Mass hysteria is a phenomenon that has repeated itself throughout history and is characterized by fear, paranoia and irrational behavior or beliefs by a group of people. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the mass hysteria and irrational overreaction during the Salem Witch trials as an allegory to address the hysteria over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. known as the Red Scare. All three events vary in the intensity of hysteria as well as the size of the hysterical population, although similarities such as the use of scapegoats, accusations based on insubstantial evidence, and irrational accusations and exaggerated emotional reactions found in both The Crucible and The Red Scare can also be applied to the current hysteria …show more content…
In The Crucible, the hysteria is mainly focused around the small town of Salem Massachusetts, as opposed to the Red Scare where the hysteria was widespread across the U.S. The Ebola outbreak, however, has become worldwide as more and more countries begin to fear the spread of the disease. The U.S. has become especially hysterical, paranoia has replaced initial fear, fueled by media hype and. In a recent CNN article, author Saeed Ahmed discusses the irrationality of the situation, "Fear-bola attacks the part of the brain responsible for rational thinking, it starts with a low-grade concern about the two health care workers diagnosed with Ebola in Dallas and slowly builds into fear of a widespread epidemic in the United States." (Ahmed). The Salem Witch trials were a result of a spiritual/religious movement with the goal of uncovering and eliminating supposed witchcraft, while the Red Scare was a political movement with the goal of uncovering and eliminating communists in the U.S. Ebola is not a spiritual movement, nor a political movement, although in an article, Paul Vallely writes “Ebola is a medical disease and a political disease” (Vallely). The hysteria and stigma surrounding Ebola has created a bubble of fear and paranoia over the U.S. which has prompted Americans to make grandiose and irrational claims, going as far …show more content…
For all three examples of mass hysteria, the hysteria originally began as minimal before spiralling out of control as more and more people became involved or more false accusations and theories were made. The intensity and rationality of the hysteria varies for each event, in The Crucible, the people of Salem fear a perceived threat to which they begin to make false connections in order to support their accusations, such as the Putnam’s who accuse Rebecca Nurse of witchcraft after seven of Goody Putnam’s infants have died after being delivered by Rebecca Nurse. No substantial evidence is provided to support this accusation and in the midst of hysteria, the people of Salem begin to see how they can personally benefit from the fragile situation, and in the Putnam’s case, to gain revenge. Individuals during the Red Scare who were believed to be communists or associated with communist activity were charged, arrested and or detained, same for individuals believed to practice or be associated with witchcraft were arrested and expected to confess or hang. The same harsh ultimatum was given to the accused in the Red Scare, denying communist ties or affiliations only made the court more suspicious. These individuals faced difficult decisions as their lives and future were placed in jeopardy, as compared to individuals who have been
Fear has become part of humanity as humans evolve over time. Since the beginning of time humans have always been feared of the unknown. This fear of the unknown has given humans a drive to progress to be better. In the past there have been societies that take wrongful advantage of this fear by creating mass hysteria by religious, political, and social activities such as the Puritans in Salem. The famous play The Crucible by Arthur Miller demonstrates this mass hysteria which has led people of Salem in wrongful accusations and death of twenty individual citizens of Salem for witchcraft.
The Crucible particularly, showcased this hysteria in many ways. One example comes directly from the First Church in Salem. The Salem church, at the time, created mass frenzy because of their strong support of Abigail Williams’s and the girl’s crazy accusations. The community, at first, didn’t believe the claims coming out of the girls’ mouths but once the church claimed to believe the girls, the community were forced to believe what the church was saying. This is when the extreme mass-hysteria and name-calling ramped up and became a problem.
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.
In 1953, playwright Arthur Miller took inspiration from the unfolding Red Scare- an era of inflated panic over the perceived threat of communist infiltration- to write his play titled “The Crucible”. Having lived through the frenzy surrounding the communist accusations, Miller understood the importance of conveying the dangers such hysteria poses to the maintenance of a functioning society. While Miller based the play on historic events, he never claimed complete accuracy, instead including a preface addressing the revisions he made and why. Miller’s intent was never to provide a strictly accurate depiction of the Salem witch trials; he wanted to provide a parable for McCarthyism, using the dramatization of events to warn Americans of the destructive potential of hysteria. Therefore, it can be discovered that while Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” accurately portrays fear and hysteria in terms of a fear of persecution, his depictions prove predominantly inaccurate, exaggerating mob mentality and neglecting to emphasize the true magnitude of a fear of the Devil.
