Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Hysteria in "The Crucible"

As we are reading The Crucible, we have been discussing the term "hysteria".  What does this mean in reference to the play?  How can you see "hysteria" developing by the end of Act II?

46 comments:

  1. This means that there are alot of emotions in this play. It also means that the characters will feel deep emotion for certain things. This also means that the author didn't write this like a puritan would, because there is emotion in it. I can see it developing because people are starting to lie. Also because the Proctors are arguing. The reason is because Mrs. Proctor found out that John had an affair with abby.
    ~kwhth3

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  2. Cindi Strong
    The role that hysteria can play is tearing apart a community. Hysteria enables people to believe that their neighbors are committing unbelievable crimes with the devil, killing babies, and so on. In The Crucible, the townspeople accept and become active in the hysterical time. It gives them a chance to act on long-held grudges. The most obvious case is Abigail, who uses the situation to accuse Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft and have her sent to jail. Therefore her and John proctor could finally be together.

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  3. Adam McAllister
    Hysteria can mean many things. Hysteria means that you lose self-control in yourself. it can be caused by other things. The role it plays is hurting others in the story. It might be a factor for the relationsjip between Abigail and Proctor. It may affect the end of Act II.

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  4. Hysteria in this play is the self control of blaming people to being witches. they cant stop blaming more and more people. Abigail blames Protor's wife of being a witch because she thinks that Mr.Proctor loves her nomatter what. even after he tells her he does not, she thinks that he does.
    Brendan Slape

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  5. the hysteria in the community is driving people to actually think their neighbors, friends, and familys are committing un-real crimes. those people that are being accused are getting sent to jail. the most obvious case was abigail. the situation was her accusing elizabeth proctor of witchcraft.it played out in their favor though because elizabeth an john P, could be back together <3

    jon D

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  6. Hysteria become big in salem durring the witch trails. its turns everything inside out and makes all the actions very confusing. this mostly becomce evident when 14 people are jailed and then goody nurse and goody corey are arressted whitch cause bug problem beacuse they are all 3 simple housewives.elizbeth become mixed in because abgail accuses her so she can finally get jon which mixes her in this hysteria
    --------Pat Adams

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  7. Tyler Tomlin:
    Hysteria means that there is alot of motion or excitment. This can reflect the story because abigail wants to be with john but he doesnt want anything to do with her. In the story you can see the hysteria starting to devolop because nobody beilives eachother. Abigail does not like Elizebeth at all and she wants her to be gone. The reason that abigail wants elizabeth gone is so that she can be with him. But at the mean time he is done with her.

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  8. The word hysteria can be greatly used to describe the story so far. With the number of accused becoming much greater and Goody Good on trial to hang the hysteria seems to be thick in the air. For example in act two one of the only level headed seeming people in the play so far, Rebecca Nurse, has been put up on trial. Also with John Proctor, Abigail put his wife on the list of witches for personal gain instead of actual witch craft, this is due to her obsession with him. This shows that the trials are hysteria due to the accused just being the spectators of the events in salem and people caught by personal gain.

    Posted by Jordan Cheeseman

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  9. Hysteria is goin threw the whole town of Salem. Everybody is accusing the person next to them of witchcraft. Over night thirty nine people were said to have ties with the devil. The court was going crazy with cases. People were going to get hanged for no reason. Hysteria was in there lives and no one could stop it.

    Anthony Rullo

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  10. The word hysteria means exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement. Hysteria develops in Act II when Mary tells Elizabeth that her name has been brought up in court. Elizabeth starts to worry that she will be arrested and accused of witchcraft. Elizabeth immediately believes that Abigail told the court that she was involved in witchcraft. Elizabeth thinks that Abigail wants to have Elizabeth dead. The, once Elizabeth is dead, Abigail would be able to have Proctor all to herself, even though Proctor doesn't want to be with her.

