Examples Of Mass Hysteria In The Crucible '

In The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Mills in 1953, the setting takes place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Crucible demonstrates the effects of the Salem Witch trials and how it led to mass murder. This production provides insight on the lives of the accused, what the causes were, and how society dealt with it. Mills’s production pointed out the brutality that politics and government or “the law” introduced in towns including Salem. Throughout the play we discover what contributors led to the mass hysteria and just how strongly it could deceive people. People were tried with little to no evidence that witchcraft was present in Salem and the consequences meant life or death. "It is incredible what superstitions, jealousies, lies,

The term mass hysteria is frequently misused, but when it describes an incident or event that was amplified by rumors, government/ authority actions, media, and or cultural beliefs then it is in proper context. An example of mass hysteria would be the poisoning scare that occurred in Milan, Italy, in 1630, that caused a city of people to believe that their water supply was poisoned by the devil. People were frightened, accusing others and even themselves to be working for the devil, which led to numerous executions. In this example, a rumor arose from an article written by Charles Mackay, that evoked mass hysteria within the people of Milan. Rumors and media had been just two factors that contributed to the collective delusions in Milan and also happen to be the same factors that enforced the Salem witch trials along with

Strong shifts in popular opinion have led to countless executions across the world. Adolf Hitler convinced the people that Jews were the enemy and far from the “superior race” that he believed in. The United States set up concentration camps for Japanese people after the bombing of Pearl Harbor because the U.S. government strongly believed that there were Japanese spies here in the U.S. Both of these examples show how dangerous and even deadly mass hysteria can be. Rumors, government or authority actions, media, and cultural beliefs are all major causes of mass hysteria. In the Salem Witch Trials mass hysteria was the cause of hundreds of deaths of innocent people. These contributing factors of collective delusion were solemnly based on accusations and suspicions. People like Joseph McCarthy, Adolf Hitler, and Matthew Hopkins had their own agendas and they realized that undermining people was the only way to reach their desired outcome. Religion and cultural beliefs shaped every day aspects more so than someone imagined. Even the smallest of rumors had tremendous impacts on a person and their family. Mass hysteria was caused by multiple things in the Salem Witch Trials but brought with it one thing;