Mass Hysteria In The Crucible Essay

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, mass hysteria sweeps over a small puritan town in Salem. The mass hysteria spreads like a contagious disease. It is caused by people and culture. This essay will discuss the causes and effects of mass hysteria in a small town. Mass hysteria is a condition affecting a group of persons, characterized by excitement or anxiety, irrational behavior or beliefs. Typically, it takes a large group of people with the same thoughts or ideas to cause the hysteria to spread. In other words, there is strength in numbers. This is portrayed by Abigail and the other girls in The Crucible. In Act III, the girls accuse Mary Warren of witchcraft to prevent her from testifying against them. Though multiple people (including Mary) have claimed that the witchcraft accusations are false, the court refuses to be swayed (Miller). Another example
Abigail, the girls, Hathorne and Danforth, Reverend Parris, the Putnams, and even Hale played a role in spreading the mass hysteria. Each one of them were highly respected individuals. Among the list were land owners, judges, and two preachers. The Crucible is set in the year 1962. If you were a preacher, you were the highest official in the town. If you owned land, you had power. Finally, if you were a judge, you were highly respected. The Puritans truly believed in leading by example and to be a “castle on a hill.” For the highest individuals in the town to become hysterical over these events, the townspeople became felt they should also be hysterical. They even knew the town was looking to them. In the opening lines of Act I, Reverend Parris asked his niece Abigail, “And what shall I say to them?” (Miller). Parris knew they were looking to him for answers, and the fact that he was hysterical caused the others to follow by his example. If Parris and the others would not have been hysterical, the town would have just blew it