In the words of Chuck Palahnniuk, “Hysteria is impossible without an audience”. Throughout history, there are many examples of hysteria and panic throughout the public. Arthur Miller brilliantly depicts an example of this in his play, The Crucible. Another example of panic quickly spreading throughout a community, is Sen McCarthy and red scare, which is also referred to as McCarthyism. People take advatage of hysteria to further personal vendettas, or to gain more power within a community. Hysteria is described as, “a state in which your emotions (such as fear) are so strong that you behave in an uncontrolled way”(Merriam). When an entire community falls prey to this, it gets dangerous. There are problems when people make decisions based entirely off of fear. They forget about simple logic and start making rash decisions. This allows smart people to stir up more chaos, and use it to their asvantage. The most obvious example of someone, in the Crucible, using this to their advantage, is Abigail. Abigail has unresolved issues from her childhood, so readers do not know exactly what is wrong with her, but from the start it is very clear that she is exceptionally smart and manipulative. This is shown at the very start of the play. …show more content…
Danforth is the presiding judge during the witch trials. He is viewed, by the town, and by himself, as a holy man of God. Because he has more power during witch trials, he allows witchcraft rumors to continue. Throughout the play, there are many times when Danforth is put in a situation to stop madness, but he never does. In Act IV Danforth says, “You have most certainly seen some person with the Devil. Mister Proctor, a score of people have already testified they saw this woman with the devil”. Danforth is using the girls' testimonies as solid evidence. By doing so, he is allowing witchcraft rumors to spread, putting him in a greater position of
Mass hysteria has been part of history since the beginning of time. It happened in the United States the years 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. In Salem, two young girls were responsible for starting mass hysteria by showing erratic behavior and accusing other people of witchcraft. This resulted in the death of over 20 people. Salem citizens were very confused and scared because they were never sure of how secure they actually were. Another reason Salem citizens were nervous was because, if their fate was put to the test, it would be in the hands of an unreliable court. Another event that involves mass hysteria was the one known as “The Red Scare”. The Red Scare was a variety of actions that led to an enduring episode of fear and hostility through the years 1940s and 1950s. The Red Scare was caused by a series of threats towards America. The Red Scare had many figures but two that were exemplary to others were Hoover and McCarthy. These men stirred up the environment with more problems than it had before. Citizens of America were surrounded by many threats especially their homes being corrupted by the pressure they were surrounded by. Politics played a very keystone part in The Red Scare because it was the fuel to the fire. Families and friends were being separated since
Hysteria is defined as an exaggerated or irrepressible emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people. In Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, hysteria rocked a small Puritan community. Over the span of four short months, nineteen people were hanged to death and another was pressed to death by stones. Puritans in the community accused one another of witchcraft—a crime punishable by death—and so hysteria swept the village. The causes of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 remain a mystery to this day; however, religious, economical, and social reasons were undoubtedly to blame.
During both the devastating Holocaust in the Germany and the tragic Salem Witch Trials in the small town of Salem, innocent people were brutally killed, causing hysteria among the people. Both groups of people endured hardships because of the hysteria that occurred among them. This hysteria caused people to react in ways that they would not usually act. Both of these events are very historical and help The United States of America be a unified and prosperous country that it has grown to become today. Hysteria is defined as an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear, often characterized by irrationality, laughter, weeping
Mass hysteria can strike anywhere, anytime. Mass hysteria is an illusion or condition that affects a group of people, and is caused by anxiety, fear or stress. It can sometimes put people at risk because in most cases, it makes people sick. Mass hysteria has a negative impact on people like it did on the people of Salem who were killed and locked away. The Crucible was one of many examples of how fear can cause mass hysteria and unfortunately there are many more. Fear causes mass hysteria and has many cases that can prove that this is true.
