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Examples Of Hysteria In The Crucible

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Fear pushes people to do bad things, to better themselves, and to keep them safe. But sometimes this makes it worse for people around. Throughout history, there were many driving forces on what people had feared. This was through mass hysteria. In the story, “The Crucible,” by Arthur Miller, he was able to show this fear and hysteria being his driving force. Throughout the play and during the time it was made. This was during the Mccarthyism era which publicized dishonest accusations, which is ironic because this happens all throughout The Crucible. To begin, during the time period this was written, there was a huge outbreak of fear about witches and the Mccarthyism era. The crucible was written in 1953, this was the same time period as Mccarthyism. This was a time of fear and distress. It sent people into a state of knowing if they were to be accused, then there were consequences. John Proctor, a character who held great amounts of power, was in fear, just as much as anyone else."ll tell you …show more content…

The characters in the story were all in such a great state of fear, and even if they had known that they did nothing wrong, they would do anything to keep the blame off of them. While others knew that they had done bad and confessed. “I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (1.481-482). Abigail started to accuse others to keep the blame off of herself, and not make her the suspect, even though she was in the center of it all. “There be no blushing about my name…she hates me, uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave.” (1.65-66). This is also said by Abigail and it shows how she was blaming an innocent woman, because she wanted her husband, because of a past

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