In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the setting of Puritan Salem, the twisting plot, and developing characterization to propel the play. Arthur Miller takes advantage of the mindset of villagers in Salem at the time. For instance, there was a pressure to be perfect, to never be caught doing anything the reverend wouldn’t approve of. Every action was closely monitored by your neighbors and any other bystander at the time. Next, plot comes into the play by developing a sense of background and history between the characters by using jealousy, fear, and mass hysteria. An example of this would be the jealousy of Abigail Williams. Fear and mass hysteria were brought into play because of the fact that this was the villagers only chance to seek revenge …show more content…
To begin, fear starts the plot by Betty Parris’ mysterious illness supposedly brought on by witchcraft, which was just Betty’s way of dealing with being caught doing something she knew her father, Rev. Parris, would never approve of. In Puritan times, dancing was strictly prohibited and the punishment was whipping, which is stated by Mary Warren in her and Abigail's conversation admitting to dancing, Mary States that she, Abigail, would only be whipped. Secondly, the reader discovers how jealousy affects the plot. For Example, Abigail is jealous of Elizabeth Proctor because of John’s love for his wife, John and Abigail had an affair while his wife was sick. When the girls were caught dancing, the real purpose was a plot to kill Goody Proctor, hence how jealousy starts the plot. Finally, mass hysteria was a key part of the development of the plot. For instance, when Mary Warren tried to admit that all of the accusations were pretense, then the girls of Salem started to claim Mary’s spirit was attacking them, which lead to a panic spreading throughout the …show more content…
To begin, she’s desperate for love and attention, because of the psychological need for parental nurturing after their death. For example, out of all of the men in Salem she chooses a married man. She chooses the married man because of his circumstances, she knows he is vulnerable and willing to become ‘acquainted’ with her which will give her the attention and affection she craves. Next, Abigail is very aggressive towards people she sees as less than her, because of her need for attention she developed an aggressiveness because of rejections, specifically one’s involving John. For example, when Mary Warren tells her to admit only to dancing, Mary says, “...You’ll only be whipped for dancing…” to which Abigail replies “Oh, We’ll be whipped.”, even though Mary did not dance she only watched. Abigail’s attitude of aggression is mostly taken out on Mary Warren since she is John’s new help, the spot she held as she had an affair with John. Finally, one of Abigail's key traits is to be controlling and manipulative. For instance, when they tried to get Mary Warren to testify for perjury, she said that Mary’s spirit was attacking her in the form of a bird. All of the other girls already knew to follow suit, which eventually led Mary Warren to falter and follow along with Abigail’s claims. Abigail’s characterization propels the story by twisting and turning the
Supernatural and mass hysteria both were influenced in “ The crucible “ example of supernatural on page 10 in the book it says , "I saw Tituba waving her arms over the fire when I went ahead you". He saw everything that occurred in the forested areas that time . After that day Betty would not wake up, or she would have her eyes open yet would not talk or walk. Many people trust that it's witchcraft, Mrs. Putnam trusts that Tituba killed her seven conceived babies and that Tituba can likewise address the dead. Mrs. Putnam is an extremely solid devotee of witchcraft. Her little girl Ruth Putnam is additionally exceptionally debilitated she has an indistinguishable manifestations from Betty Mrs. Putnam thinks Ruth was near addressing her dead
A large group of heartless girls started the mess. Casting spells and drinking blood do kill others loved ones. The leader of the rebel group is Abigail. Abigail convinced every girl in the group to do evil. Abigail Williams threatened the girls if they ever told a soul or disobey her, they would be killed. Abigail stated “I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you … And I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!” (Miller; The Crucible; Act One). Abigail Williams became so obsessed with John Proctor she would do anything to make him all hers. Abigail accuses Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor's wife, of witchcraft. After being arrested for witchcraft, Mary Warren, servant for the Proctor household, confess to John that everything Abigail Williams is saying is a lie. Mary Warren testified against Abigail and the group of girls of their nasty lies. Judge Danforth was pressing Mary of questions that Mary couldn’t answer, as she saw John's side fall apart, she switched to Abigail's side and began to berate him. Elizabeth Proctor testified that John never fancied Abigail Williams because she wanted to protect her husband from being
There is no such thing as an honest person. Everybody has lied at least once in their lifetime. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, several girls in a highly religious and Puritan Salem, Massachusetts get caught dancing in the woods. In order to avoid punishment, these girls lie and accuse others of witchcraft. Eventually, it is revealed that the people in the town accused each other of witchcraft for ulterior motives. Regardless of their motives, these accusations created mass hysteria in Salem. The three people that were responsible for creating mass hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts were Parris, Abigail, and Hale.
