The Dancing Plague Of 1518 Essay

“Women had no power, particularly young women, is it not understandable how a few adolescent girls, drunk with unforseen attention, allowed their imaginations to run wild” (USHistory.org 56-59). Thus, there is evidence that these girls were not under the influence of witchcraft and the deaths because of it were not justified. Identicaly, the dancing plague in the early 1500’s was also a case of mass hysteria. The plague began when a random citizen of Strausbourg, France, Frau Troffea began dancing wildly in the street. ”For no apparent reason, she just started to dance.

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 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.

The fear and panic originated from the people not knowing where the plague came from or how it could be cured. According to paragraph 17, “People could not explain the source revitalizing witchcraft, bacchanals, and orgies.” Also,“Wandering mobs began to blame the jews for inciting God’s wrath upon them.” As a result these ideas and groups began to arise and more and more frequently even forming pogroms(organized massacre of the jews) causing more fear and panic which in turn caused more upsetment to

Beginning in the mid-fourteenth century, a plague swept the world like no other. It struck in a series of waves that continued into the eighteenth century. The first wave was estimated to have killed twenty-five million people, about a third of the Western Europe population at that time. Throughout the different outbreaks, the plague, also known as the Bubonic Plague or the Black Death, caused people to react in several ways. Some people believed the plague was a medical problem that can be treated, some found themselves concerned only with their own greed, still others believed there was nothing they could do and reacted in fear, and most people believed it was a form of divine

In the story/play mass hysteria plays an important role in Salem in the late 1600s. For instance Abigail Williams one of the girls in the crucible that uses mass hysteria to exploit the people of Salem around her. Mass hysteria means a group of people who over exaggerate something and becomes a fear. According to a quote from Abigail Williams says ”She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold sniveling woman! And you bend to her! Let her turn you like a-” which means she only accuses people because she wants

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

  Another example of people-driven hysteria is in 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials. People can be influenced to do things when power, land, and reputation are on the line. During the Salem Witch Trials, people were quick to blame others of being a witch if that meant it would save them or enable them to gain power. People seeking power incited fear in the town by influencing

The Dancing Plague of 1518 was an occurrence of unknown origin. Although still unsolved, there have been theories published on the subject. The theories that have been brought to light are mass hysteria caused by St. Vitus, Ergotism, Tarantism, and an unknown type of heretical cult. None of these ideas are able to truly explain the abrupt Dancing Plague that occurred in Strasbourg. This is not the first time this type of event has occurred. Dancing epidemics have also occurred in other areas of Europe in earlier centuries, but without the same deadly outcome as the 1518 plague. The most popular theory on the cause of 1518’s Dancing Plague is the mass hysteria theory. John Waller, a firm supporter of this theory, was able to give very convincing evidence. Although the mass hysteria has more creditable evidence, it is still not capable of being the exact cause for the Dancing Plague. The Dancing Plague may be thought of as a faux tale, but there are multiple records to prove that this occurrence is nowhere near a tale passed on through centuries. The Dancing Plague was and still is one of the most mysterious events in the 16th century.

Mass hysteria is a phenomenon that transmits collective allusions of threats through a population in society as a result of rumors and fear. The Crucible by Arthur Miller accurately portrays mass hysteria that took place during the Salem witch trials of 1692. People were accused based on revenge or other malicious motives and to make the situation worse, nothing about the trials was logical. After a few people were accused, fear set into the town and everyone was viewed as a witch until proven innocent. Mass hysteria not only happened during the Salem witch trials, but right after the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001 as well. Mass hysteria ties into both the accusations made in The Crucible and the islamophobia that set in after 9/11.

Jumping to conclusions, bad assumptions, and false information can cause much hysteria within a society. This can be surely bad if you are dealing with people who are hypochondriacs. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller displays how hysteria is used to cover the truth, but can cause suffering for many of those who are innocent. The play strongly illustrates the hysteria that brushed through Salem because of the fear that Satan had haunted the town. When you have an entire society in an uproar it is usually because of false information being spread and people who are just reacting without thinking about what could possibly be happening. There are some people

The Bubonic Plague, more commonly referred to as the "Black Death," ravaged Europe between the years 1347 and 1350 (Herzog, 2000). During this short period, according to Herzog (2000), 25 million people (which were about one third of Europe's population at the time) were killed. In another article, Herlihy (1997), however, claimed that two thirds of Europe’s population were killed. Nevertheless, it is ascertained that thousands of people died each week and dead bodies littered the streets. Once a family member had contracted the disease, the entire household was doomed to die. Parents abandoned their children, and parent-less children roamed the streets in search for food. Victims, delirious with

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 mass hysteria between today’s society and the Salem witch hunt can be compared through Freedom , Religion ,and the killing of innocent victims. Mass hysteria has caused a lot of destruction in society throughout the years. It has brought about a lot of chaos in both Salem as well as the present society. Mass hysteria has brought out a lot of fear in people in both Salem and present society.

In the play, the phrase “mass hysteria” cannot by itself do the work. Even now, most