Nine-year old Elizabeth Parris and eleven years old Abigail Williams started having fits, strange behaviors and would scream with anger. A doctor looked at the girls and decided that the only explanation was spells caused by witchcraft. Despite the fact today we know it wasn’t logically true, but the town had a strong belief of the devil. Hysteria and chaos took over the town, soon enough when girls all over town decided to take part in it, and began accusing the townspeople without a reason. This is one reason why this is the worst thing that happened to America.
While In court with Mary Warren, Abigail and the girls say, “Why do you come, yellow bird?” (106). They claim that Mary Warren is sending the devil upon them. They all establish lie in order to be heard over Mary Warren. The girls and Abigail feel as though since they lack power in the community that lying is the only way they can gain that power and feel as though they impact the community. Through all of history women have struggled to have a voice.
In 1692, the Salem witch trials led to much chaos and confusion. Approximately nineteen victims were killed due to the accusation of witchcraft practice. Specific characters led to the controversy of the witch trials causing conflict between the innocent and the guilty. Reverend Hale is a revered individual of the court in the beginning of the play due to the witch trials because he stands by the authority and its laws. As the play continues he later realizes the blasphemy of the court's accusations and tries his best to stop the trial and saved all the innocent people.
Her broken heart from being betrayed makes her cruel. She now holds a grudge against all males. She even raises her beautiful daughter Estella to lure men in and then break their hearts. She stops all the clocks in Satis House at twenty minutes to nine, which was the moment when she first learned that Compeyson was gone. She still wears her faded wedding dress and only one shoe because when she learned of the betrayal, she hadn’t put the other on yet.
Hysteria in Salem In 1692, in Salem Massachusetts, the superstition of witches existed in a society of strong Christian beliefs. Anybody who acted out of the ordinary was accused of being a witch and the accused would actually be forgiven if they blamed their accusations on another individual. In this play, a group of young girls is accused of being witches. These girls then blame other people in order to get out of trouble and even pretend to be "bewitched" in front of the court during a trial. This leads into the deaths of the innocent people who are accused and automatically found guilty.
The Crucible: Mass Hysteria In 1692, a small town in Salem, Massachusetts experienced an outbreak of mass hysteria and pure chaos in fear of witchcraft. The incidents were started by a small group of teen girls who accused innocent people of being with the devil and witchcraft. It baffles me to see that such a religious town could be in such an uproar to these accusations. Arthur Miller uses great examples of mass hysteria within the girls and other people in the town. Many people go along with what the girls are doing, while some stick to their own belief in what is right.
For example, she outs the blame on Tituba, who confesses to performing witchcraft. She also accuses poor Elizabeth Proctor who is the wife of John Proctor. John gets hung later in the story while his wife has to deal with her pregnancy of their first child together. It was rumored that Abigail had had an affair with john while she served as a maid for the couple. Abigail was very good at manipulating people and uses that trait as an advantage in the story.
Gillian MacDonald 21 March 2013 ENG 4U Mr. Chalmers The Ringleaders of the Salem Witch Trials In the book The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the theme of hysteria is dominantly present throughout the entire play. It is not hard to narrow down the cause of the widespread hysteria to three people that inevitably had their hand in the trials. The devious character, Abigail, shows her wicked mind and skill of manipulation in the play so she can get what she wants, John Proctor. The slave, Tituba, gave into the accusations and started the hysteria of the witch trials. The last character that contributed to an entire town’s belief in witches would be Danforth.
As the play goes along, the power moves away from Lady Macbeth and more towards the Witches, who control Macbeth’s actions through paranoia. The Witches and Lady Macbeth hold all power in Shakespeare’s most feminist tragedy. The first feminist power holders are the witches. Throughout the play, the witches always hold some type of power, whether or not it was the most dominating at the time. When the witches first meet Macbeth, the witches say, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!
The play opens in a scene of chaos; Betty Parris, daughter of Reverend Parris, has slipped into what is now known as a coma. When Betty does not awaken, the townspeople immediately turn to witchcraft as the reason for what is happening. Jealousy causes many of the people to accuse others of witchcraft. Debates over property lines occur; neighbors are at each others’ throats. Centering now upon John Proctor, and his wife, Elizabeth, the story takes a turn.