How Does Arthur Miller Present Hysteria In The Crucible

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In the play “The Crucible”, author Arthur Miller talks about the fear and hysteria that went along with the Salem witch trials in the late 1600s. The townspeople were all paranoid and believed that almost everyone was associated with witchcraft including friends and neighbors that they had known for a long time. As a town based on strict Christian principles, anything that was done that seemed somewhat against these principles were considered to be the work of the devil.
The trials resulted in the death of twenty people. Because of fear and hysteria in “The Crucible” everyone starts to believe Abigail Williams and the girls after they start accusing people of witchcraft. Hysteria begins to rise after Abigail and the young girls of Salem, Massachusetts are
“discovered dancing
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And now, as though cornered, they let out a gigantic scream” therefore making it seem as Mary had sent her spirit out to tear out their eyes (Miller 196). This behavior causes Danforth to “lower his eyes from the ceiling, and now…is frightened” (Miller 195). Mary truly realizes the power that Abigail has and decides to put the blame on Proctor to save herself from Abigail's wrath.
All it takes is one little push to create a domino effect which leads to all the dominos falling down just like it takes one person’s accusations to create a mass hysteria among a town.
Unfortunately this was one person was Abigail Williams, once she started blaming people for witchcraft she couldn’t stop. Every little thing done by someone that seemed slightly suspicious was marked as witchcraft. The trials were put to an end when when the madness started to die down. Hysteria and Fear in “The Crucible” showed that hysteria only thrives because people benefit from it. It matters because it overrides all logic and allows people to act out on a fear that
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