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Abigail immediately starts blaming Tituba. One example in Act I occurred when Parris approaches her and Tituba. She does not want to be questioned about her actions, so she blames others instead. Witchcraft is punishable by death or imprisonment during the Puritan time period, so she is ruining innocent lives. She lies to the court and accuses innocent people of witchcraft. In the Crucible, Abigail is the reason of panic throughout the society. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, hysteria ruins the town of Salem, proven by Abigail, Tituba, and Mary Warren. They do this to escape death, because it was near their future. Eventually, when people are thrown in jail, they start admitting to witchcraft, even if they never associated with it.
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People start to become suspicious, and their suspicion leads to hysteria. People start to think they were practicing witchcraft because no one knows why Betty will not wake up. Parris becomes suspicious very soon since Betty becomes sick quickly after this event. Hysteria evolves at the beginning of the play where Reverend Parris catches Abigail, Betty, and Tituba dancing with their friends in a forest. Hysteria caused the people of Salem to panic and accuse each other of witchcraft, even if it were false. Hysteria is an exaggerated emotion among a group of people. This happened to the town of Salem, in a book called The Crucible.
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No one would think that one false rumor, caused by hysteria, would end up ruining an entire town.
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