Arthur Miller's The Crucible is all about hysteria, and is the hysteria connected to Lindy Chamberlain's ruthless story? Or is there more to explain? Jorja Belton explores how human nature is prone to bouts of hysteria that supersede logic and generate fear in the work of Arthur Miller and in the case of Lindy Chamberlain. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay “It's a truly magical mystery. When you get that feeling, you better start believing it. 'Cause it's a miracle, oh tell me you will, ooh baby. Hysteria when you're near.” In an age where people they believed in magical and mystical beings like witches, the Devil and God, imagine being forced to do whatever the judge tells you to do because of some false accusation against you? Well, these false accusations are in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible that also in that in which Lindy Chamberlain found herself in prison on a false charge for the murder of her daughter Azaria, which caused hysteria and controversy between communities. Hysteria has the power to manipulate, influence and divide a vulnerable community , making seemingly ordinary people think. Turning neighbor against neighbor, I say! Many cases of hysteria include the 300 children and adults who collapsed at the Midland marching band competition In the July 1986, not to mention September 11th and the Red Scare. Hysteria has the ability to cause people to turn against others for their own selfish gain. It feeds on fear which often leads to panic. The Lindy Chamberlain case and The Crucible both show examples of hysteria from the public and community groups feeding off each other's emotional reaction which causes the panic to escalate further. There are many examples of hysteria in the past, found, of course, in the Salem witch trials, the Midland marching band competition, the Red Scare, and the Nazis. However, these examples belong to the past and there is very little mass hysteria in the present. But the real question is: why are humans prone to bouts of hysteria? The funny fact is, and it might sound sexist, but women are the most involved in many hysterias, hysterias like The Crucible with the group of young girls accusing others and most of them were also women. So far what does this say about women? It seems so sexist, so stupid and so biased to say the least. And so, it seems that women are the cause of the most well-known hysteria. Have you ever heard of Salem Massachusetts? Well, the town of Salem was once a peaceful, God-believing community, before accusations of witchcraft created conflict and divided the people of Salem by pitting neighbor against neighbor. Arthur Miller created the play "The Crucible" based on the real deaths of 19 innocent people who were falsely accused and hanged for witchcraft. However, the show and real life events definitely demonstrate how human nature is unpredictable and cannot be trusted. How would you feel if everyone accused you of everything, even though you know you have nothing to do with the devil? As a result, the way the citizens of Salem acted in The Crucible suggests that human nature depends on a leader to show them what is right and what is wrong. Furthermore, human beings can be good and honorable, but in the case of Thomas Putnam and Abigail William they can also be immoral, greedy, and selfish. These severe Puritans were extremely determined to save the city from the clutches of the devil. But people like Thomas Putnam and AbigailWilliams make this very difficult as they help perpetuate the hysteria and use it for their own gain while Putnam takes advantage of Francis Nurse's accusation. The money-grubber held a grudge against Francis Nurse because Francis had prevented his brother-in-law from being elected minister, so he uses the witch trials to gain wealth and power by accusing people of witchcraft and then buying their land. How unfair is it? But, unlike Thomas Putnam, Abigail Williams uses the hysteria as an opportunity to her advantage to accuse Elizabeth Proctor. However, the difference between the two characters is that Abigail uses him to gain only one thing, John Proctor, and not for wealth, greed, or gain. She has the power to manipulate people into believing that she is innocent and that others are devils just to save herself, an example is when Abigail says “I have been wounded, Mr. Danforth: I have seen my blood flow! I was almost murdered every day because I did my duty by reporting the devil's people. These characters are important within the play as they both have pivotal moments that influence the course of the action and their motivations are revealed in the end. Abigail runs away and Putnam is insulted. Overall, their role in the show is indeed crucial. Thomas Putnam perpetuates the idea that witchcraft exists, profits by taking the victims' land, and Abigail perpetuates it just to get to John Proctor. “A dingo took my baby” – Lindy Chamberlain However, within the play The Crucible, there are many themes involved and they are jealousy, reputation, love and of course hysteria. Jealousy is treacherous! In The Crucible jealousy manifests itself when Abigail Williams uses the opportunity to accuse Elizabeth Proctor to get to John Proctor, but as for Thomas Putnam he is jealous of all the lands he may have and decides to take them. It is also found in the Lindy Chamberlain case as all the women in the audience are jealous of her beauty because she seems so virtuous. Another theme is obviously hysteria, as found in both cases. Lindy Chamberlain is the mother of three children, two boys and a girl, Azaria. Baby Azaria and the Chamberlains' daughter disappeared from the Ayer's Rock campsite on August 17, 1980. However, the parents were immediately charged when Lindy claimed that the baby had been carried off by a dingo and no one believed her. The police and community struggled to understand how a usually shy creature could take a child and as Lindy Chamberlain said "...they had nothing else to do..." so they immediately blamed her for the little girl's murder Azaria. However, the police struggled to prove otherwise. In a justice system he is innocent until proven guilty, but to Lindy he was guilty as charged. The people of the town responded badly to Lindy Chamberlain's case by showing so much anger, disgust and hatred. People didn't want to believe the evidence given right in front of their faces because they weren't willing to believe that a dingo could take a child in his sleep and kill him, so they immediately blamed the murder on Lindy Chamberlain. They were intolerant of his beliefs. Importantly, Four Corners magazine claims that the public immediately labeled her as guilty and murderous without even listening to her even say "We got the bitch." They reacted to the way he showed his emotions during the trial and after, even going so far as to say things like "he showed neither anger nor distress..." and "seemingly insensitive...". The way Australian society treated Lindy Chamberlain was extremely cruel and unfair because no one expects how to react when going through everything that happened. Predictably, the case has.