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How Did The Salem Witch Trials Cause Mass Hysteria In The Crucible

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The Crucible: A Recipe for Disaster It is spring of 1692, and mass hysteria is flying in the air all around the town of Salem. Accusations are being thrown everywhere, and trials are being put into action. Many of the townspeople are being accused of bewitching children. This is notoriously known as the Salem Witch Trials. The real question is, are these people really guilty, or are these girls causing a huge frenzy disturbing the peace in Salem. What is causing this? The mass hysteria in Salem is being caused by the girls, who are claiming they were only “dancing” in the woods, Ruth and Betty falling ill, and Abigail Williams who has been lying and pretending. The beginning of the frenzy started out when Reverend Parris sees that Betty and …show more content…

It starts when she lies about the night in the woods with Tituba. Abigail says, “She made do it! She made Betty do it!” , and “She makes me drink blood,” when Abigail did so all on her own. Abigail also blames Tituba of many other things such as making her dream corruptions. The lies that caused most hysteria are when Abigail and the girls begin to accuse others of being seen with the devil, such as when Betty says, “I saw George Jacobs with the devil! I saw Goody Howe with the devil!”. Also, whenever there is a court or trial, and someone is accused Abigail and the other girls faint and pretend to see the devil or some evil spirit. Another one of the main lies Abigail tells is one of how Elizabeth Proctor is bewitched. Abigail wishes to be with John, Elizabeth’s husband, and seeks out to get rid of her. She does so by stabbing herself with a needle she saw Mary Warren stick into a poppet she had made. Mary Warren even says, “ Ask Abby, Abby sat beside me when I made it,” referring the the poppet Reverend Hale is inspecting to put Goody Proctor in court. Abigail Williams tells many lies and accusations in Salem, and she is clearly an effect of the recipe for

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Abigail Williams is the source of the witchcraft hysteria in Salem. Abigail is first accused of bewitching Betty Parris in the woods one night. She quickly disputes the accusation by saying they: Ruth Putnam, Tituba, Betty Parris, Mary Warren, and Abigail herself, were only dancing despite it also being highly looked down upon. By starting out with this single lie, her story snowballs and eventually leads to the downfall of Salem. By associating herself with Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam, both of which are sick while Abigail is well, Abigail is submitting herself to a fight she can’t win unless she lies.

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Since the men were married they obviously the girls couldn't wait for them to go after there hand in marriage,so they went to a slave woman named Tituba she said that she could make the men that they desired drawn to them by practicing voodoo in the forest. They were caught by one of the village reverends and was asked for an explanation to what they were doing in the woods. Instead of telling the truth a girl named Abigail Williams said that they should lie about what happen a put all attention back into tituba. Then the people of salem confronted Tituba they beat her until she put the blame on the other women of salem, and the blame just circled around and people cracked under pressure of being hung until those who didn't have a good alibi and didn't have enough land or wealth to really make a stand for why they were prosecuted were

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1882 Words | 8 Pages

In 1692, A town in Massachusetts by the name of Salem Village became known for one most documented cases of mass hysteria in history. This saga started with three girls: Abigail Williams, Elizabeth Parris, and Ann Putnam a neighborhood friend. Abigail Williams, the niece of the town’s minister, began to display weird and questionable behavior. The town’s physician,William Greggs, was called to determine the cause of this sporadic behavior. The town’s physician determined that the three girls were under “the Devil’s influence” and they had been bewitched.

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Earlier, the day of the incident, Mary Warren, the Proctor’s maid, had been at court volunteering. While bored, Miss Mary Warren claimed, she had made a doll for Elizabeth. Abigail Williams was in the room, and saw the opportunity to frame Elizabeth, and finally get what she wanted - Elizabeth dead. Abigail then stabbed herself in the stomach with a needle, and claimed that Elizabeth Proctor committed the crime of witchery using the doll Mary Warren made her as a

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851 Words | 4 Pages

“Then let you come out and call them wrong. Did you consult the wardens before you called this minister to look for devil’s?” ( Proctor Pg. 1142) This caused the problem to be more than anything Salem town had seen before so it was taken to the court which they decided what happen as well as the girls took part and had authority

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257 Words | 2 Pages

In The Crucible, Aurthur Miller illustrates, and suggests how fear of losing someone leads to atrocious and vicious acts. It all starts when Abigail gets caught for performing witchcraft. In this time Salem was Puritan, they were full of fear in the devil, and would kill anyone who was apart of it. Abigail's behavior in the woods lead her to be scared of the other girls she was with to betray her and her name being blackened.

