The Crucible is a play by Arthur Miller. One of the major themes of “The Crucible” is hysteria because people are exaggerating things like they saw people dancing in fires and the girls pretending that they are being attacked by a demon or a an evil spirit. In act III Abigail is pretending that she sees a bird in the beam. Abigail said “ Why--? Why do you come yellow bird?” Act 3, Pg. 224. The girls joined Abigail and started to exaggerate that they are being attacked by a bird. The other theme of “The Crucible” is accusations because the townspeople started accusing each other that they were practicing witchcraft even without having evidence they still accuse them because they hate the person. Innocent people lost their lives because of
The Hysteria in The Crucible and Terrorism Hysteria can bring people to do the unthinkable; for example, taking someone's life. The hysteria in societies throughout history has resulted in endless problems and many deaths of innocent people. Though during extremely different times, the hysteria in the play The Crucible and the hysteria that has resulted from acts of terror by the group al Qaeda can be closely related to one another. The time periods in which the events happened resulted in some differences between the two, but the result is the same, mass hysteria. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and the al Qaeda terrorist attacks have many similarities and differences.
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.
The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, was published on January 22, 1953. This play was based on the 1692 Salem Witch Trials. He used the 1692 Salem Witch Trials as an allegory to show the similarities between the 1692 Trials and the 1950’s Red Scare and how hysteria tears apart a community. In The Crucible, the mass hysteria, imaginary fear/anxiety, of witchcraft uncontrollably spread into the Salem community leading to many innocent deaths. This draws a clear parallel to the 1950’s Red Scare where the scare for communists spread through the United States of America.
The Crucible The Crucible, a play written by Author Miller portrays the hysteria that happened in Salem during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. The play is fiction, however the plot of the play is based on the Salem With Trials which did occur in history. During the play, the citizens of Salem portray very exaggerated and uncontrollable emotion as the fear of witches, witchcraft, and the Devil fill the town. Judge Danforth also displays hysteria.
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.
To begin, a major theme of The Crucible by Arthur Miller is Hysteria. This theme is developed throughout the play by demonstrating the community being scared of witchcraft and going on a craze with accusing people of witchcraft. In the play, Abigail Williams is caught dancing in the woods and blames Tituba. The play states, “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil!
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a very famous play written in the early 1950’s. The play is about the period in American history known as the Salem witch trials. During this time period many people wanted to get rid of witch craft and it was strongly believed that witch craft was possible. People who were accused of witchcraft would have to go to court, stand in front of a authority who was high in power, be intimidated, interrogated, and frequently coerced in betraying others in order to save their own life. The community of Salem, Massachusetts is torn apart by hysteria, ignorance, and hate.
Have you ever had those nosy neighbors that start rumours about you or the people that live around you? Having those people around you can lead to discomfort and drama. People were accused of being communists in the 1960’s. Arthur Miller was exposed to it. The mcCarthy hearings inspired Arthur Miller to write The Crucible.
In the Crucible, grudges and personal problems play a key role in creating the witch trial hysteria. The very first event in the play was spurred on by a grudge. Abigail, wanting to be with John, slips out into the woods with her friends and drinks a charm to kill his wife. After being nearly caught, she accuses Tituba of doing witchcraft to save herself. Tituba then accuses two other women to save herself as well.
In “The Crucible” written by Arthur Miller, there are many themes. One major theme would be that buying too much into your own beliefs can be dangerous and that it’s important to listen to your gut and if you don’t it can lead to mass hysteria. Reverend Parris said “There is a faction that is sworn to drive me from my pulpit. Do you understand that” (Miller act 1). Parris is fearful of losing his position and his power that he lets his extreme beliefs and actions start mass hysteria in the Salem community causing the death of many innocent people.
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.
During the late 17th century a total of 200 people were accused of participating in witchcraft, while 19 people lost their lives to the mass hysteria. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a group of girls start a huge uproar in Salem, Massachusetts when they start screeching about Salemites being associated with the Devil. Throughout the play write, it shows the consequences of mass hysteria and how it puts people's lives in danger. Abigail Williams causes a wave of mass hysteria and because of her trickery, innocent people have died by her and the other girl’s actions, for this Abigail is the most unforgivable character in The Crucible.
In The Crucible, the acting of the girls was the principal source of propaganda to continue the trials. Abigail, the young girl who commenced all of the accusations, acted in such a hysteric way that she caused people to believe her. A faultless example of this was when another young girl, Mary, attempted to inform the court that all of the girls were just acting bewitched and that none of them were actually affected by witchcraft. In response to this, Abigail made a Colossal scene in the courthouse; claiming that Mary sent her spirit out in the form of a bird to attack her. “Abigail (to the ceiling, in a genuine conversation with the “bird,” as though trying to talk it out of attacking her).
“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.
The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller. It takes place during the Salem witch trials. Salem is an isolated town in the Boston area that is set up perfectly for witchcraft accusations. Abigail is being accused of witchcraft and she is a manipulative girl. Abigail has been accused of committing witchcraft in the woods and she plans to bring other people down with her.