Hysteria and the Consequences of Mass Paranoia in The Crucible Essay

The Crucible Effectively Demonstrates the Development of violence and the Consequences of Mass Paranoia. Discuss this with Reference to the Play and the Time in Which it is Written.The Crucible was written in 1952 by Arthur Miller and was firstperformed in 1953. It is about a village called Salem in America, setin the 17th century, where a suspicion of witchcraft and associationwith the Devil has arisen. This theme of accusation and paranoia is like with the period of McCarthyism in the United States ofAmerica, where many people were acc apply of socialism andanti-Ameri atomic number 50ism. The play was written at about the same time as theevents in the 1950s and in many ways reflects the villagers anxietytowards their situation.The conjunction of Salem is a self-coloredly religious one and the villagersall ensue the Christian church. The minister is the most importantperson in the village, as he holds a high position in their religion,therefore he is expected to give a good exa mple. The village issurrounded by forest and the nearest town is a few miles away. Thiscreates a strong bond in the community as each individual has to guidehard in order to endure the trials of being part of an disjunctsociety. The playwright shows the setting and era in the style of thecharacters expression - it is in the fashion of late 17th centuryAmerican, when the play is set. The Caribbean slave, Tituba, also hasher speech modified to suit the Barbados dialect My Betty be heartysoon? is the initiative line of the play.The first act starts in the house of Reverend Parris, where Parris ispraying, in a confused state, for his unconscious daughter. Tituba,his slave, enters and the ensuing conversation reveals that... ... has an easier job creating the right gist foreach scene, so it is more believable for the audience and they have abetter understanding of it. The Crucible demonstrates how easilypeople can be manipulated by belief, and how belief in something caneffectively blind people, devising them retrieve irrationally. Thecharacters are plausible and consistent, and the audience can see howthey founder throughout the play. All the events are believable (ifnot probable) and the language used is convincing as 17th centuryAmerican. The audience can realize with the characters, particularlywith John Proctor, as they see early on the problems he has andunderstand the dilemma he faces in Act IV. I think the play should bethought of not as a penning of drama, but as a piece of literatureillustrating how peoples trust can be exploited to an individualsadvantage.