Who Is To Blame For The Hysteria In The Crucible

As the story begins, countless teenage girls from Salem met at night in the woods including Abigail. The woods is known to be the “Devil’s place”, not many people dare to enter the woods. In the Puritan religion dancing is thought of a way to contact the devil. In the beginning, Tituba, Abigail Williams, and Betty Parris were caught by Reverend Parris dancing in the woods with other naked girls; Reverend keeps this a secret until his Betty falls ill to even eat or drink. He decides the only way to have the devil removed from town is to ask someone with more experience with witchcraft.

In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller utilizes the motif of mass hysteria. In the play townspeople panic about the accusation of people they know of being witches. In today's world we are surrounded by technology which allows news to travel fast. Recently, when a deadly disease called Ebola was found people began to panic and they were scared of being infected. The accusation of witches in the town and the Ebola found caused the same reaction in people.

The cumulative hysteria found in The Crucible leads to the loss of morality in the decision making of its characters. In the play there is a group of girls who have allegedly been victimized by witches, “folks are brought before them and if [the girls] scream and howl and fall to the floor-

John Proctor’s affair with Abigail Williams, a seventeen year old girl in the town of Salem, serves as his tragic flaw. The people of Salem respect John as a hard-working farmer and a good person. However, only his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, and Abigail know about the affair. John’s pride and reputation keeps this affair hidden from the rest of the town. When Abigail starts to accuse people of witchcraft, this secret catches up to John.

John had an affair with Abigail when Elizabeth was sick, which made Abigail crazy for him. John forces Abigail to began accusing innocent people so that she would be able to finally accuse Elizabeth. When Proctor finds himself on trial, he reveals to the court that he knows Abigail. This was a very bad decision because now the court will find it hard to believe him. Proctor tries to tell the judges that Abigail wants to replace his wife.

Hysteria is an exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people. In Arthur Miller's, The Crucible, hysteria plays an important role of tearing apart the community of Salem by creating an environment where people act on their grudges. As a result of these grudges the whole community is turning on each other and blaming people they have known for years on the one thing they believe is true. Members of the community deal with this hysteria in different ways, and some more harsh than others.

Abigail 's heartless attitude is shown in act two when she frames and accuses Elizabeth Proctor for witchcraft. She desired and longed for this revenge on poor Proctors innocent wife, aiming for her through out the play. Later on in Act Three she seems to lose her last attachment of society by destroying John Proctor, who she claims to love with all her heart. When John attempts and threatens to expose Abigail’s wrong doings, she skillfully manages to turn the whole problem around on him, sending him off

Abigail is consumed by the idea that John Proctor loves her. She considers that John’s kind actions towards her are more than just lust. Her acknowledgement that it would be a sin for him to love another woman besides his wife reveals that she believes that John Proctor has such deep feelings for her, which are undeniable no matter how wrong it may be. Though Abigail appears to be caught up in her idea of their forbidden love, her romanticized obsession is not enough to prove that her actions are completely motivated by her obsession of

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.

Abigail forces the girls of Salem to dance in the woods with her to help conjure spirits and make the charm to kill Goody Proctor. Abigail threatens the girls right after Betty took fright by saying, “let either of you breathe a word or the edge of a word about the other things and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.” (Miller, 144). Later on as the trials prolong Mary Warren turns on Abby and is telling the court that she lied. When Abigail then accuses Mary of witchcraft she turns back to Abby and obeys her once again.

Abigail is willing to accuse any one in her path of witchcraft even if it means taking the lives of those close to her. Abigail Williams’ emotional desire guides her actions even if it conflicts with morality. Abigail williams is driven to do unthinkable things because of her love for John Proctor. Abigail works in the Proctor’s home and while doing so she finds herself attracted to John. Abigail’s obsession with Proctor leads them to have an affair, which they try to keep

John Proctor’s affair with Abigail Williams, causes his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, to lose faith in him. As Elizabeth’s suspicion increases, so does his irritation. John’s annoyance and Elizabeth’s evident grudge is displayed through their language and tone with one another. In addition, their actions suggest their relationship lacks components needed for a healthy relationship–communication, trust, respect, etc. Being in an unhealthy relationship may not be obvious to those who are in it, but through one’s words and actions to the other, others can tell right

The contention between the characters have intensified as the argument escalates, and Proctor's failure at pinning the blame on Abigail has frustrated him. When Abigail begins another self righteous fit of possession and calls upon Heaven, Proctor can no longer stand her hypocrisy. He cries out in a “roaring voice” “breathless and in agony: It is a whore!” (Miller 109, 110).

He believes that children nor women would lie to him, but it somewhat fears him about the fear of witchcraft in a puritan society. In the Crucible, hysteria can engage by tearing up the whole community. This enables people to accuse others for the grudges held between them saying that they would take part in witchcraft or have any actions against the devil. “There is a misty plot afoot so subtle we should be criminal to cling to old respects and ancient friendships.

Abigail does all this for the man that she loves and had an affair with, John Proctor. If the reader begins to focus on John, his actions and what he stands for, they are easily able to recognize he portrays characteristics of the flawed nature of an individual. It is shown through the fact that he had an affair, isn’t able to forgive himself, and at the end of the book, is unable to give up something dear to him to save himself and others. When analyzing John Proctor, the first thing that stands out is that he had an affair with a 17 year-old Abigail Williams. Proctor has a wife who loves him and three children but still decides to stray from his family and fancies someone else.