The Salem Witch Trials: Mass Hysteria In Action

The Salem Witch Trials: Mass Hysteria in Action

In January of 1692, nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris and eleven-year-old Abigail Williams began to have peculiar fits characterized by violent contortions and uncontrollable screaming. Suffering from “temporary blindness, deafness, burning sensations, and visions ….” (Mundra et al, 2016, p.540) the local physician’s only explanation was that they were bewitched. When several other young girls began to fall victim to similar symptoms, villagers became increasingly worried and infuriated. Witchcraft, under the laws of the time, was a capital crime and there would not be any toleration. After an intense questioning of the girls, three women were accused: Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba. Although

However, there are many contrasting views on what caused such symptoms. Mundra et al. (2016) note the similarities of the symptoms of convulsive ergotism to those displayed by the girls. Woolf (2000) contradicts this by arguing that the victims did not display other symptoms and the aftereffects common to ergot poisoning and points to the peculiar similarities of the socio-political and economic divisions within the village in comparison to those accused as something more than a coincidence. Mixon and King (2008) go further by claiming that Samuel Parris, the reverend of Salem Village, started and orchestrated the events by inducing hysteria through his daughter, Elizabeth Parris, and his niece, Abigail Williams in an attempt to increase ministerial power. Reed (2007) explains how the social conditions of Salem at the time were perfect for the spread of witchcraft hysteria. Other hypotheses range from arctic hysteria , to actual demonic possession or even extreme boredom for the girls (Zeller, 1990, p.240). I will compare and synthesize these theories to determine what was the root cause behind the extent of the witch hunt. Through research and the compilation of sources, I conclude that it is likely that mass hysteria, part controlled part uncontrolled, was the driving force behind the

647). Often preceded by high stress or anxiety levels, victims will begin to display symptoms synonymous to those caused by a perceived threat. Onset and recovery may happen rapidly, but symptoms can last days, or even weeks or months. Female adolescents have been found to be more prone to such outbreaks, but there have not been any accepted explanations into why this is the case (Goldstein & Hall, 2015, p. 644). Throughout history, a number of bizarre illnesses and events have been attributed to mass hysteria. One of the earliest recorded such event was the Dancing Plague of 1518 in Strasbourg, where hundreds of people were seemingly compelled to dance on the streets for days without food or rest until they collapsed of exhaustion. Some of the afflicted would die of heart attacks and strokes (Waller, 2008, p.644). A more recent example happened in late 2011, where twelve girls enrolled in the local high school in the town of Le Roy, New York suddenly developed symptoms similar to those of Tourette Syndrome . Doctors were bewildered as “these symptoms included heavy seizures that could not be controlled even under heavy sedation” (Goldstein & Hall, 2015, p. 641). Investigations by leading environmental scientists suggested toxic layering