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Abigail Williams, Betty Parris, and many other girls in the small village of Salem when dancing out in the woods with Tituba, Mr. Parris’s slave. Reverend Parris sneaks up on the girls and everything goes downhill. Ruth Putnam and Betty Parris fall unresponsive. Betty is still and worrying her father to death, for he is in fear that possible witchcraft in his daughter could ruin his reputation. When Betty wakes and Abigail is around, Betty immediately brings up the fact that Abigail drank a charm of chicken blood to kill Goody Proctor.

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When John confesses the affair Abigail still refuses to admit the truth, "Mr. Danforth, he is lying!" (102). Abigail's ability to manipulate and deceitfulness make her the leader of the group of girls who accused the witches. The accusations start after Tituba confesses and Abigail in an attempt at concealing the truth even more begins to accuse more people, "I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!"(45).

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As Abigail realizes the tables are turning against her, she pretends to be super scared, and sees a “yellow bird” that is supposedly Mary’s spirit that wants to pluck her eyes out. The girls continuously say that they are being attacked by Mary’s spirit, but they honestly see nothing. When Mary feels the pressure of being hanged, she flips back to Abigail’s side. She knows that if she lies and blames someone else, she will be saved. She confesses the devil has control of her.

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852 Words | 4 Pages

Mass hysteria this is where it's kind of like monkey see monkey do once somebody does it the rest follow. Throughout the story there were just a few important ones. The first was when Abby wanted to be just like tituba and wanted to be heard so she blerted out a name the betty did after that Mercy did and soon all the girls. For example Abigail said “ I want to open myself to” so she claimed and Betty named off a bunch “I saw Goody Jacobs with the devil!! I saw Goody Howe with the devil” and all the girls started to join in.

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801 Words | 4 Pages

The majority of individuals have heard about the Salem Witch Trials, either from a history lesson or when reading for their enjoyment. People often wonder how a group of young girls convinced residents in the town of Salem of being witches, causing a large number of executions. However, for many years, people have not found a definitive answer to what really caused the mass hysteria. Researchers speculate it could be rooted in ergotism, a disease caused by the consumption of ergot, which usually grows on rye (Caporael). Due to this, the girls could have imagined that they were being attacked by “witches.”

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Throughout The Crucible, a prolonging of mass hysteria arises, perpetuated by extreme emotion of complicated characters. The book, a historical drama, was based on the Salem Witch Trials of the 17th century. An allegory to the Red Scare and McCarthyism, all characters undergo manipulative, tragic situations involving false accusations, paranoia, threats, lies, and more around known conformity to disapproving witchcraft. The Crucible directly mirrors major sentiment of these specific historical time periods when a personal invasion of the townspeople increased the severity of reactions, heightening the madness of the overall public. Events grew in terms of intensity and one after another, created a chaotic atmosphere for the entirety of the town and with more than 200 people on trial, many

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445 Words | 2 Pages

Some theories being attention seekers, jealousy or illness. One of the theories of why the Witch Trials occurred is attention seekers. In the play many of the girls in town were involved in the witchcraft hysteria. The three main characters in the play that caused the trials were Abigail Williams,Betty Parris and Mercy Lewis. In Act one Betty wakes up from her “coma” like sort when everyone is gone except for Mercy, Abigail and Mary Warren.

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738 Words | 3 Pages

No one will ever know what caused the Salem Witch Trials, but there is a truth behind the hysteria. It’s believed that the Salem Witch Trials were caused by young girls eating a fungus in rye, but there was also a young slave from the caribbean named Tituba who put these devilish thoughts in these young girls heads. The Salem Witch Trials were caused by a misfit, slave woman. What started this witch hysteria is proof that the slave, Tituba, was the cause of all of this unnecessary drama. According to a website, “The ordeal originated in the home of Salem's REVEREND SAMUEL PARRIS.

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617 Words | 3 Pages

Call upon the gods! Cast your circle! It’s time to perform the ritual! The Salem Witch Trials were a major part of the world’s history. These trials created a mass hysteria and caused many people grief.

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