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  11. Hysteria is when a person or group of people start to go "carzy" or "insane" from an event thats taking place or took place. In act 2 they start this trial called the salem witch trials. In the begining of this trial 14 people have been accused of witch craft and one person has been sentenced and one has confessed which leads people to have Hysteria. Everyone is turning on one another and innocent people are being accused for crimes the never committed or would never commit. Even though there is so much Hysteria right now in act 2, there will be more as the story continues on. Expecially when you see how many innocent people are going to be accussed.

    Tori Ostrander

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  12. Hysteria can mean a lot if things. In the play it can mean the growing anxiety and unease of each character. Also it can mean the physical and emotional effect it has on each character. Hysteria does develop by the end if act two. Everyone begins to see everyone as the guilty party and only the accusers are the guilt free ones. Hysteria also breaks its way into John Proctor's life when Elizabeth is accused and taken away. Everyone is caught up in strong emotions and isn't really thinking clearly anymore.

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  13. In "The Crucible", hysteria can mean many different things. First, it could mean that the characters in the play just blow everything out of proportion like with accusing so many people of witchcraft. Secondly, it could mean losing control over what you believe in and who you believe. Through out the play, the characters get more and more anxious. By the end of Act II, so many people are accused and is over exaggerated. Hysteria is in all of them and I don't think any of them can change that.

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  14. In reference to the play, hysteria can be used to describe everything that is going on. You could say that it was destroying their community, by causing so much chaos. People were getting too caught up in it and that led them to start making false accusations. These accusations started happening more frequently. A good example of this happening in the play is Abigail. She begins accusing people and even some who are innocent.

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  15. Hysteria was going on in Salem a lot more then I expected in Act II. Hysteria means behavior exhibiting excessive or uncontrollable emotion, such as fear or panic. Many people, if not all, were being blamed for different situations left and right. The reason for is because no one knew who to believe or what to believe.So everyone was believeing whatever anyone said. For example, Rebecca Nurse was blamed for witchcraft and she was one of the most honest people throughout the play so far. Also, Abigail is in love with Proctor so she decides to accuse his wife of witchcraft so her and Proctor can be together. Even though Proctor says he wants nothing to do with her. Much hysteria was going on at this time and there was nothing anyone could do unless they wanted to risk their lives and also their families lives.
    Jordan Brank

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  16. Hysteria describes the play well. Everybody is believing what they want, wether it's true or not. People are accusing people without any reasonable evidence, other than spectral, which is a key starter for hysteria in Salem. The court has jailed 39 people. Goody Osburn has been sentenced to die.
    Lisa Williams

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  17. Hysteria means uncontrollable emotion, in act2 there is alot of uncontrollable emotion like when the grils are nameing people it goes from 18 people in the morning to about 39. also people are throughing other people under the bus just because of land disputes and anger toward other people. And people were belive whatever they were told storys changed so dreasticly that no one could tell what was going on. -Michael Curcio

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  18. 17

    There is a lot of hysteria in this play. Everyone is having a lot of emotions about everyone being accused of witchcraft. The people of Salem are fearful of their lives because people are beginning to lie and accusing whoever for being involved with the devil. I think that more hysteria will develop at the end of act two due to Abigail. I think that by the end of the act it will be more obvious that she is the reason that these trials and accusations are happening all because her and her obsession with John Proctor.

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  19. Hysteria is exactly what the play is, madness. Everyone is turning on each other and accusing them of being a witch, even though it is not true. In act two it has gotten way out of hand. There were a total of 39 people that were jailed and at least one person sentenced to hang. People are just mentioning names and the court is assuming right away that they are telling the truth and are taking them away. Such as what Abby did to Goody Proctor.

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  20. This whole play is about someone who was hysteric. Abaigarl Williams was panicing to cover her own skin. So she starts naming all these witches which starts the trials. People are using "spectral evidence" to convict people. At the end of Act II know one is safe anymore and everyone gets called witch. The town of Salem is heading down a very steep cliff.

