Mass Hysteria Humans have a tendency to want to fit in and belong, causing numerous problems in society. Throughout history, there have been various cases of mass hysteria within groups of individuals. For example, randomly meowing nuns in France and an entire town believing that at night a monkey man watched them. Several specialists believe the behavior has come about due to mass hysteria. Mass hysteria is delusional thoughts, rumors, and fears that spread quickly through a group of people. Mass hysteria in The Crucible exhibits the amplitude to which surroundings affect a person; it may even drive them into a neurotic mindset. Fear among a society of people can disperse quickly and dominate their lives. In the play, the Crucible, the fear of witches took over the lives of scores of town members. The girls involved believed it, the judges believed it, and the townsfolk believed it. Mary Warren had said, "I heard …show more content…
In The Crucible, Mercy Lewis automatically believed that the courtroom was cold as soon as Abagail had said it was. “Your honor I freeze!” After Abagail says “I-I know not. A wind, a cold wind has come.” (Miller 1205). Tanzania had a similar case of friends prompting each other to faint. Twenty students fainted induced by the stress cause by exams. These epidemics are “very common here” as said by a Tanzanian education officer. (BBC UK). The girls living in a strict environment are much more vulnerable to outbreaks because of the severe discipline and emotional neglect. In France around the 1900’s, a church of nuns had begun meowing. (Good, Bartholomew). Between close quarters of the women and the lack of communication with the outside world, it was a common thing for nuns to have episodes of bizarre behavior. (Goode). It goes to show, how much a person’s surroundings can influence