Mass hysteria referred to puritan belief that satan was active, present, and walking amongst them in disguise. Irrational fears caused people to accuse others, and those who were accused had no way to defend themselves. Of those people who started accusations, they would do crazy things like pretend that their “spirit” was harming them, and that was enough to have them hung and killed. This falls in in mas hysteria because those “spirits” were considered to be from sent from the devil. Just like in the film where the girls falsely accused innocent people of practicing witchery, they would say those kind of things about sending their spirits, and that's what would get the judges to believe it. The judges then would sent forth and kill them, or sometimes the people who were accused would confess and they would get put in jail instead. Many of them prefered death though, just because they didn't want to agree to such a lie. During the Salem Witch Trials, the girls dancing in the woods, Abigail’s affair with John, and Mary
Aristotle once said, “All persons ought to endeavor to follow what is right, and not what is established.” According to the site titled History, “McCarthy declared that he had a list of 205 known members of the Communist Party who were “working and shaping policy” in the State Department.” (http://www.history.com). This accusation led to a mob hysteria known as the Red Scare. The Crucible demonstrated the strange phenomenon of Mob Hysteria. As we understand, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible with the influences of the non-fictional events during the Salem Witch Trials, as well as the events that occurred during the McCarthy Era. The Crucible portrays how mass hysteria influenced people to state false accusations, unfair trials in the court
In the short story “The Crucible” hysteria is spread when Betty and Abigail were dancing in the forest around a fire and caused the townspeople to suspect that both girls were associated with witchcraft due to religious beliefs. This hysteria caused reverend Parris to fear that his position was in danger because if the townspeople were to find out his enemies would attempt to dethrone him. In this case hysteria was caused by Betty and Abigail dancing in the forest around a fire. Therefore hysteria is spread by the fact that Parris is panicking with that he is causing more hysteria, “It must come out - my enemies will bring it out.Let me know what you done there. Abigail, do , you understand that I have enemies?”. This quote signifies how
There were many conflicts and troubles in this play. No one was getting along and there were many arguments. This all started when Abigail and a group of girls went dancing in a forest trying to conjure up spirits. They get caught and to not get in trouble, the girls blame others and somehow get away with it. Many people are taken to jail, and many even hung. All this instead of just telling the truth. Many struggle with telling the truth because they are scared of the consequence. “Keeping everyone happy and telling the truth at the same time is an extraordinarily difficult art.” (Howell). By Abigail blaming others, it causes the judge to come in the picture and many more others. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, a young girl named Abigail, Judge Danforth, and all the townspeople were the reasons why there were so much mass hysteria in Salem.
Fear, and Hysteria are two words that can describe the play The Crucible. hysteria and the fear in the play The Crucible. Hysteria is defined as exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people and in the play The Crucible, hysteria comes in when a group of girls decide to go with their leader being Abigail and dance in the woods naked. Arthur miller also used fear to control the people in the town. This fear and hysteria will lead to the death of several innocent people who wouldn't confess to doing something they didn't because they are stuck in there Puritan ways. The hysteria and the fear of the people will blow everything out of the water for those who confess and those who don't.
Perhaps as teenagers of the current society our morals have eluted by the ever-so present beliefs portrayed in the media. Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" is broadly applicable as it demonstrates resonance of contemporary events such as the engagement of spreading lies, propaganda and fake news. Whilst, the play certainly is a critique on the McCarthy era it can also be viewed as commentary on the "alternative distorted facts" presented through mainstream medias. Miller suggested the witch-hunt insanity was fueled by a number of complex causes including the dark desires to satisfy hateful urges by the mass hysteria. Mass hysteria is a social phenomenon where imaginary fear and anxiety spread uncontrollably through a community. Throughout the play "The Crucible," hysteria regarding witchcraft spreads through Salem resulting in the numerous deaths of innocent people.
When I think of The Crucible one of the first things that comes to mind is the amount of Hysteria prevalent throughout the entire play. Defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary as “behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess” hysteria was a very common problem throughout The Crucible. The main source of the hysteria found in The Crucible has its roots in the accusations of witchcraft. Rather than listen to reason many of the character in the play became hysterical at the thought of witchcraft and began to condemn many innocent women. If the characters had sat down and thought about who they were accusing and why rather than jumping on the bandwagon most of the conflict could have been avoided. There were several examples of hysteria throughout The Crucible.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller was written in the 1950s about McCarthyism and its Nazi 'witch trials'. This book has several underlying themes but one of the more universal themes is hysteria as it is both still common and was prominent during the period the book was written. Hysteria can be described as exaggerated emotions especially in large groups. The characters in The Crucible all exhibit certain reactions to the hysteria that is within the town of Salem. While some try to use the hysteria to their advantage and settle old guess others try to increase their standings in the town. All of these examples can relate to McCarthyism.
In 1962, Salem Massachusetts found itself in a panic for the hanging of twenty people’s
Miller’s “The Crucible” is less about the details of the witch hunt and subsequent trials, and more about how events of this nature affect the communities in which they take place. It also demonstrates how a mass hysteria can lead to socially justified violence.
The Crucible was a melting pot of bad ingredients that created a scene of incredible hysteria. Due to this hysteria the characters do actions that would normally be out of place or unethical. The mass panic, while imagined and irrational, was the driving force behind the play, so what caused the town of Salem to lose their senses? A town does not go off the deep end without a cause. The religion, court system, and social climate of Salem and the effects of the aforementioned that went behind the hysteria.
Mass hysteria has affected many different groups and has led them to do very exorbitant things. Some such groups are: the people of Salem in 1692-1693 who held the Salem Witch Trials where 20 people were executed, the townspeople of Halifax who claimed to be attacked by a man with a knife, which caused many people to wound themselves for attention, and the 90+ students of an all-girls school in Tanzania who laughed uncontrollably for up to fifteen days. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller effectively uses the Salem Witch Trials to show: what can cause mass hysteria, what mass hysteria can lead to, and how mass hysteria can be manipulated for someone’s gain.