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  21. Hysteria can be seen in relation to the play because hysteria is one of the main reasons why this is happening. When people are being blamed for witchcraft, the only people that are actually blaming people are the teenage girls, mainly because they are freaking out about being caught dancing & being publically punished. Not to mention, the only level headed person there, Rebecca Nurse, has been charged with amurder that happened a LONG time ago. During Act one, people were yelling about each other about something that, basically, was already blown out of proportions. In Act two, people were also arguing about the witchcraft, the fact that there is a COURT for this, and that there are so many people arguing & yelling about this. At the end of Act two, Proctor was freaking out about the fact that his wife was charged with something that A) she didn't do & B) wasn't POSSIBLE for her to do. Hysteria is openly visible throughout this play...

    -Volt790

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  22. Hysteria is when things are over exaggerated.Or its losing sight in which people have their own rights to believe in. During Act II they accusations against the people were getting outragious. In Act II hysteria is all over the place. Its because higher power people want the towns people to believe in their belifs. Brendonnnnn<3

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  23. Hysteria is another way of crazyness, in salem people randomly blammed people of witchcraft to get what they wanted or to use as an exscuse for something. It brought there religion into uncontrolling chaos.

    Chas Cooper

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  24. The entire play is set around hysteria. Noone has any proof to accuse the people properly. They only have spectral evidence. It kind of annoys me that these people didn't have any common sense to know the girls were lying. I mean really, I know it was in a completely different time but this was ridiculous. How can people really believe in something so profound? By the end of Act II I'm sure the stories will get wilder and more convincing as the girls keep acting.

    -Emily Haynes

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  25. Hysteria is uncontrolled emotion such as fear or panic. In reference to the play, one example of hysteria would be the people hiding their problems by accusing other people. There actions irrational actions are steamed from their hysteria. At the end of act two Proctor has a lot of hysteria toward the fact that his wife Elizabeth is taken. She is taken because of an accusation from Abby Williams who had an affair with Proctor. Another example would be Proctor yelling at and Marry Warren. A major example of hysteria which is seen through out the play is people being afraid of being hung. If they don't confess they will be hanged for witch craft.

    Thaddeus

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  26. I think "Hysteria" means that they are alot of emotions going on throughout the story. It can also mean the characters will feel a stong emotion for certain things going on This also means that the author didn't write this like a puritan would, because the puritans never show emotion and that its just the opposite on what they did. I can really see it because people are starting to lie and not so loyal, and the Proctors are arguing.

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  27. The hysteria in this play is in reference to the paranoia of the characters. The more the number of the accused rises the more the hysteria effects the people of Salem. The fear of being named was in everyone's mind. Not only were 39 accused, goody Osborn was already sentenced to hang. You can see the hysteria developing at the end of act two when youbsee how Abigail gets Elizabeth arrested of witchcraft. All because she wanted to be in her place. Brooke ottinger

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  28. Hysteria is overly exaggerated emotions. Throughout The Crucible there is many examples of hysteria. People are being accused of witch craft left and right. During the Salem witch trials people were name dropping like crazy. There did not have to be spectral evidence, so everyone just accused people for no good reason. During the play people are very hysterical about the trials. There was no reason for so many people to be accused. They over exaggerated the meaning of practicing witch craft. In the beginning of act two there were only fourteen people accused of witch craft, and by the end there were many more. The hysteria just keeps adding on as we read the play.

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  29. Hysteria is a big part of the story so far. The number of people who are being accused is rising and Goody Good is sentenced to be hung, showing that hysteria seems to be all around this story. For example, in act two Rebecca Nurse is on trial for witchcraft. Also Abigail Williams put John Proctor's wife on the list of witches, because she is in love with John. I beleive that this is hysteria because people are just saying that other people are practicing witchcraft because they are enemies, and they dont like those other people.
    ......Mike Bomba

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  30. I believe that hysteria in this play is connected to civil disputes. The hysteria is originally created because of the supposed "witchcraft" in Salem. In the play there should have never been any witchcraft accuisations because all of the people had personal problems with each other. In the end of Act II you see the hysteria developping even more than anyone imagined. You see so many different people being accused that you would have never guessed. You see the use of "Spectral Evidence" coming into play, this was not solid proof yet they acted as it was and so many people were taken into police custody that never should have even been considered. The final straw in Act II is when Abby accusses Goody Proctor and she is arrested, she is one of the people that should have never even been considered. These are only a few ways that you see hysteria coming to the fore front of they play.

