Hysteria In The Crucible

Arthur Miller's, The Crucible , is the role that hysteria and how it can use its deathly blade to slowly destroy a community or even a country. In The Crucible, Act I and II the audience begins to witness the extremist in religion, rebellion and hysteria of the Puritans. This act reveals how isolation, religious extremist and the abuse of power transformed men and women into demons and those accused and sentenced into victims while introducing the themes of deception, greed, possession, and not the hunt for witches but the hunt or quest for power. Miller reminds the readers about the Puritan community during the period in Salem Massachusetts in 1692. This community believed that physical labor and work and the rigid following of the religious doctrine was a sign of each person’s faithfulness and loyalty to God in addition to their integrity as a person. Any deviation from these principles could lead into one being accused of as unrighteous and any sickness or illness that enabled a person to carry

out their religious duties or act out of character would receive an immediate accusation of witchery.
The act begins with the Elizabeth, Abigail and their slave in the woods dancing (which was forbidden in Salem) the girls was naked in a “unseen woods” and the slave Tituba was accused of casting spells in the fire as witness by Paris the uncle. The wood symbolizes the sector world not yet conditioned by the religion of the Puritan and how the “sexual” pleasures and other temptations could run rapidly therein. As portrayed by the three characters .
As the play continues deception continues to grow stronger as the reader learns of Abigail's plans to kill Elizabeth so that she can replace her position as the wife of Proctor her lover.

Abigail resulted to practicing witchcraft to hide her love affair with Proctor and to carry out her devious plans to kill Elizabeth and when caught by proctor created more smokin mirrors to hide these acts as she knew it would be punishable by death. Another form of deception arises in those who fall ill without explanation like Betty and Ruth and how the declaration of illness by witchcraft could give one power. Abigail quickly figured this out and used this to her advantage. She quickly was able to change the perception of others that her strange behavior in the woods was so that she could communicate with the “devil” and declare witchcraft. All of this was not only a great form of deception for her but it lead to the power which would allow her (in her mind) to rid of

Elizabeth.
Act II begins to reveal this deception, greed and use of hysteria as a abuse of power. The courts had sentenced many to death, therefore killing babies and adults leaving the town in total utterance. At this point the people began to tire and even the dagger found by Parris was a crude representation of the horrible violence within Salem. Abigail began to lose her trust of the people as the town and the reader lifted the veil that masked her vengeance. Furthermore deception becomes even more evident in Parris as he covers the fraudulent behavior of the Abigail and not that he is remorseful of the continued killing and acquisition of innocent people but he fears that he will fall to the fire when he is discovered to be apart of the unholy behavior. Scene two continues to be a source of cover up for Parris, as Abigail disappears and Parris fights to hide the truth.
In summary, the first two acts of the The Crucible described how the people with power concealed the truth about abusing that said power in addition it's a depiction of how extremist religion, isolation, and false accusations can mask those that feel they possess divine power. The two acts in the play shares with the reader a heightened period when not only Salem but the country was paranoid and focused on witchery and satan therefore allowing persons like Parris, Danforth, Abigail and the courts to possess and abuse power with a “divine destiny” against an illusive evil which was not the evil that which was infact possessed by them.