Examples Of Hysteria In The Crucible

One of the most prominent themes in the play The Crucible is how hysteria can tear apart society and is impossible to think through with logic. There are many examples in the play were the witch hysteria caused for many decisions to be made out of paranoia rather than logically thinking which lead to the collapse of the salem society. The quotes that show this rash thinking are spread throughout the novel as people are accused of witchcraft, in the end of the play people begin to realize they didn't necessarily think things through and notice how society has been disintegrated. On page 68 Hale is speaking to Giles after he says his wife's reading makes it difficult for him to pray. In response to this new information Hale says that “There
The direct meaning of this quote is that Hale believes there is something odd occurring and that anyone even slightly out of place or accused must be investigated no matter what they did or who they are. This relates to the extremity of the hysteria because Hales doesn't even think about the fact that Giles is 83 years old and may just be having a hard time remembering his prayers and immediately thinks that the only possible reasoning is that his wife is a witch. Because of the witch hysteria people became extremely paranoid and were more apt to notice things that were out of place and the first thing they would think is that it was witchcraft. This ends up tearing apart society as so many people are killed and forced to wrongfully confess to actions they never took because they were innocent of what they were accused of however the society was blind to anything other than witchcraft. At the end of the play, in Act IV, people begin to realize the wrong they have done and the empty and no-longer functional state of Salem. When Hale realized that “there are orphans wandering from house to house; abandoned cattle bellow on the