Betty, Reverend Parris’ daughter. She continues to have effects on the other characters that soon become involved with the situation at hand. Abigail consistently denies her own accusations and passes the false allegations on to other girls in an attempt to save her reputation. The rumors Abigail spreads eventually lead to a questioning for witchcraft. Tituba, her family’s servant, falls to be the victim of the issue and is interrogated by the town. During the questioning, Tituba proclaims, “Reverend, I do believe somebody else be witchin’ with these children” (51). Following Abigail by example, Tituba blames others for the accusations with the fear of her life. Tituba confesses and gives the names of Sarah Good and Mrs. Osborne which causes more hysteria with Mrs. Putnam, a woman who is already caught up in the madness. The denial and accusations of the characters all trail back to the event of Abigail spreading the rumors. Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife, is also overcome by hysteria due to Abigail. Elizabeth and John’s marriage falters after
Throughout, "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller suspicion of witchcraft is brought up as it is blasphemy to practice such sorcery in this time. This exemplifies the mass hysteria that can occur in the world. History is repeated as the events in the crucible reflect events that involve mass hysteria in the twentieth century. Although the crucible also reflects the red scare with communism that occurred innthe 1920's it also is similiar to the problem people are facing with muslims as a muslim terrorist group called ISIS brings fear to citizens. The start of the mass hysteria of ISIS began shortly after the attack on the twin towers.
In The Crucible (1953), Arthur Miller illustrates how mass hysteria of “witches” blinds the truth of fake acts of sorcery destroying religious purpose with the government laws. Laws of religion were broken when a bunch of girls went into the forest and dances around preaching for their wishes to be true to a woman named Tituba. Tituba did “witchcraft” to these girls as Reverend Parris finds the girls dancing around. Reverend Parris took the girls home and tell to some people about their selfish acts in the woods. The girls acts were not correct as the girls state that they were bewitched by Tituba.
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.
The last, but not least example of why mass hysteria takes over this town is when at the end of act two John Proctor said, “We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!” this quote shows that most of the things that are happening are because of vengeance, people are accusing people that no one likes in town in order to become powerful in the town, or to get rid of that people. Mass hysteria conducts people to believe that all people that is being accused are witches without even proving it or listening to what they say in their defense. for this reason hysteria caused the death of many innocent people, just because they were unfairly accused
Miller’s play may be fiction, but the play shows how paranoid and fear can escalate. The Crucible can be analyzed using many different criticisms. Brooke Akinson said, “For "The Crucible," despite its current implications, is a self-contained play about a terrible period in American history. Silly accusations of witchcraft by some mischievous girls in Puritan dress gradually take possession of Salem.
Tituba called him!’” (Miller 42). Readers will find that, this section of the play is very tense with the rise of a newly formed conflict. The conflict is clearly depicted, Abigail is lying to resolve the pressure of questions from both Reverend Parris and Reverend Hale about the events that occurred that night with the dancing. Abigail trying to resolve this conflict led to Abigail ‘confessing’ or lying to ensure her own life and not be hung for witchcraft.
Throughout The Crucible, fear and hysteria destroy all of Salem’s good judgement. The people who live in Salem do not know how to handle the madness that is taking place. They believe that the only way to attempt to handle it is to give in to it. This is where it is shown that fear can be so much more than fear. It can be used for political benefit, personal gain, and even as ammunition for revenge.
Once Tituba walks in, Abigail immediately points to her and says “She made me do it! She made Betty do it! She makes me drink blood!” (Miller 43). This is when hysteria begins; when Reverend Hale triggers a reaction from Abigail and causing her to falsely accuse Tituba of forcing her to do the things that might show signs of witchcraft.
Once Abigail is indicted of witch craft she exclaims that Tituba "...sends her spirit on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer," Tituba quickly retaliates only for Abigail to inform Reverend Hale she is lying (Miller 43). Albeit Abigail wasn't so selfish and took the punishment she deserved, none of the accusations would have been made. Protecting herself was her only goal but little did she know that it started the whirlwind of dreadful events. Abigail makes things worse when she has to threaten the other girls such as Betty to lie. Abigail warns the girls that if, "...either of [them] breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and [she] will come to [them] in the black of some terrible night and [she] will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you" (Miller 20), it was crystal clear that if one rats her out they're dead.
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.
Abigail is extremely concerned with her well-being and reputation. In Act One, Reverend Parris confronts Abigail about dancing in the forest, and, instead of confessing, she begins denouncing others. This illustrates how she is willing to allow others to be harmed because of her extreme fear. One example of this is when Abigail states, “Not I sir—Tituba and Ruth” (Miller 15). The character of the residents of Salem is not exceptional.
Throughout The Crucible, numerous people use subtexts to dissemble their true intentions. In Act One, the characters are often found arguing with one another over the accusations of bewitching Betty within the forest. The teenage girls, especially Abigail Adams (cousin to Betty Parris), are scolded, berated and questioned for a significant amount of time. Reverend Hale interrogates the accused Abby, asking a multitude of questions with the intention for her to succumb and admit to have practiced witchcraft within the forest. Fearing for her own safety, Abigail makes a calumny about the Barbadian slave, Tituba, claiming she was the culprit performing witchcraft on the teenagers: “She made me do it!
Fear that spread among a group of people in Salem during the Salem Witch Trials, that event in history is a prime example of Mass Hysteria. In Salem the reason why so many women were killed was because of Mass Hysteria. It caused many people, in Salem during this event to think fast, rash and jump to conclusions. “The Crucible”, a short play dedicated to these events in Salem shows us how hysteria was such a leading cause of why the Witch Trials had even occurred. Reverend Hale, Abigail Williams and Judge Danforth.
Elia Kazan a Greek-American director once said, “Whatever hysteria exists is inflamed by mystery, suspicion and secrecy” In The Crucible by Arthur Miller the town of Salem gets warped into a loop of lies and false accusations. A group of girls claim to be able to see spirits to avoid being called witches, and accuse others of being witches, starting a chain reaction. Now others accuse people of being witches in order to get rid of those they don‘t like, and so they be hanged. Hysteria and conformity cause an uproar of lies that kill innocent people in Salem.
One of the major themes in The Crucible is hysteria and how it allows the people of the town to give up reason and morality. In order to understand why so many of the towns people are afraid, the community of Salem begins to believe that this fear has justifiable origins. The people of Salem are so concerned with their reputations that they are willing to let others be harmed, fuelling hysteria in the process, just to protect themselves (Florman and Kestler). Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible shows how hysteria, powered by religious zeal, replaces logic, leading to chaotic situations that ultimately tear apart the community. Much of the hysteria brought onto the community is powered largely by the strict Puritans’ religious zeal.