Hysteria and Emotional Repression in The Crucible essays

Hysteria and Emotional Repression in The Crucible essays It is as if the Devil himself has cast a spell of dark magic upon the village. The desperate struggle to keep witchcraft in check and save the society backfires. The horrific end result of the hysteric witch-hunt is the hanging of nineteen people, and that destroyed lives of many more. The fervently religious Puritans of the 17th century Massachusetts and all their rules and beliefs implode with baseless accusations of a girl whose only goal is self-satisfaction. What kind of crack could there have been in a rigid theocracy that shattered it into pieces? What motivated the people of Salem to accuse their neighbors and family members of witchcraft? The Crucible depicts the events that lead to the hanging of nineteen innocent people and the destruction of a society. From a closer look at the story gives the readers an insight into the emotional repression that chains the people of Salem, and the massive hysteria that results when that chain is broken. Teenage girls dancing naked around a fire reveals the inner feelings of sexual lust, a feeling that cannot be expressed freely in a Puritan society. It is important, as the aim of this essay is to look at the events in Salem with a psychologists perspective, to understand the reasons why these girls acted the way they did. The society which Abigail and other girls are confined in is a repressive, limiting, and orthodox society; furthermore, the female gender was regarded as a lesser sex, as women were not able to contact God directly. In a highly religious society, the inability to speak directly with God meant inferiority. For a group of girls going through adolescence, this kind of discrimination and repression must have been a cause of great stress (Hannak). Unlike today, there were no counselors to talk to about their problems, and adults (both men and women alike) avoided talking about sensitive issues such as sex with their teenage children. Finding themselves ...