In Salem‚ Massachusetts the year 1692‚ Arthur Miller tells the tale of witch hunts and trials in his play The Crucible. With these trials and hunts came hysteria; a term defined as uncontrollable emotion and excitement among people. Throughout Salem Miller creates hysteria among contrasting characters‚ uneven justice‚ and even alludes to the hysteria we have in our societies today. In any play‚ characters along with their personalities are what complete a story. When characters have contrasting
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Survival and Hysteria in "The Crucible": Hysteria tears apart the community. Hysteria replaces common sense and allows the people to believe that their neighbors‚ whom they have always considered respectable people‚ are committing illogical and unbelievable crimes-- communicating with the devil‚ killing babies‚ and more. In "The Crucible"‚ the townsfolk accept and become active in the hysterical atmosphere not only out of true religious devoutness (God doesn’t allow interacting with the devil)
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accused of being a witch‚ and he/she will actually be forgiven if they blame their accusations on another individual‚ or confess themselves as guilty. Hysteria is the main idea of this play‚ The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Miller shows how it can destroy an entire community‚ and developed a theme of how suspicion and panic can lead to extensive hysteria that often can destroy rationality and public/individual persona. Firstly‚ the person with the most influence on hysterical ideas is the character
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and spiritual phenomenons that aren’t realistic. However‚ dating back to the early settlements of America‚ witches were believed to be real. People were on the look out for witches and in one particular incident‚ awareness turned into hysteria. The witchcraft hysteria‚ of 1692 in Salem‚ was a horrific event because people lost sight of their common sense and their rational judgement. Fear‚ anxiety‚ and terror boiled up within the small town of Salem largely due to the rigid theocracy. This event in
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logical answer‚ like Rebecca‚ Mrs. Putnam believes that the cause was supernatural. Abigail preys on many villagers on the belief of supernatural events and incites them into hysteria. Her exaggerated acts not only scare the villagers but also distract them from reason and logic causing mass hysteria. Mary Warren falls prey to hysteria and figuratively throws John Proctor under the bus instead of speaking the truth. Abigail with the other girls accused of witchcraft perform fake hallucinations and mind
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during The Crucible. One of the most impactful subjects he uses is hysteria‚ when a large group of people have an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear. This happens in the play when the town becomes fearful of witches and begins arresting anybody accused. Miller uses the characters to develop a theme around hysteria. Arthur Miller uses Mary Warren to show how hysteria causes the town to fall into pieces because of the destruction‚ hallucination‚ and distrust rampant in Salem. Hysteria causes the
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Are innocent people safe in court? Many people are falsely accused of a crime they did not commit and punished for it. What leads to this injustice? It can be because people have pride‚ greed‚ and hypocrisy driving them against others. Reverend Parris from the The Crucible had all the previous factors when he dealt with the Salem Witch Trials. Parris had was a very greedy man. He let greed lead him to his malpractice as a reverend. When Reverend Hale was talking to John Proctor on why he did not
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witchcraft trials in Salem in 1692 were a result of many different elements that were going on within the town. Jealousy was the cornerstone of the mass hysteria that soon became known as the Salem witch trials. In his play‚ The Crucible‚ Miller demonstrates how the fear of people in authority can destroy a community by bringing it to mass hysteria through the characters of Parris‚ Putnam‚ and Proctor. Reverend Parris‚ the minister in Salem‚ fears the people of the town to a point where he can hardly
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many citizens of Salem in 1692 were fearful‚ greedy and jealous. Nearly every character in this story gives into one of the factors. In The Crucible‚ by Arthur Miller‚ fear‚ greed‚ and jealousy contribute to the witchcraft hysteria and mass executions in Salem. One of the main contributors to the mass hysteria would be fear. As if the witchcraft hysteria wasn’t enough‚ in 1692 many Salem villagers feared famine due to the upcoming war. The people of Salem contributed any of their misfortunes to
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The overall message of Arthur Miller’s play‚ The Crucible‚ is that when uncontrolled hysteria is combined with ignorance‚ the outcome is tragic. While Miller offers his audience some comic dialogue to soften the events it does not mask the horrifying reality of the witch hunt and its aftermath. Rather‚ the humorous insights serve to reveal the simplicity and innocence of people living rustic lives in a God-fearing community. Several characters‚ Paris and Hale‚ Mary Warren and John Proctor‚ provide
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