Hysteria Affects Society In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

How does hysteria affect society? Hysteria is when a group of people experience an exaggerated amount of excitement that is most often caused by fear. Hysteria starts off small, but enlarges into something that affects society over a period of time. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the character of Reverend Hale demonstrates how mass hysteria impacts society.
To begin with, the changes that Hale undergoes portrays how society changes because of hysteria. While interrogating the Proctors in the beginning of the play, Hale stated, “Theology, sir, is a fortress; no crack in a fortress may be accounted small” (Miller 1063). In the beginning of the play, Reverend Hale used God to justify who is innocent and who is guilty, and whoever didn’t follow

Since the citizens of Salem are very religious, Hale’s reasoning is deemed logical, thus, Hale creates hysteria and intolerance through religion. However, later when Elizabeth lied to the court to protect John’s reputation, Hale claimed, “Excellency, it is a natural lie to tell... I may shut my conscience to it no more—private vengeance is working through this testimony!” (Miller 1091). Elizabeth violated the Ninth Commandment by lying, but Hale still supported her because Hale realized that the world is not simply black and white like the Ten Commandments. Hale’s shift of mindset also symbolizes the change that the community of Salem went through. In the beginning, Hale was blinded by his faith in the Church and followed the court, however as the play progressed, Hale started to doubt the

Hale proclaimed, “In these books the Devil stands stripped of all his brute disguises. Here are all your familiar spirits—your incubi and succubi; your witches that go by land… we shall find him out if he has come among us, and I mean to crush him utterly…” (Miller 1043). Since Hale has a reputation for being a holy man and an expert on witches, he possess a large amount of power in Salem because Salem was in a state of mass hysteria and needed guidance. Hale is able to utilize his power in Salem by directing the people of Salem to the truth, however Hale unknowingly impacts Salem by adding more fear and intolerance towards those who are believed to be witches. Additionally, Hale stated, “Take courage, you must give us all their names… the Devil is out and preying on her like a beast upon the flesh of pure lamb… Let the marshal bring irons!” (Miller 1049). Since Abigail and Betty misled Hale by falsely accusing innocent people, Hale will use his power to arrest those who were falsely accused, therefore, the town will believe that those who were falsely accused are actually witches. Hale’s presence alone stirs up additional hysteria because Abigail was able to manipulate his power to divert the attention towards the “witches” in Salem. Once Hale arrests the “witches” in Salem, the town will shun them out and blindly believe what Hale says because he has a reputation for being