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  31. Hysteria means uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear. This is displayed throughout this play by the way the town is all believing anything the girls of the towns say. They have accused 39 people and one is sentenced to hang. The only proof the court has is the word of the young girls of the town. The girls only accuse people in the town for their own personal gain. The whole town of Salem is in complete chaos.

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  32. The play revolves around the hysteria of the people in Salem. The play is fueled by it, without it it doesn't make as much of a compelling story. It shows how easily people can get swept up in mob mentality and how easily hysteria can change people. In the play, Francis Nurse says, "My wife is the very brick and mortar of the church, Mr. Hale and Martha Corey, there cannot be a woman closer to God than Martha," (Miller, 858). Nurse vouches for his wife and Giles Corey's wife as good Christian woman. Since they are convicted of witchcraft it's obvious the hysteria is only increasing. In addition to this, we have Elizabeth Proctor leaving in chains. Mary Warren says, "Aye, but then Judge hathorne say, 'Recite for us your commandments!' and of all the ten [Goody Osburn] could not say a single one," (Miller, 853). Goody Osburn was sentenced to hang due to the fact that not being able to recite the ten commandments meant she was a witch while Elizabeth Proctor said she could recite the ten commandments and even remembered the one her husband had forgotten. Not only is the hysteria in Salem increasing, it's increasing at a rapid rate.

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  33. Well hysteria means an uncontrollable outburt of emotion or fear. The whole town right now is nothing but hysteria. The main cause of it is the girls acusing everyone of being with the devil. They are getting people jailed and one person hanged because of it so far. Its developing becauase Proctor ripped up a warrant and is fighting with Chiles. He wont let Elizabeth go with them because he knows Elizabeth didnt stick the needle in the poppet. Now Mary is crying on the floor and that is just causeing way more hysteria that the town dosent need. The town is seriously nothing but hysteria right now.
    Joshua Emmons

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  34. When the girls were in the woods and one of them past out because she was scared. They made it seem like she was crazy because of it. And hysteria means acting different then how they normally do. There are a lot of people being accussed of being hysteria because of spectical evidence.

    -Sabrina Friant

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  35. Hysteria means uncontrolled emotion. In this play there is alot of hysteria going around. Everyone is beleiveing what they want and blowing stuff out of their mouths and not even bein rational. For example, Proctor and Abby had an affair so Abby wants to get rid of Elizabeth. to do that she says that shes involved in witch craft. This sends Elizabeth to jail because she has now been accused. If she confesses her chances to die are slim because they can "help her". The whole witch trials in Salem are perfectly described as Hysteria.

    Jessica Irwin

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  36. In the Crucible there is a form of hysteria because everyone is freaking out about Betty being sick.Also because of tituba and Abigail out in the woods drinking blood and dancing. all of these occurrences caused a witchcraft hysteria. Where everything that happened that was a little out of the ordinary was considered witchcraft. Then it gets so bad that people just start being accused because a person doesn't like them or something like that. and it turns into mass hysteria about people being accused of witchcraft.
    Sincerly,
    TROGDORTHEBURNIATOR

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  37. Hysteria is an uncontrollable outburst of emotion. In the play, there is hysteria. Just one event triggered many others. Many people are accusing others for practicing witch craft. The only evidence they have to support what they're saying is spectral evidence. And many people are just accusing others for personal reasons. For example, Abigail accused Elizabeth Proctor because she's desperate to be with John Proctor.

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  38.  As the events in The Crucible take place, the fear and paranoia in the village of Salem rises.  As terror runs rampant through this village of zealots, we see hysteria at it's finest. Neighbor accuses neighbor without a second thought and old grievances are settled with a good length of rope. As Act Two of this play draws to a close, the unbridled hysteria reaches new heights as Elizabeth Proctor is spirited away to be tried as a maleficent witch.
    Wife to a pillar of the community, John Proctor, it can hardly be believed by anyone except for Abigail Williams, who has accused Elizabeth for lascivious reasons of her own. 