“The Crucible” by Arthur Miller and The Red Scare share many characteristics. “The Crucible” describes the Salem Witch Trials. These trials were during a period of time where men and women were very rancorous so others feared to speak up because they would be accused of witchcraft and killed. Similar to Arthur Miller’s book, the Red Scare was a period of time in the late 40’s and 50’s in which United States citizens were intensely paranoid of an opposing threat of communism in Eastern Europe and Asia and ultimately communists infiltrating the United States. What the Red Scare and “The Crucible” have in common is that accusations of witchcraft or communism were false, people were blind to the truth, and the accusers weren’t very tactful and
Miller’s use of rhetorical strategies is used to describe the audience's viewpoint during real-life time events through the fictionalized story of the Salem in which it demonstrates witch trials in Massachusetts Bay Colony during the 1692-3 in which were the same situation. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, was written during the late 40s and the early 50s illustrates the effects of paranoia during the “Red Scare”. Paranoia can make people alter their future outcomes with their actions when fear is introduced upon society, questioning ethnic morals will lead to consequences that shall be brought upon if broken. The situation brought tension between society, leading to the loss of each other and betrayal upon each other. Miller's use
In The Crucible, the young girls in the town lie about their actions in the woods, which cumulates into a witchhunt and the death of innocent people. The girls were only a small portion of the town, but as they continued to condemn their neighbors, the panic grew, and continued to grow as important people in the town pushed it. Arthur Miller reveals that mass hysteria is caused by a small part of the whole in The Crucible, and this concept is still relevant today as shown through the media and the refugee crisis. In The Crucible, Miller indicates that mass hysteria is caused by only a small portion of the whole society, but quickly spreads to encompass the whole of society.
The author, Arthur Miller, wrote “The Crucible” that tells us the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. The society in Salem in 1692 was full of McCarthyism and fear because they thought their other citizens are doing witchcraft. Miller tells us that ignorance and fear combined can destroy a town’s social well-being. On the play, “The Crucible”, the citizens of Salem’s reacted with fear when they hear that someone has a sign of being a witch.
Stopping Panic One of America’s greatest plays is “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller. The Crucible is based off of the true events of the Salem Witch Trials, which caused mass hysteria all throughout Salem; However, it was a satire that explained the hysteria during Arthur Miller’s time known as the “Red Scare”. During this satire, he uses characters that had real-life counterparts to explain how mass hysteria, which is exaggerated and uncontrollable emotions of fear, to show how people of his day were doing the same things and how they needed to stop it before it got worse. In the play, two characters who could have stopped the hysteria that plagued Salem were Abigail Williams and Reverend Hale. One character that could have stopped the hysteria was Abigail Williams.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller and Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne are two stories that are based on mass hysteria and public shaming. Both stories and their topics are what helped to shape America’s early identity. In The Crucible, the townsfolk accept and become active in the hysterical climate not only out of genuine religious piety but also because it gives them a chance to express repressed sentiments and to act on long-held grudges”. This shows that there is mass hysteria in the story based on the quotation and its explain why people have mass hysteria or why they do it. A group of teenage girls is discovered dancing naked in the woods by the town minister.
The Crucible History is bound to repeat itself. Events in history can always be parallel to modern examples. This is a frequent occurrence and it is natural progression of history. Of course these parallels aren’t flawless. As such making a social commentary alluding to one event through the perspective of another may require some invention of facts.
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.
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.
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.
Communism was on the brain, and the government and its citizens were trying to put out the fire before it could even begin. Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” takes place under very similar circumstances, in a very different time. The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and 1693 were just as intense as the 1950’s, the setting was different, “Commies” were exchanged for witches, but hysteria remained a key player. Mass hysteria, like a plant, flourishes under the right conditions. While a plant needs sunlight, air, and water, hysteria needs fear,