Hysteria In The Crucible

Hysteria is a psychological disorder that originates from an imagined or assumed threat that causes people to experience physical and emotional symptoms based on stories they hear. Hysteria, which was once a disorder diagnosed to woman, was a term that implies that females suffer from excessive emotions and mood swings because their Uterus, or hysterika disconnects from the woman. Hysterias pervade many societies as evident in Mattoon during the supposed Mad Gasser attacks of 1944 and Salem Massachusetts in the late 1600’s during the witch trials.

In September 1944, after the first claim of a gas attack, many residents of Mattoon, Illinois experienced weakness, near-paralysis, nausea as well as vomiting- symptoms associated with poison gas.

One reason for this hysteria was that many feared that there were unknown residents who were working with the devil to cause mischief. Because those accused of being a witch faced the possibility of being hanged even if they were innocent, many feared being associated with witchcraft. A constant fear, suspicion and weariness of one-another caused mistrust and a feeling of vulnerability within Salem. Many, in an attempt to save themselves from being accused of being a witch, successfully accused other innocent people of being witches who were in turn forced to confess or be hanged. Stories were made up of spirits being sent on them and people witnessing different residents with the devil. In The Crucible, Mary Warren claims to see spirits but later reveals that she only thought she saw spirits because other people seemed convinced that there were. As Mary stated in court, “I-I heard the other girls screaming, and you, Your Honor, you seemed to believe them… but the whole world cried spirits, spirits, and I-I promise you, Mr. Danforth, I only thought I saw them but I did not” (Miller 1205). Mary Warren only claims to see spirits because other people seem to believe they are seeing spirits too. Likewise, the whole town of Salem believes there are witches because others seem so convinced that there are, causing a snowball effect. Similarly, in the case of the Mad Gasser, some claimed to smell a strange scent coming through their windows or to see a figure running through the dark. These claims of encountering the poison gas in addition to the stories of people who suffered with symptoms that were claimed to be caused by poison gas caused an increasing fear and paranoia within the town. Overall, as in The Crucible, the Mad Gasser created an environment sapped with fear, suspicion and vulnerability that was caused by both real and imagined