How Does Arthur Miller Present Hysteria In The Crucible

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In the play “The Crucible”, author Arthur Miller talks about the fear and hysteria that went along with the Salem witch trials in the late 1600s. The townspeople were all paranoid and believed that almost everyone was associated with witchcraft including friends and neighbors that they had known for a long time. As a town based on strict Christian principles, anything that was done that seemed somewhat against these principles were considered to be the work of the devil.
The trials resulted in the death of twenty people. Because of fear and hysteria in “The Crucible” everyone starts to believe Abigail Williams and the girls after they start accusing people of witchcraft. Hysteria begins to rise after Abigail and the young girls of Salem, Massachusetts are
“discovered dancing …show more content…
And now, as though cornered, they let out a gigantic scream” therefore making it seem as Mary had sent her spirit out to tear out their eyes (Miller 196). This behavior causes Danforth to “lower his eyes from the ceiling, and now…is frightened” (Miller 195). Mary truly realizes the power that Abigail has and decides to put the blame on Proctor to save herself from Abigail's wrath.
All it takes is one little push to create a domino effect which leads to all the dominos falling down just like it takes one person’s accusations to create a mass hysteria among a town.
Unfortunately this was one person was Abigail Williams, once she started blaming people for witchcraft she couldn’t stop. Every little thing done by someone that seemed slightly suspicious was marked as witchcraft. The trials were put to an end when when the madness started to die down. Hysteria and Fear in “The Crucible” showed that hysteria only thrives because people benefit from it. It matters because it overrides all logic and allows people to act out on a fear that
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How Does Arthur Miller Present The Hysteria In The Crucible

Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible shows of the hysteria that took place in Salem, Massachusetts of 1692 better known as the Salem Witch Trials. Based on true historical events, like McCarthyism and the Red Scare, this expresses the amount of fear and the escalation that comes with it. Hysteria, a strong major theme in The Crucible is best portrayed by the society in which most of the Salem people live by. Hysteria supersedes logical thinking and empowers the people to believe that whoever shall…

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essayist, and prominent figure in twentieth-century American theatre, Arthur Miller, in his play, “The Crucible”, inspired by the late 1600s Salem Witch Trials and relates back to the 1950s Communism trials and his questioning belief of McCarthyism. Millers purpose is to portray the tragedies of the McCarthy trials using the event of the Salem events as an extended metaphor to the McCarthy trials, in which he was accused himself. He presents our past , hoping the future might not continue to repeat itself…

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attention of Arthur Miller, who wrote a play called the Crucible in 1952 that later turned into a screenplay and move. Miller took these events in history and told a story that people could see unfold on stage and screen. The events of the Salem Witchcraft Trials that were told in The Crucible have several historical inaccuracies that Arthur Miller himself has admitted to writing because they would play out better on stage. A few of the The differences between history and the drama written by Miller include…

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In The Crucible, Arthur Miller shows how one’s morals may change in order to avoid bad situations. The development of Proctor throughout the witch trials and the change in Abigail’s character after being spotted by Parris conveys the play’s theme. Miller constructs a sense of indecision in Proctor. This is made clearly evident when Proctor is told by Elizabeth to announce Abigail’s pretence. He hesitates by saying ‘I wonder if my story would be credited in such a court’. Through this quote, Miller…

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Fear pervades our world. But why does humanity constantly live in fear of the unknown or the seemingly unconquerable? American playwright Arthur Miller avers that the human mind possess a “fatality forever awaiting the right conditions...an outbreak of distrust, alarm, suspicion and murder”. Miller refers to the horrific events of the Salem Witch trials of 1692, which his play The Crucible plumbs, but this quotation is equally applicable of the current Syrian refugee crisis. Both events awaken the…

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Analyse how an idea is developed in a text (or texts) you have studied In the play, the Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, an idea that was developed is the idea of the perils of conformity. Miller develops this through the type of society he has chosen to set his play, a theocracy, situations mentioned and shown that hold significance which take place in closed in, tension filled scenes such as courtrooms, and the character Mary Warren, who helps signify the perils of conformity in people and…

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