In Arthur Miller 's famous play The Crucible, innocent people are falsely accused of witchcraft and are killed as a result. Even the thought of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1600s would put the whole village into mass hysteria. Mass hysteria refers to collective delusions of threats to society that spread rapidly through rumors and fear. This is the main cause of why so many people were arrested and killed for witchcraft. One way people could save themselves was by falsely confessing to have performed witchcraft. Many people did not do this though. This is because the townspeople were held to very strict moral values and must uphold their good name in society. They did not want a bad reputation. In The Crucible, by Arthur John Proctor had broken some religious laws, including, working on the Sabbath day, adultery, and others, but witchcraft wasn 't one of them. John Proctor, though, was accused of witchcraft as a result of all the mass hysteria that had taken place. He, in fact, did not commit the crime of witchcraft though. John Proctor was urged to confess to doing the act of witchcraft and initially did. Reverend Hale had been asked to come to Salem to reconnoiter the area to see for sure if Lucifer was involved with the current events that had taken place. Reverend Hale soon realized all the lunacy that was taking place and began to suspect that the girls accusing everyone were pretending. His prediction was correct. When John Proctor was condemned, Reverend Hale was doing everything in his will power in order to persuade John to confess to witchcraft. If Mr. Proctor did this, he would be freed and his name would be written on the church. If he did not confess, though, he would be hanged by a noose. So this is why Reverend Hale urged John Proctor to Rebecca Nurse was known to all as a saintly woman. She followed God with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength. The Lord was her savior and protector. But because of mass hysteria, Mrs. Nurse was incriminated of exploiting witchcraft. This aghast most people because the most religious person they knew had been a witch. This was false. Rebecca Nurse was not a witch and had not demonstrated witchcraft by any means. She was innocent. She, like John Proctor, was solicited by Reverend Hale to confess but to no avail. Rebecca Nurse had held an immaculate reputation, and she was not about to let it get defamed by some false accusation. Rebecca Nurse, again like John Proctor, was hung for her falsely accused treacherous actions. This again is a prime example of what people will go through in order to keep a reputation that is accepted by
John was in the lake and speaking praise the Devil then Hale said “I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court! He slams the door to the outside behind him.”(Miller 120). If Hale had stayed and fought for John and all the other innocent people then maybe John would not have been convicted. If John was never arrested, then he never would have been accused and hanged. Proctor was fed up with the court so he went crazy and “Proctor, laughs insanely, then: A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud - God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!”(Miller 119). Proctor is saying that Hale and the rest of the court will burn in hell with him for not being fair in their trials and for hanging all the innocent people. Hale was the only person who was certain this was all a hoax and he basically left John and all the other upright people to die. Hale leaving shows that he is a selfish person and only cares about himself and his
One of the first people to be charged, was Rebecca Nurse, wife of Francis Nurse, a well-respected man of the community. This disturbance caused great anxiety amongst the people in Salem, as they would have least suspected Rebecca Nurse to be one to deal with the Devil. "If Rebecca Nurse be tainted, then nothing's left to stop the whole green world from burning." Goody Putnam was the one to accuse her of witchcraft, for the death of her seven babies, but even with no just proof, Rebecca Nurse is hanged for "sending her spirit out on them."
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible displays the absolute control that the ego can have on not only the individual but on a society as well. A person may think that witch hunts are a confection of the past because as a modern society we do not fall victim so easily to ploys such as those which were created by the young girls of Salem. This however is untrue because within my short lifetime I have seen that we have been programmed to be fearful of terrorists, Ebola, and even ourselves. A great majority of these anxieties have been trumpeted by our media, elected officials, and religious institutions. In seeking my full liberation from such fears, I have come to the greater understanding that love and wisdom are the essential tools for setting one’s own courses. Hence, my purpose is to love unconditionally while sharing my own wisdom with those who have the shared interest; this is my path to liberation. Utilizing events which happened in The Crucible and connecting them to our current culture, I will contend that we still live in a state of fear and are still struggling to progress beyond that level.
The Salem witch trials in 1600, which took place in Salem, Massachusetts had a negative impact on the town. People seemed to be afraid of everyone. Any action done by an individual that appeared to be strange would be suspected with witchery. The well known play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, elaborates more on the Salem accusations. In the village of Salem, Abigail and a group of her friends claimed to have the possession of the devil. Numerous of people were incriminated of witchcraft with evidence that was scanty, causing around 20 hangings. Claims made by the villagers was the only proof the judge had. Although, those who confessed were then pardoned. The negative impact that witch trials brought individuals, government authority figures
“The Crucible” is a play based on the Salem witch trials in 1860. “The Crucible” is mainly composed up of mass hysteria. The hysteria in the story involves two girls are seen dancing in the forest. In the 18th century witchcraft was supposedly practiced in forests. However, the girls never confessed they were witches or that there not. All of a sudden a mass hysteria breaks out. Everyone in the Puritan village is terrified by this. Innocent people are accused and convicted of witchcraft. They were citizens that signed petitions to release the innocent but in consequence of that , they were thrown in jail too because they were now suspects. The only manner to avoid being accused was to make a false confession and become the accuser. The “witches” that were accused suffered something worse than persecution, they were hung.
