An Analysis of Themes Displayed in Each Act in the Play The Crucible by Arthur Miller
In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, many themes are displayed in each act. The largest and most prominent theme displayed throughout the play is the theme of mass hysteria. Mass hysteria is defined as, "A socially contagious frenzy of irrational behavior in a group of people as a reaction to an event." (The American Heritage Dictionary/ Dictionary.com). It is very easy to see this displayed in each act and through a variety of different characters- some you really wouldn't expect....
In Act I, Abigail Williams shows hysteria when she threatens Mary Warren and Mercy Owens saying, "Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam's dead sister. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word about the other things and I will come to you in the black of night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you...I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down" (Miller 19). This is a good show of hysteria because we can see that Abigail is beginning to get nervous that someone might realize she is lying. In order to ensure that she won't be found out, Abigail must make sure those who do know her secret are too scared to do anything about it. Abigail is showing imprudent behavior in response to the event of her lying.
Another time this kind of behavior in reaction to Abigail's deceit can be seen is when Mary Warren turns against John Procter while in the midst prosecuting Abigail and the girls in court. Abigail Williams and the girls are pretending that Mary Warren is sending her "evil spirit" down at them in the form of a bird. To save herself, Mary Warren says, "Pointing at Procter: You're the devil's man! ...hysterically indicating Procter: He come to me by night and every day to sign, to sign, to-" (Miller 110). Mary Warren realizes that Reverend Parris does not believe that Abigail and the girls are making everything up, so she reacts to Abigail's lies and Parris's close-mindedness by lying and saying that John was forcing her to go against them.
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Another example of hysteria is when, in Act II, John begins to become angry towards Ezekiel Cheever for coming to take his wife away and says in outrage, "Out with you! Out with you! ...damn the deputy governor! Out of my house!" (Miller 73) He then surprises everyone by taking the governors warrant and ripping it then yelling, "I will fall like an ocean on that court! Fear nothing. Elizabeth" (Miller 73). This is a wonderful example of the hysteria taking place in this play because John Procter is a reasonable man- he holds a steadily good reputation in the town and doesn't act out.
Had John Procter been himself and not fearing for the life of his wife he would have never taken the warrant from Ezekiel, let alone rip it to pieces. Again John acts in hysteria when he tells Mary Warren that she must come to court with him. Mary tries to say that she can't go claiming, "I cannot charge murder on Abigail" (Miller 75) and, "She'll kill me for sayin' that... I cannot.
They'll turn on me-" (Miller 76). Mary Warren tries to run from him but John grabs Mary by the throat saying. "Make your peace with it. Now Hell and Heaven grapple on our backs, and all our old pretense is ripped away- make you're peace!" (Miller 76). John hurt Abigail in anger- once again, had John not feared for his wife's life, he wouldn't have acted in such a way. To show the example of hysteria; John Procter was acting irrationally in response to Elizabeth's being taken and Mary Warren's attempt to get out of going to court with to speak against Abigail with him.
Now you can see many small pieces of hysteria between different characters. By putting these individual bits of evidence together we come up with the most prominent theme in The Crucible; Mass hysteria.
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An Analysis of Themes Displayed in Each Act in the Play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. (2023, Jun 27). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/an-analysis-of-themes-displayed-in-each-act-in-the-play-the-crucible-by-arthur-miller/
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