The apparent difference in socio-cultural context, target audience, and form further reiterates the idea of mass hysteria, as both Miller’s and Moore’s varied perception of hysteria is developed alternatively through different perspectives, structures, and context. However, both develop mass hysteria through the
Hysteria was a very obvious theme shown throughout the play, The Crucible. It was all started by a few young girls in Salem, Massachusetts. They were all dancing in the woods one night and were caught by Paris, the reverend in that small town. The next day two of the young girls were sick and would not move, talk, nor eat . The town began to start talk of witch craft
On September 11th, 2001 tragedy struck, when two planes flew into the World Trade Center, a plane crashed into the Pentagon, and a plane that crashed down in Pennsylvania. These horrific acts of terrorism changed America into what it is today. It changed the way people thought about others and how equal the American people really are. The United States was in a panic and was ready to accuse others immediately. The Crucible showed us that a shocking, confusing event can make people almost go insane with fear. Many are willing to risk others lives to get their points across. This is when hysteria hit the town of Salem and later the United States. Hysteria is an exaggerated, uncontrollable emotion that usually specializes in a group of people. Like Salem people were accused and unjustifiably punished. The attack on the world trade center affected how many live their lives today both mentally and physically. Opinions like,“9/11 lead to mass hysteria because it was a horrible, sudden tragedy that many people did not see coming”(Maravilla,Perez,Avina, Pg 1). The long term effects of this incident were unnerving. The leaders of this society had to change how they protected this country and had to alter their immediate opinions of a certain people, in fact most people had to as well. The cause of the hysteria was just after the events occurred when the air became thick with worry and uneasiness. This tragic historical event caused several hundreds to live in fear for what “might be
Have you ever been caught in a time where there was a case of mass hysteria and it had affected many people? Hysteria is an exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people. This is seen threw out many times in history. As shown in the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States intensified in the late 1940s and early 1950s, hysteria over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. this became known as the Red Scare.
Throughout history, mass hysterias have occurred as the result of psychological stress and the irrational fear of the unknown. In fact, the Salem Witch trial was the result of the irrational fear from the town that the devil was present in their everyday lives. In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller presents the consequences of the fear of witchcraft spreading through the community of Salem. Laura Dimon furthers Gladwell’s argument in “What Witchcraft is Facebook” by arguing that hysterias occur because of preexisting tensions and psychological stress. Thus, as long as the fear of the unknown is present in a society, oppression and psychological abuse will endure, resulting in individuals to feeling vulnerable and succumbing to the pressures of their disordered and dysfunctional environment.
Hysteria is an exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people. Hysteria is fear of the highest degree. Fear is defined as a feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, is a story inspired by actual historical events that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts. People in Salem start accusing others of doing witchcraft and then the trend goes on in a continuous cycle.During the time of the Salem Witch Trials fear and hysteria blinded people from the truth.
Over the years, mass hysteria has had its break outs and for many different reasons depending on the time period. The mass hysteria hat happened in the 1690‘s was because of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 happened do to the belief that sickness and disease was the act of the devil, or Satan himself, and in result the towns people would kill or penalize those cursed by Satan to death. There were many different ways that the wold be penalized but that is not the point. How it all got to the point of killing the cursed is quite simple. Social reformation was a big deal in the 1600‘s as it kept becoming more and more important and time passed by. People i the 1600‘s also didn‘t understand much more than religion. So, on
Hysteria and Fear The rise of hysteria and fear seems to build and evolve and it has a huge impact on the way things are viewed in the world today. The relevance of the theme hysteria in The Crucible does relate to modern society in different ways. In the crucible mass hysteria can have a massive impact on any community and the results can be devastating.
Mass hysteria can have an immense effect on situations and groups of people. It can transform a person’s way of thinking and develop a different reaction to a situation based on excessive fear or anxiety. For example, in the Salem Witch Trials, mass hysteria completely blindsided the townspeople, judges, and reverends. The mass hysteria surrounding the Salem Witch Trials were justified.
What is mass hysteria? It is a condition in which a large group of people exhibit similar physical or emotional symptoms, such as anxiety or extreme excitement. In the Crucible, the Salem Witch Trials take place. The Salem Witch Trials took place in 1642 in Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem Witch Trials was a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft. The Crucible and the Salem Witch Trials is a notable example of mass hysteria. One example of mass hysteria was in 1994, The Toxic Lady. The Toxic Lady was a woman whose body and blood made the workers at Riverside General Hospital fall ill. But, when doctors and professionals took a closer look in the situation; they found out that mass hysteria has taken
English written feature article – impact of hysteria We all have flaws, and yet one simple flaw can change the reputation of a single person, household or nation. Flaws can generate either acceptance or hysteria; there is no in-between. Back in the 1950’s, McCarthyism in America created so many imperfections in communists reputations that it lead to deaths in relationships, careers, friendships and loss of credibility. Similar things happened in The Crucible, a play about the Salem witch hunts in 1962, which relates back to McCarthyism in many ways.