Imagine traveling back in time and accidentally finding yourself stepping on a butterfly. When you return home, you discover that the world as you knew it has changed forever. TheOne trivial act of stepping on a butterfly set a whole new series of events in motion, and no matter how hard you try, you cannot return to the way things were before. One seemingly minisculelittle act can spiral life out of control, and each action builds upon the next until the situation becomes unstoppable. A society in which events skyrocket into uncharted territories is illustrated in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, which focuses on the Salem witch trials of the late 1600s.…
Sebastian Khaloghli Mrs. Allen Period 3 English Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible displays the hysteria that took place in Salem in 1692. Although the act is fiction, Miller established the plot of his play on historical events and his characters show how fear and paranoia can amplify into something beyond its might. A number of characters used this fear to perk and they showed selfishness and impropriety. The two most contemptible characters in the play were Rev. Parris and Judge Danforth.…
Manipulation, Power and Hysteria Humans, from birth, have an innate desire to follow powerful and respected leaders in a crowd-- even through times of madness and savagery, such as Adolf Hitler and the propaganda and manipulation techniques he put into use to gain his desires. Both The Crucible and Lord of the Flies target the dangers of hysteria that humans manufacture, panic that one person fabricates that another person or group accepts, through the comparative pairings of the witches and the beast, Abigail Williams and Jack Merridew, and the Devil and the Lord of the Flies. These characters and manifestations all incite or take part in fabricating the mass hysteria and mob mentality that plague the civilizations in both The Crucible and…
Looking back at the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692, and later on in the McCarthy trials, you can determine that fear was a ruling factor in the behavior of those involved. Arthur Miller was unmistaken when he stated in Why I wrote The Crucible: An Artist’s Answer to Politics by Arthur Miller that “fear doesn’t travel well; …it can warp judgment” (1). The fear that was instilled upon the people of Salem was that if anyone opposed the trials they were not only accused of overthrowing the court, they were also accused of overthrowing God – provoking charges of witchcraft. By using biblical allusions, Parris’ eager pursuit for “justice,” and Abigail’s vindictive actions Miller demonstrates through The Crucible that the application of power can instill so much fear in others that they succumb to submitting to immoral…
Fear in The Crucible Fear in today 's society causes you to become anxious and emotional. Fear is only in your mind. It can cause people to be lead in the wrong direction. In the story The Crucible, people act out of fear. Basically anyone could get accused of being witches.…
Hysteria. Misunderstanding. Paranoia. Puritan colonists living in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 felt these emotions, especially during the Salem witch trials. In the play The Crucible, hysteria and paranoia are two clear character feelings.…
Hysteria in The Crucible Hysteria is a prominent theme In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. Hysteria is the underlying cause for everything that happens in the play; it is what moves the story along and urges the reader to think critically about the character’s actions and choices or rather their lack of critical thinking and choice. While there are many factors that potentially contributed to the hysteria in Salem, what is depicted in The Crucible is something man-made and perpetuated through the choices and actions of specific characters. The Crucible makes the point that hysteria and mob behavior is contagious, and uses witchery as a means of conveying this message.…
Mass hysteria has the potential to tear a community apart as demonstrated in The Crucible. What is hysteria? “It is defined as an overwhelming fear and excitement that overrides all logic, and is often enhanced and intensified by the presence of others who are acting out on that fear” (Campbell). That theme is common throughout the play written by Arthur Miller. From the beginning, where the witchery begins to John Proctor getting hung, the little town of Salem undergoes major changes.…
Hysteria As Demonstrated In The Crucible And 1950’s America In 1950’s America the war on communism had reached a high point and anti-communist feelings were overwhelmingly common. In response to the anti-communist hysteria occurring around him, Arthur Miller, a well known playwright, wrote The Crucible to demonstrate the hysteria surrounding the American citizens and their government. By analyzing the usage of the causes of hysteria and individual rationalization of actions that are commonplace in The Crucible, a reader can see how hysteria starts in a society and what prevents and keeps hysteria from occurring.…
The hysteria during the Salem Witch trials was very evident. 19 people were hanged for being accused of practicing with the Devil. Many people lost their lives due to religious reasons. There was also examples of hysteria like this during the Red Scare. In an article called, “Are You Now…
Hysteria is uncontrollable emotion among a group of people. People in Salem began to turn on each other. Anyone that was accused of being a witch, wanted the person that made the inaccurate accusation to be punished. To get them punished they had to accuse them of something. It was all a huge cycle.…
The main root of hysteria and paranoia was fear and mainly a fear of the unknown. Nobody wanted to take a chance with being convicted as a witch, so they accused others of the same thing they were scared of. Just the concept of witches existing frightened people to no end. Paranoia took hold so much that even two dogs were convicted and hanged for witchcraft. Eventually however, everything died down after John Proctor’s death and Abigail’s retreat of the town.…
Mass hysteria is the collective deceptions that cause fear and threat in a society. It is displayed by communities all over the world and can break relationships and or societies. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, the mass hysteria that occurred in Salem in 1692 is shown. The play, The Crucible, is about a Puritan society that faces a mass hysteria. It arises after a group of girls from the Salem community are caught dancing by Reverend Parris, and blame their actions on the Devil.…
Witchery is charged through fear. Sofia Marinucci investigates the power of fear through Arthur Miller’s classic play ‘The Crucible’. Is fear really worth all the hysteria? Don’t get me wrong, it is good for everyone and everything to have fears, but what is too much fear? Fear is no worse than any other weakness, indeed it is the worst weakness.…
The witch trials of Salem is an infamous period of hysteria and paranoia, in which people chose fear over rationality. While many of the accusations were absurd, many are still victims of hysterical accusations, which occurs even today. The play, The Crucible, takes place in Salem, during the 1600 's, as the town is engulfed in the hysteria of witch hunts, which forces the audience to acknowledge the tendencies humans display, in similar situations. Arthur Miller uses his play, The Crucible, to criticize society, during the McCarthy era, of its irrational behaviour, by creating parallels of vengeful tendencies, hysteria and hypocrisy, both present in his society and within the play. The Salem witch trials and the McCarthy era is sometimes referred to as "the time of general-revenge", as people accused others for selfish purposes and out of vengeance.…