Mass hysteria can exist when a number of people behave in an uncontrollable‚ unmanageable way because of fear and/or anger. Arthur Miller easily shows this in the play The Crucible which takes place in the late 1600’s in Salem‚ Massachusetts when more than one-hundred people were getting accused of being witches. United State Senator Joseph McCarthy had done something similar to this when he had accused many people of being “Reds” or communists during the Red Scare going throughout the United States
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all town members to end witchcraft entirely in order to limit opposition of religion. Religion influences the people‚ over time economics determines people’s reaction and social habits were the leading causes for the termination of individuals believed to be witches. Major religions such as Calvinism‚ Lutheran and Catholicism believe that witchcraft was going against God and should be immediately
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witches. Although the book contained misconceptions of witches‚ the accusations were supported and thought of as the truth in contemporary culture. At the time the Malleus Maleficarum was produced‚ there was an ongoing fear and concern for witches and witchcraft; the beliefs in witches were thought to be dangerous in regards to the safety of Christians. Despite the unreasonable guiding of the Malleus Maleficarum‚ it played a culturally significant part in drawing upon and strengthening the beliefs of the
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The Puritans of 17th century New England believed in witches and witchcraft. They were a group of people who had left England to escape religious persecution‚ yet their beliefs centered on an intolerant and rigid code. They shared many of the same beliefs as the Church of England but felt that neither the church nor the country was up to snuff. They believed that all sins should be punished and that God would be the one to do so. Any misfortune that was suffered was seen as God’s will or as the work
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Witchcraft through pagan beliefs has been around for centuries‚ pre-dating Christianity and many mainstream religions. The most common concept‚ however‚ comes around when the Western world describes it as acts against God and therefore evil‚ associating it with the Devil and Devil worshipping. Witchcraft is feared and resorted to when events are unexplainable. In the Late Middle Ages‚ three main texts arose that laid a foundation for the extermination of witches‚ known as the Witchcraft Documents
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4/15/13 Witchcraft‚ Wizardry‚ & Superstitions During The Elizabethan Era During the Elizabethan era‚ humans were still in the age of discovery‚ and what they could not explain‚ understand‚ or thought of as “physical phenomena” the Elizabethans were afraid of
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the hands of the Christian church. The idea of witchcraft usually lands in the same realm as fantasy and childhood notions of fairytales. When confronted with the notion that people in this world really do practice witchcraft‚ we are immersed both in fascination and fear. The very concept of witchcraft‚ and the magic associated with it‚
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Elite and Popular Perspectives of Witchcraft The elite perspective is the perspective of those in power. It may be the perspective of the monarchy but it may also be administrative/judicial or that of the church. Popular conceptions are those held by the common people. These two perspectives were not very distinctive because the elite and common people did not live completely separate lives from one another there was some mixing of culture‚ and thus there were many similarities in the conceptions
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Tituba and parris are to blame for starting the hysteria because without parris telling everyone about the dancing and if tituba had not told people she was working with the devil people’s suspicion eventually would had worn off. When parris says “and what shall i say to them? That my daughter and niece i discovered dancing like heathens in the forest?” (p.10). He is trying to figure out what really happened in the woods. When she doesn’t tell him the truth the news of the dancing somehow slips out
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From about 1480-1700‚ many individuals in Europe were accused of being witches‚ put on trial‚ prosecuted and later executed for witchcraft. This witch craze was concentrated in southwestern Germany‚ Switzerland‚ England‚ Scotland‚ Poland‚ and parts of France‚ and resulted in 100‚000 witches put on trial. The three main reasons for the persecution of these “witches” were economic greed‚ religious beliefs and social prejudices. Most of those who accused the witches as being so ultimately sought profit
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