Throughout Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, situations that present the characteristics of mass hysteria, otherwise known as a crowd mentality, greatly affect the lives of the characters as they continue through the witch trials. A crowd mentality is achieved as emotional excitement builds and leads to someone acting differently from the way they normally would if they were alone. Many instances of crowd mentality are witnessed throughout the plot of The Crucible. Without these powerful incidents of unusual behavior, the Salem witch trials would have never occurred, and many lives would have been saved. One characteristic of a crowd mentality is the loss of self awareness and lack of responsibility. This occurs before the play even …show more content…
Here the girls follow Abigails lead by copying what Mary Warren is saying and convincing her that she is a terrifying bird in the rafters. These actions are committed most likely because Abigail sees Mary as flaw in her plan to gain total power. Therefore Abigail incites fear into Mary by jeering,“But God made my face, you cannot want to tear my face. Envy is a deadly sin Mary.” (106) This terrifies Mary because she knows that the court will not believe her if Abigail says that she is committing a sin. Next, the fear and hysteria build inside of Mary as the girls begin to copy her every word and act as if they are being attacked. This incident clearly shows how the corrupt behavior of the girls is chipping away at Mary’s power over the court and the power to control her actions. She then shows another element of a crowd mentality which is that it can convince others to behave irrationally. This is shown as,“ [the girls]let out a gigantic scream, and Mary as though infected, screams with them. Gradually Abigail and the girls leave off, until only Mary is left there staring at the ‘bird’ screaming madly.” (109). This sequence of events clearly shows how the action of the other girls sucks Mary into their game. Because of the crowd mentality and hysteria that formed in the courtroom, John Proctor, an innocent man, is convicted of witchcraft which gives even more power to
The tragic tale of the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts was re-written by Arthur Miller in the form of the play “The Crucible”. The trials have been studied to figure out what really happened, but no one will ever know since it happened decades ago. The play is the closest reenactment we have to help us see how people could have reacted to life. “The Crucible” shows how using others as a cushion to keep from being punished can go extremely bad. Amidst all the chaos a man by the name Reverend John Hale came to help but ended up with making it a huge amount worse.
In “The Crucible”, the author, Arthur Miller, explains what he believes Senator Joe McCarthy is doing during the Red Scare. The Salem Witch Trials were true events, while this play uses these trials and adds a fictional twist to show a point. Witchcraft was punishable by death during this time. Once names started flying in town, it was like a chain reaction, people were accusing others of witchcraft because they were not fond of them or they had something they wanted. Some definitions state mass hysteria as contagious, the characters in this play deemed it true.
During the early years of the colonies, there was a mad witch hunt striking the heart of Salem. Anger, reputation, and even religion play an important part during the play of The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. The author allows us to witness the vivid idea of the hysteria taking place in Salem, Massachusetts, and why it was so vulnerable during the time.
Mary realizes that what Abigail is doing is wrong and she’s the only one who can put a stop to it. Abigail’s frustration grew as Mary announced to the court that, “She [Abigail] sees nothin’!” (121) and tried to accuse her of murder. Abigail saw Mary’s confidence building up as Mary kept denying using witchcraft after she repeatedly accused Abby of it. Transition here Abigail screaming at the “bird” on the ceiling because she thought it was Mary, Mary supposedly sent to attack her as Danforth asks Mary, “Have you compacted with the Devil? Have you?”(121) and Mary replies with, “Never, Never” (121). Mary Warren knows that if she does not admit to using witchcraft she could be hung, but she knows she must put an end to Abby’s manipulation. Earlier in the novel, Mary was too intimidated by Abigail and would never have had the courage to accuse Abby of lying about the events in the woods. To successfully accuse Abby, Mary had to admit that, “I never saw no spirits” (112) which put her own life in danger as well. Until accusing Abby of witchcraft and murder in the court with John Proctor, Mary Warren had no confidence in herself and did what everyone else wanted her to do. At the end of the play, Mary made decisions for herself and wasn’t afraid to go against what everyone else was doing.
A basic sense of honesty is another of Mary Warren’s traits. In Act I she goes to Salem to convince Abigail to tell the truth about what really happened in the woods. When the witchcraft scare gets out of hand, Mary joins Abigail and the other girls in falsely accusing women of being witches. These false accusations are motivated by hysteria. There is evidence that Mary really believes that the women in court are bewitching her. She tells the judge that she thought she saw spirits. The other girls were screaming, and before she knew it, Mary was screaming with them. When she realizes that there are no spirits, Mary is willing to be truthful. After Elizabeth Proctor’s name is brought up in court, Mary Warren defends her against the accusation. At the end of Act II, the reader hopes that the basic sense of honesty will remain strong enough to allow Mary to testify on behalf of the accused women in Act III.
