Word: hysterias
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Written during the McCarthy era, the original play dealt with the mass hysteria caused by one demogogue playing on the fears of the people. The political overtones of the play were obvious (which is probably why Hollywood has never attempted to make a movie of it), but the play was more than a mere social pamphlet. It centered on the moral struggle of its farmer-hero John Proctor, who, accused of "consorting with the Devil," chooses to die rather than confess to a crime he has not committed...
Report to Uhlan: "This is the worst book I have ever edited. It is incoherent, illiterate, without sense, reason, or simple understanding . . . This is literally an insane book on the need of men to look to God . . . It should be buried quickly, for the insanity and hysteria and illiteracy make it a menace to Exposition Press...
Wilbur J. Bender, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aids in Harvard, explained that the selectivity of colleges in the United States has been over-publicized and has caused hysteria where there was no need for it. He said that there are only 50-75 of the 2000 U.S. colleges that are not truly selective...
...adequate. Frederick Blais as the father, and head of the Stanhope family, suffered most from this failing and played his part on too high a level from the beginning. This left him no room for growth of emotional intensity in the final scene, where he finally resorted to uncontrolled hysteria. Richard Knowles as the reporter managed by his tone and facial expressions to disguise the fact that the reporter is not a slimy busybody but a spiritual successor to Alison. Probably the best performance of the evening was given by Karen Johnson in the role of the wayward daughter...
These two examples suggest that there was probably as much hysteria among McCarthy's foes as among his followers. In a remarkably well-balanced and even-tempered book. Author Rovere (for the past eleven years Washington correspondent for The New Yorker) notes that "McCarthyism was a bipartisan doctrine." He blames not only some Republicans for tolerating Joe so long but some Democrats (notably Senators Paul Douglas and John Kennedy) for not speaking out against him. Rovere might have added that those who did speak out against McCarthy sometimes helped him by exaggerating his importance. To Rovere himself. McCarthy remains...