Hysteria In The Crucible

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Hysteria, Paranoia and the Breakdown of Societal Order
Which is worse? Living deceitful or dying honest? Living with a lie or being truthful while six feet under? In The Crucible, characters are met with this exact dilemma, to live and claim bewitched or die asserting their claim of innocence. As this unfolds characters escalate through different phases of hysteria and paranoia, and it is clear that this plays a part in the breakdown in societal order in the village.
Hysteria and paranoia can lead to a breakdown in societal order because it causes confusion. This confusion can be seen in “Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Pg. 51, Act 3, Column 2”, which reads, “Danforth: A little while ago you were afflicted. Now it seems you afflict others;

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