The Crucible Hysteria Analysis

In Salem, Massachusetts the year 1692, Arthur Miller tells the tale of witch hunts and trials in his play The Crucible. With these trials and hunts came hysteria; a term defined as uncontrollable emotion and excitement among people. Throughout Salem Miller creates hysteria among contrasting characters, uneven justice, and even alludes to the hysteria we have in our societies today. In any play, characters along with their personalities are what complete a story. When characters have contrasting personalities, however; quarrels and disagreements are bound to happen no matter what the situation. In The Crucible the mass hysteria only thickened the tension between some characters. One main set of characters that added to the hysteria were Abigail …show more content…
One of the main events that started hysteria was the accusations that began in Salem as they tried to rid their town from the “devil”. The accusations began because Abigail and her friends were looking for a way to get out of trouble for being caught in the woods. One night Abigail formulates a plan to accuse other adults in Salem of witchcraft and forced all of her friends to be in on the plan too. Abigail makes her revelation in the quote “I want to open myself! They turn to her, startled. She is enraptured, as though in a pearly light. I want the light of God, i want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss his hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Miller 45). Now none of this was the truth, but it kept Abigail out of trouble in the meantime. The board members of Salem believed every name the children said began taking anyone accused into custody and away from their lives without any evidence. To say the justice was twisted would be an understatement. Adults with authority chose to believe children on a hunch because the Devil was involved. Another moment Miller created where justice and truth became twisted was when John Proctor wanted to plead guilty of witchcraft to save his life. He decided that it was the right decision to stay alive so he signed …show more content…
Salem and its mass hysteria is something seen repeating itself in society everywhere. It is commonly seen even recently with Republicans and Democrats or even Abortion Rights. Hysteria is fueled by fear, and that is one lesson easily taken from Miller’s play. With every issue there are always multiple viewpoints, and sometimes these differences in fear of the other side can cause this hysteria. If Salem has taught any lesson, it’s that it only takes one person to start a problem worth talking