How Does Miller Present Mass Hysteria In The Crucible

Through the conflation of the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy trials, Arthur Miller dramatically represents the human experience of mass hysteria throughout the play ‘The Crucible’. The mass hysteria in the Crucible is closely related to the human emotion of fear, it refers to the way in which a large group of people recognise a major threat to themselves and society throughout the fear and baseless rumours that are created. These emotions arise throughout the accusation of witchcraft in Salem, these false accusations lead to a series of convictions and trials, which eventually result in the many deaths of innocent people. In the dystopian novel ‘The Hunger Games’ by James Newton Howard, The theme of Survival versus Humanity is clearly

The Crucible reflects the compelling power that fear holds on people and the erratic behaviours that it drives people to perform, and forces them to believe that they must forfeit their humanity by turning against their fellow people to ensure themselves of a false sense of security. After John Proctor, who is a man that holds a high status in society and is well-respected begins having an affair with the familys teenage servant Abigail Williams, they both begin to illustrate rampant hysteria. Despite the misogynistic system of the village, Abigail is a dominant accuser of witchcraft in Salem who begins to go around accusing many people of witchcraft which results in many innocent deaths. Abigail holds a manipulative and power-hungry nature which causes her to perform reckless actions to destory the lives of others, which begins with her affair with John Proctor that enables her to hold power over him. However, there is a main inconsistency throughout the play which is the fact that John names himself, and acts as a honest man but he begins an ongoing affair with Abigail. “I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” Abigail is using repetition is this outburst in the hopes to manipulate after Tituba has falsey confessed to witchcraft as a way of escaping her own negative situation. Abigail once again uses her manipulative nature because she does not want Tituba to be forgiven. ‘The Crucible’ challenges the audience to reflect on the very serious consequences that arise from false accusations and baseless rumors that can destroy society and cause individuals to act