Many of the characters in Arthur Miller's The Crucible have specific human flaws that cause the tragedy of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem villagers exhibit failings, including greed, vengeance, and fear, which eventually lead to the downfall of their town. Many villagers, especially Abigail Williams, take advantage of the opportunity to seek vengeance on others through the trials. Greed for power and land often holds precedence when the hysteria takes over. Fear of being arrested or put to death is the key motivation in turning others in as witches. From these three human flaws, the town of Salem falls into chaos with many innocent people paying the price.
In The Crucible, the mass hysteria surrounding the witch trials caused paranoia amongst the people of Salem. Miller uses the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 as a symbol and allegory of the fear surrounding the spread of communism during the 1950s in America. The community’s sense of justice was blinded by the mass hysteria and for some, a desire for vengeance and personal gain. The Putnams
Fear holds a great control over any mortal human-being through daunting and restricted words, most commonly seen while anyone is under pressure. While being controlled over fear, you may come to realize that you are being manipulated to the possibilities of a threatened punishment and may also be mislead by lies. Arthur Miller’s classic novel, The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, where a lot of times fear would be used to control anyone to blame another of witchcraft. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller elucidates this through Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Mary Warren, that fear holds a great torment on the truth.
“Whatever hysteria exists is inflamed by mystery, suspicion, and secrecy. Hard and exact facts will cool it.” – Elia Kazan. In the crucible, Arthur Miller describes the witch trials and the hysteria that was caused by it. The fear of the devil overwhelms reason and makes the town of Salem even more afraid. In the story, Marry Warren falls under hysteria and through her, Arthur Miller explains that fear causes people to leave behind all their logic and reason.
Hysteria is a mental disorder marked by excitability, anxiety, or imaginary disorders. It can play an important role in people’s lives. Hysteria supplants logic and enables people to believe that their neighbors, whom they have always considered highly respectable, do things they would never expect them of doing. In “The Crucible”, hysteria causes people to believe their friends are committing deplorable acts. The townsfolk accept and become active in the hysterical climate not only out of genuine religious piety but also because it gives them a chance to express repressed sentiments and to seek reparations from grudges. Hysteria suspends the rules of daily life and allows the acting out of every dark desire and hateful urge under the charade of righteousness. In “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, the hysteria due to the paranoia of witchcraft causes Abigail to lie in order to save herself, Danforth to ruin the community, and Proctor to be convicted of witchery.
Life as a human is dictated by an inborn hunger or purpose, and people, in general, will act on this hunger for their own personal gain in their individual ways. This hunger, be it for wealth, land, love, power, revenge, or pride, can, and will be the undoing or failing of all mankind as Miller so clearly points out in his play 'The Crucible';. This essay will explore the motives of characters within the play and even the motives of Arthur Miller himself and therefore show how conflict stems from certain recognisable human failings including those mentioned above, fear, and hysteria.
The Crucible – Human Nature Human nature was fully to blame for the disaster which took place in Salem in 1692. Human nature is what your character is made of in trying situations, and in 1692 scientific knowledge was extremely poor by today's standards and so all reoccurring problems were blamed on an evil force, whether it be the devil or witches or anything the imagination could conjure, hence human nature was being tested regularly. The decisions people made were critical to the disaster's progression, in today's scene in would have been dismissed within minutes, but the paranoia floating around in the town kept the ball rolling. People were so terrified of the thought of evil that any suggestion of it would create a preordained judgement in the mind of anyone, especially those who made judgement of the accused. To get to the supposed
The Crucible: Hysteria and Injustice Thesis Statement: The purpose is to educate and display to the reader the hysteria and injustice that can come from a group of people that thinks it's doing the "right" thing for society in relation to The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I. Introduction: The play is based on the real life witch hunts that occurred in the late 1600's in Salem, Massachusetts. It shows the people's fear of what they felt was the Devil's work and shows how a small group of powerful people wrongly accused and killed many people out of this fear and ignorance.
Explore Miller’s dramatic presentation and development of the theme of power and authority. Even though The Crucible is not historically correct, nor is it a perfect allegory for anti-Communism, or as a faithful account of the Salem trials, it still stands out as a powerful and timeless depiction of how intolerance, hysteria, power and authority is able to tear a community apart. The most important of these is the nature of power, authority and its costly, and overwhelming results. “But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or against it,” says Danforth conceitedly. With this antithesis, Miller sums up the attitude of the authorities towards the witch trials that if one goes against the judgement of the court
Good vs Evil, Reputation and Injustice, as well as fear and hysteria are all key themes in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. Significant events throughout the course of the play were used to highlight and illustrate the importance of these themes within the duration of the play.