Responsible For Hysteria In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Courage is not the absence of fear. Rather it is the judgment that something else is more important than fear. In Arthur Miller's, The Crucible, many characters have to decide whether they should confess to dealing with the devil and run away their “good name” or be hanged for something they did not do. In life, everyone is responsible for their actions which mean the characters in The Crucible should confess to their actions with the devil. Abigail Williams the vehicle that drives the play, Abigail, Reverend Hale, and Mrs. Putnam all bear the responsibility for the hysteria in the trial. Mrs. Putnam creates hysteria into the trail by making rumors and false claims. As Mrs. Putnam walks inside small upper bedroom which Abigail, Susanna,

As Reverend Hale walks into the small upper bedroom in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris, the narrator describes one of his quotes. “The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone” (Page 35). While Hale puts his trust in Abigail and she is lying about her committing witchcraft and Betty in an unresponsive state, Hale can't figure out if Betty committed witchcraft. Late in the play, inside a room in Salem meeting house, Hale was speaking to Danforth. Hale states “Excellency, I have signed seventy-two death warrants: I am a minister of the lord, and I dare not take a life without there be a proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience may doubt it” (Page 104). Hale begins to fear the justice of God as he realizes his position, he may have signed seventy-two death warrants to innocent people. Without hard evidence, no one can make the call if Betty is at fault of witchcraft.Hale is just doing his job and it may not show a factor of hysteria. But, Hale is holding up the call that announces if the girls are guilty which, makes the city on the edge of their seat to see if the girls are innocent or guilty. By Hale holding the call, it creates hysteria to see if the rumors are real or