In 1692‚ in Salem‚ Massachusetts‚ the superstition of witches existed in a society based on strong Christian beliefs. Anyone who acts out of the ordinary is accused of being a witch‚ and he/she will actually be forgiven if they blame their accusations on another individual‚ or confess themselves as guilty. Hysteria is the main idea of this play‚ The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Miller shows how it can destroy an entire community‚ and developed a theme of how suspicion and panic can lead to extensive
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Benjamin C. Ray wrote “The Geography of Witchcraft Accusation in 1692 Salam Village” in order to imply that geographic analysis of the witchcraft accusation‚ economic‚ religious as well as social status shows there was no significant east-west division within Salam Village. In the article‚ Ray points out that the map included in Salam Possessed is not only interpretive but also incomplete. He states that there was an inconsistency in giving a numerical count of accusers and accused in the village
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Mass hysteria is a condition affecting a group of people‚ that is characterized by irrational behaviors or beliefs‚ or unexplainable causes of illness. For example‚ The dancing plague of 1518‚ The mass hysteria in Brunei‚ and The Salem Witch trials are outbreaks of mass hysteria. Each of these historical examples have had a group of people that have been affected by the same symptoms‚ irrational behaviors‚ or unexplainable causes of illness. The dancing plague of 1518 was a case of dancing
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on the rise‚ many citizens of Salem in 1692 were fearful‚ greedy and jealous. Nearly every character in this story gives into one of the factors. In The Crucible‚ by Arthur Miller‚ fear‚ greed‚ and jealousy contribute to the witchcraft hysteria and mass executions in Salem. One of the main contributors to the mass hysteria would be fear. As if the witchcraft hysteria wasn’t enough‚ in 1692 many Salem villagers feared famine due to the upcoming war. The people of Salem contributed any of their misfortunes
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Women Were Primarily Victims of Witch-Hunting and They did not Exercise any Significant Agency/power through the Process of Witch trials. A well-established definition of a victim is a person who has been attacked‚ or injured by someone else and someone who is harmed by an unpleasant event. In addition‚ the reference to the word ‘significant’ in this thesis argument is an important qualifier. The word significant‚ being a subjective term‚ allows this author to argue women did not have significant
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What Caused Secession? Before the Civil War began in 1861‚ there were major factors that led to the secession of the southern states. These factors affected the people of America tremendously due to slavery and racial segregation. Three significant factors that led the eleven southern states to secede from the Union were abolitionists (Doc. 5)‚ Kansa-Nebraska Act‚ and the election of 1860 (Doc. 1). During the period of slave existence‚ abolitionists began to rebel against the situation (Doc
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Hysteria The state of hysteria in a society can spread faster than a brush fire‚ and be more dangerous then a San Francisco earthquake. There is a process of four combined steps that will ultimately lead to this disaster; a fearful event‚ promotion of the event‚ attacks due to pretense‚ and total panic and chaos. Webster’s dictionary defines hysteria as a state of unmanageable fear or excess. The process of hysteria is initiated by an event which brings fear‚ and will eventually cause social unrest
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Survival and Hysteria in "The Crucible": Hysteria tears apart the community. Hysteria replaces common sense and allows the people to believe that their neighbors‚ whom they have always considered respectable people‚ are committing illogical and unbelievable crimes-- communicating with the devil‚ killing babies‚ and more. In "The Crucible"‚ the townsfolk accept and become active in the hysterical atmosphere not only out of true religious devoutness (God doesn’t allow interacting with the devil)
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Title: Tituba‚ Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies Author: Elaine G. Breslaw Publication: New York and London‚ 1996 This book summarizes the life of a female Indian servant and her involvement in the 1692 witch trials in Salem‚ Massachusetts. To begin it gives background information of the Arawak Indian woman named Tituba‚ which reveals cultural influences. It tells how Tituba was captured and sold into slavery and shifted from one cultural world to another
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The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a dark time in American history. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were killed during the hysteria. Ever since those dark days ended‚ the trials have become synonymous with mass hysteria and scapegoating. Causes Salem‚ Massachusetts was not alone in its witch hunt. A wave of witch trials swept Europe from the 1300s to the 1600s. These witch hunts happened for a variety of reasons and were greatly influenced by the fear
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