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  39. Hysteria means that people aren't thinking strait. They are just believing what is going on around them and not really listening to reason. This play shows a lot of hysteria because everyone in the village is afraid of the devil and the speak of witchcraft scares the people. That is why people in the town listen to the girls when they say that someone is a witch. It is fear that is driving the hysteria. The fear of someone taking your land could cause you to accuse someone. Or Wanting to take someone elses place as a farmers wife. This is caused by hysteria and someone in control of it. Hysteria is developing at the end of Act II when Elizabeth is being taken away because Abby acused her. The fear that Proctor is feeling is making him believe in all of the witchcraft, which drives the hysteria train onward.

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  40. The word hysteria can be greatly used to describe the story so far. With the many people accused becoming much greater and Sarah Good on trial to hang the hysteria seems to be thick in the air. In act two one of the only level headed people in the play so far, Rebecca Nurse, has been put up on trial. People now are just using the trials to take care of land disputes and just hate on each other.
    ~Lauren cooney

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  41. Dana Stewart
    Hysteria describes the Cruicible to the tee. Its causing people to believe things that are not technically true. Hysteria was a big deal in Salem during the witch trials. This play drags in alot of emotions. Its causing people to accuse each other of witch craft. People are scared for their lives wondering if someone was going to accuse them for outradious crimes.

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  42. Hysteria means an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear. There's a lot of hysteria going on in the play. Abigail is displaying hysteria as she blames Elizabeth for witch craft. She only does this in fear of losing John. John experiences hysteria when his wife is arrested. He starts worrying and even says he'll die for her. The whole town is experiencing hysteria with all these witch trials. At the end of Act II you can see the hysteria growing becuase unexpected women have been accused.
    Chelsea Abhau

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  43. "Hysteria" in reference to the play means that the accusations of witches and witchcraft are becoming overwhelming to everyone. People are suspicious of others about the dumbest things and are not hesitating to accuse them of witchcraft. Their worrying and precautions are obnoxious and ridiculous and they could easily solve many questions with logic. I see more and more hysteria developing toward the end of Act II with people accusing Rebecca Nurse and Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft. It's a shock to many people that a woman like Rebecca Nurse would be suspected and accused, and Abby just wants Elizabeth out of the way to get to John.

    -Autumn Bobb

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  44. "Hysteria" in reference to the play means that the accusations of witches and witchcraft are becoming overwhelming to everyone. People are suspicious of others about the dumbest things and are not hesitating to accuse them of witchcraft. Their worrying and precautions are obnoxious and ridiculous and they could easily solve many questions with logic. I see more and more hysteria developing toward the end of Act II with people accusing Rebecca Nurse and Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft. It's a shock to many people that a woman like Rebecca Nurse would be suspected and accused, and Abby just wants Elizabeth out of the way to get to John.

    -Autumn Bobb

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  45. Hysteria means overwhelming emotions of fear. When one is scared they have no self-control of themselves being in fear. They often over react and are very emotional. Hysteria is developing by the end of Act II because many people are being accused. When one gets scared they just blame another person and it ends up being a chain reaction. Everyone is scared, its new and shocking to the town therefore everyone's going out of control. Many emotions are being show through the Act such as between Abby and Proctor, and the accused and the judge.

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  46. When using the word hysteria to describe act 2 you are talking about the "craziness" that is going on. In the beginning of The Crucible the mention of witchcraft is brought up and even though their was no witchcraft Tituba at the end admits to witchcraft to save herself. Abigail and the other girls to protect themselves start to name people who have "committed" the crime of withcraft. In act 2 everyone is so sturred up by the crazy accustaions their is so much hysteria going on. People are admiting to things they did not even do, and innocent people are being accused and locked up. Their is just so much craziness going on the word hysteria is the best word to describe act 2.
    Cortney kratzer

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