One example is Rebecca Nurse; previously a respected member of the Salem community, imprisoned and hanged simply because of the girls’ unfounded accusations. It is this irrational fear of the Devil destroying the Puritan lifestyle of Salem that controls the minds of the townsfolk, forcing them to conform to the Court’s agenda. The overpowering ideology of Puritanism compels them to condemn anybody who shows any sign of deviation from the strict path that their religion
Mass hysteria; a common term used to describe a situation in which various people suffer from an overwhelming madness (Mass Hysteria). To help further explain mass hysteria, The Crucible, Written by Arthur Miller is based off of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials was an event that took place in a small village called Salem in Massachusetts. A group of girls was caught dancing in the woods around a fire and were accused of being witches. In order to save themselves, they began accusing innocent people throughout the town of being witches and a mass hysteria broke out (Miller). The Crucible is not the only example of mass hysteria, The Prophet Hen of Leeds also further expresses it. The Prophet Hen of Leeds
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, accusations of witchcraft were made on behalf of fear and greed. Abigail Williams and her friends were caught dancing in the forest and were immediately accused of working with the devil. Words of witchcraft began to spread throughout the village quickly. At the time, witchcraft was considered a crime that was to be followed by the death
One of the most recurring motifs throughout the crucible is, Hysteria. The whole town for the longest time believes that even their closest of neighbors are users of witchcraft. One of the primary scenes exhibited in the play is in Act 1. The girls that were accused of using witchcraft are essentially the prosecutors in the courtroom. The court brings the “accused” into the room, and if the accused deny that they are users, the girls act out of turn, occasionally imitating the movements of the accused, they attempt to do it in unison as well. Most of the town truly believes that these girls are telling the truth. The entirety of the town especially in this once scene is going through mass hysteria.
Human nature is a fascinating concept that is exhibited through many kinds of situations. One situation might concern someone being absolutely certain that they are correct and genuinely wanting to spread their ideas with others. Another situation might involve someone’s natural tendency to demand and crave more of whatever they desire. Additionally, a situation might call for the need to pursue a specific objective in order to maintain self preservation. These situations may lead into an assortment of other paths, but one distinct path from all three is the ascension of mass hysteria. In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, the confidence, greediness, and persistence of certain characters such as Reverend John Hale, Thomas Putnam, and Abigail
The Crucible tells the tale of the famed Salem Witch Trials of Salem, Massachusetts; though Miller himself admitted that many parts of the story, such as an ill-fated romance crucial to the plot, are fictionalized, most plot points are true to a modern understanding of historical fact (qtd. in Burns). The driving force in Miller’s work is accusations of witchcraft stemming from an incident where young girls danced in the woods nude. Generally, this would not be seen as a major problem; however, one scared girl faking unconsciousness leaves all of Salem to believe the group of clothesless cavorters “trafficked with spirits in the forest” and took part in “some obscene practice” (Miller 1093). In an effort to avoid retribution, more girls begin faking afflictions; soon after, the entire town goes on a literal witch hunt against whomever the girls choose to accuse. This conflict ultimately stems from an overarching theme throughout the entirety of The Crucible: oppression of rights. Due to the societal stigma against enjoying themselves, the partying girls feel forced to invent lies to be spared from the male-dominated society’s anger. It is this that ultimately leads to the conflict of the witch
"Are you, are you, coming to the tree. Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me. Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be. If we met at midnight, in the hanging tree" (Hanging Tree Lyrics). It is incredible that these lyrics are able to help signify something that happened over four centuries ago. In the spring of 1692, the mass hysteria known as the Salem Witch Trials began. Eight girls began showing odd symptoms and acting peculiarly; they "dashed about, dove under furniture, contorted in pain, and complained of fever" (Linder par. 5). They began accusing those in their small town of Salem of being witches, claiming that these witches sent their spirits out and tortured them in an attempt to obtain the young girl's signatures
Although Arthur Miller’s The Crucible may seem to be a simple story, the inner workings of the time is something prevalent even today - mass hysteria. Although it may not be obvious until years after any given event, mass hysteria too often pushes society to its melting point - people’s need for a scapegoat leads them to frantically pursue something as a group (be it supposed witches or rumors of an outbreak of disease). Within this essay, the relation of mass hysteria to the Salem Witch Trials (through The Crucible) and its modern day influence is examined - which, though generally better contained, is still just as prevalent as it ever was before.
In the movie adaptation of the Crucible by Arthur Miller, Nicholas Hytner takes a play about a town filled with hysteria and superstition and makes it overly dramatic and lacking humane nature. By taking on the task of turning this profound play into a movie, the credibility of why the people of Salem would believe in the evils of witchcraft must be present. The element of hysteria arrives too quickly and only exists within a select group of people: the afflicted and their loved ones. It is also difficult to understand how the people of Salem could believe in witchcraft when Abigail William’s group of girls are obviously pretending to see spirits and feint to the ground because of the Devil’s acquaintances. Overall, this play is poorly adapted
In the play of the crucible, we see many people get charged for witchcraft and get the death sentence and are hanged for witchcraft. This all started when they found a group of girls dancing in the woods and were supposedly practicing witchcraft. The girls were first thought to be practicing witchcraft but later on in the play they convinced the court and the whole town that it was other people in the town practicing witchcraft and controlling or forcing them to do such things against their own will. The group of girls started accusing many different villagers of practicing witchcraft and sending out their spirits to them and influencing them to do evil things or as they referred to it “the devil's work”. This all started when a specific girl