Hysteria In The Crucible

The Salem Witch Trials caused imperative rulings on the lives of multiple people back in the late 1600s. In The Crucible we learn of several characters causing these crucial events to unfold. Reverend Parris and Reverend Hale may share similar titles, but do not let the titles deceive about this character duo. Despite the great likeness between the two in the opening act as the story progresses things differentiate from the beginning any multiple ways. Reverend Parris and Reverend Hale undoubtedly have similar and different things between them throughout the story in the aspects of their traits, motives and goals within the context of the play.

In The Crucible there are many different characters in question for whether or not it is their fault or not but one has to be decided. The play begins with Reverend Parris outside when he sees his niece and others dancing in the woods around a pot of something on the ground, when he saw this he immediately thought of the worst case scenario. The blame starts with Parris and there are many different ways to see that, for example: he worried more about the reputation of his name and not the well being of others, he was selfish and only wanted things for himself, and he called in someone else to fix the problem so he could hide behind them and so they could take the blame if things went south. The Salem Witch Trials in The Crucible were all over

“Whatever hysteria exists is inflamed by mystery, suspicion, and secrecy. Hard and exact facts will cool it” (Elia Kazan). The Crucible by Arthur Miller is about the story of the Salem witch trials and how people react to the situation during the 1690’s. Miller’s message concerning individual conscience in an atmosphere of fear and mass hysteria in The Crucible is that people can turn on others and suspect each other or tell lies or false accusations in order to save themselves or loved ones.

In act one of The Crucible, there exist two major conflicts which are underlying causes of the witchcraft hysteria. The conflict between Reverend Parris and the village leads Reverend Parris to make decisions which the average minister may not make in order to protect himself. These decisions will eventually create poor results and serve to feed the general hysteria. The conflict between Abigail and the Proctors leads Abigail to do things which are highly indicative of witchcraft. While there are many reasons for the hysteria, the conflicts between Reverend Parris and the village and between Abigail and the Proctors are truly what blow things out of proportion.

In The Crucible, Reverend Parris is the most responsible person for the tragic ending of the play. When Reverend Parris witnesses the dancing and the singing in the forest in the of the night, he thinks that they were practicing witchcraft. He overreacts at this and as a minister, he doesn’t want his name to be tinted with this accusation of witchcraft in his own house. He doesn’t care about his daughter health or Abigail being accused of witchcraft, all he cares about is his reputation.

To start off with one of the main characters of The Crucible─Reverend Samuel Parris─he is a minister of the church in the community who puts his authority as his first priority. On some circumstances, he will also try to cover up things not only for his ministry, but for his family. In the beginning of the play, he finds out about his niece Abigail practicing witchcraft and tries to get her to confess. “Parris: Now look you, child, your punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it” (10). Reverend Parris is accusing Abigail for being associated with witchcraft, at the same time it sounds like a threat to Abigail and himself only

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

Cases of mass hysteria have been recorded all over the globe and throughout the years. One such case was that of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, where various people were tried and convicted for witchcraft. These trials were the basis on which Arthur Miller wrote his play, The Crucible. Accordingly, there are many instances of mass hysteria throughout the play. The mass hysteria exhibited in the play can be described as anxiety and unusual behavior in a group of people caused by an abnormality with no real backing. In his play The Crucible, Arthur Miller exhibits multiple examples of mass hysteria and depicts the factors and effects related with it by utilizing characters like Abigail Williams and Judge Danforth to reinforce fear and credibility,

While reading the Crucible people may believe that witch trials are a thing of the past, but the truth is that witch hysteria is a conflict people even face today. Witch hysteria was first felt in 1692 when a group of young girls said they were possessed. This started to spread and everyone would accuse others of being witches. Lot of people were tried, and if they denied being a witch they would be hung. 20 people were put to death as a result of the trials. Looking at the Salem trials, as well as more recent events we can tell that human nature wants an explanation for the unexplainable.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It all started when Reverend Parris discovers a group of girls dancing in the woods. After he found the girls in the wood, his daughter Betty fall ill. Since Betty wouldn’t wake up, people become paranoid and started believing that witchcraft was real. Fake accusations were made and innocent people kept dying. In The Crucible there are many people to blame for all for everything that occurred, characters such a Abigail Williams, Reverend Hale, and Reverend Parris. Abigail Williams is to blame because she accused everyone else just to protect herself. Reverend Hale is also blame because he was the one who got people to think that witchcraft was real. Lastly Reverend Parris is to blame because he was just worried about himself and his reputation in Salem.

Within Arthur Miller’s award-winning play, The Crucible, there is a constant trend that flows through time. As the tale persists, Salem, Massachusetts gets wound up in the witch hunt of 1692, creating an infectious hysteria on all the villagers. City-wide fear overtakes individual thought and reasoning as well as it can today in America’s “trivial” matters.

In today's society there are many cases of mass hysteria just like long ago. In the book John Proctor says a quote that hits big time for mass hysteria, he says “God is dead” while laughing insanely, and if that does not cause mass hysteria then nothing does.

During the era of accused witchcraft in Salem during the 1690’s, the Puritan society revolved heavily on the words and the will of God, bestowed upon it by the reverends and other church officials. Within The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, Reverend Parris is arguably the most liable individual for the grave turn of events in Salem. Parris, the newly appointed reverend of the town, allowed his pride, ego, and greed to cloud his judgement and decision making throughout the duration of the witchcraft accusals. The weak reverend’s inability to speak up for those he knew were falsely accused, in lieu of losing his coveted position, was the true catalyst for the grave events that took place. In Act I, Parris understands that the witchcraft has originated not

The day after his daughter betty was not waking up and Parris is thinking that the girls were conjuring spirits and that his daughter is possessed “Parris says that if the girls were conjuring spirits, he needs to know because his "enemies" will surely find out and ruin him”(Miller, Arthur “The crucible act 1 summary and analysis)  Parris is not worried about the fact that they were dancing, he is worried about his reputation. Days past and the town are begging to find the witches so Reverend parris contracted a witch hunter Reverend hale a very good trained witch hunter who promise to hunt down all the witches in salem’’Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army’’-Hale.(Miller, Arthur’’ search quotes reverend parris quotes’). Reverend Hale meets and have a talk with all the girls afflicted with the girls dancing in the forest because he wants to know who started it.

Hysteria is an exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people. This can lead to lie being spread that people will believe due to hysteria. In the Crucible by Arthur Miller, Arthur use the red scare of post war america as his inspiration for his novel. During the red scare people were accusing any person of being a communist and people believed because due to hysteria. Arthur miller uses hysteria to show that it leads to Damaged reputations,lies ,and hurting people's lives.