Discuss Hale’s role in the Crucible
Discuss Hale's role in the Crucible
We first meet Hale when he arrives in Salem from Beverly, he has been summoned to ascertain witchcraft. He is first described as an "eager-eyed intellectual", and then we are told that "he felt the pride of a specialist" in being called for. It is clear from these two descriptions that he arrives in Salem brimming with confidence, confidence not only in the bible and theology, but in his own ability to follow its principles fairly and morally. This is due to his past experience of witchcraft in his hometown of Beverly, the woman accused of witchcraft "turned into a mere pest under his searching scrutiny". He also has an arrogance and complacency that stems from his superior biblical knowledge. On his way to Beverly "he has passed a hundred rumours that make him smile at the ignorance of the yeomanry in this most precise science. He feels himself allied with the best minds of Europe- kings, philosophers, scientists, and ecclesiasts of all churches." This pride and arrogance, which Hale betrays in his first entrance in the book, turns out to be his hamartia or failure of judgement later on in the play.
It is this same complacency that leads to his impetuousness in believing Tituba and Abigail when they claim to have been possessed by other witches in the village. They are scared of the punishment they will face if they confess to dancing so they begin blaming others. Tituba says "And I look-and there was Goody Good", and in Hale's excitement at the prospect of discovering Witchcraft, he fails to question this statement, or the words of Abigail when she says "I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osborn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!" These sweeping statements clearly deserve to be questioned but Hale's arrogance in his own abilities to discover the truth lead him to believe the girls. Without this flaw in his character the Salem Witch hunt and the tragedy that ensued could probably have been averted.
The next time we come across Hale in the play the confidence we saw in him at the start is gone as he is having doubts about the justification for the witch-hunt. This could be seen as his anagnorisis in the play, as he has realised that he has made a significant error of judgement in believing Abigail and the other girls. "He is different now-drawn a little, and there is a quality of deference, even of guilt, about his manner now." This description shows that he has reached a moment of self-realisation and is now feeling guilt ...
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The next time we come across Hale in the play the confidence we saw in him at the start is gone as he is having doubts about the justification for the witch-hunt. This could be seen as his anagnorisis in the play, as he has realised that he has made a significant error of judgement in believing Abigail and the other girls. "He is different now-drawn a little, and there is a quality of deference, even of guilt, about his manner now." This description shows that he has reached a moment of self-realisation and is now feeling guilt for the Tragedy that is unfolding. He visits the Proctors to warn them that Elizabeth's name "is-mentioned in the court. Hale believes Proctor to be a good man, which is why he asks him to prove his "Christian character" by reciting the Ten Commandments. Hale realises that if he cannot, this is the sort of thing that the court will pick up on, and he does not want to see Proctor go to court as this will make his guilt even more unbearable.
After this scene, Hale becomes a choric figure, whom Miller uses to balance the play, and give the audience's feelings a voice. He defends Giles Corey and his wife against the court, he asks the court to realise what they are doing when he says, "I think that in all justice you must..." His protestations are ignored by the court emphasising the audience's feeling of frustration and helplessness in witnessing the injustice taking place. He airs his feeling of guilt when he says "Excellency, I have signed seventy-two death warrants; I am a minister of the Lord, and I dare not take a life without there be proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience may doubt it", he also goes on to ask for the defendants to be given lawyers to defend their cases which seems to be a just demand, but is merely rebuked by Danforth for "doubt(ing) (his) justice". This is rather ironic as the audience does not only doubt his justice, but knows him to be completely unjust. At the point where Elizabeth lies to save her husband's name Hale is the only person who understands that she is lying, once again acting as the choric figure when he says, "Excellency, it is a natural lie to tell; I beg you, stop now before another is condemned! I may shut my conscience to it no more-private vengeance is working through this testimony!" Once again his remarks are ignored by the court, accentuating the hopelessness of the situation.
At the point where Hale quits the court, shortly after Proctor is charged, all hope is lost in the play, as he previously had represented the only moral perspective in the court. Now that he has gone, the court and its proceeding appear to be completely amoral and unjustifiable. This also marks the audiences final denouncement of the court and Danforth, showing Hale to be a true choric figure as he is representative of the mood of the audience.
Hale returns later in the novel, "he is steeped in sorrow, exhausted, and more direct than he ever was". His feeling of guilt seems only to have worsened with time, and he is desperately seeking for some form of redemption by convincing the convicts to confess to witchcraft in order that their lives will be saved. "I come to do the Devil's work. I come to counsel Christians they should belie themselves. His sarcasm collapses. There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head!!" Here we can see that his feeling of guilt is so strong that he is defying all of his learning and biblical knowledge in the hope that he can save his conscience. Although he seeks redemption at the end of the play, he never achieves his aims. We do not feel sorry for him either, as he is not the protagonist in the play, and he has brought this feeling of guilt upon himself through his own failings. Proctor on the other hand does seem to redeem himself in the final stages of the play, by refusing to confess in order to save his name. The play follows the rules of classical tragedy in that Proctor is the protagonist and we have a feeling of catharsis when he is about to hang. This is due to the fact that Proctor has finally forgiven himself for his hamartia, which was lust, and sleeping with Abigail. He says "You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor." As Elizabeth says, "He have his goodness now." Hale in contrast has no redemption, and ironically pleads with Elizabeth to stop Proctor, saying, "It is pride, it is vanity", the very faults that led Hale to misguidedly accuse the village of witchcraft. It is clear that the fact that he has no redemption at the end of the play is meant to be a lesson by Miller that his mistakes were unforgivable.
Hale can be seen as a tragic hero, although Proctor is obviously the main tragic hero in the play, Hale has an almost hubric flaw or hamartia, which leads to his nemesis. He falls from the position of minister to a broken individual, eaten up by guilt, and although his character is flawed, he maintains a high sense of morality throughout the play. Hale is clearly a vessel for Miller's views on the witch-hunt of Salem, and thus an observer of the injustices of the Communist witch-hunt. However Hale is a more complex character than that, and it is not clear whether at the end of the novel whether he should be pitied or ignored.
1310 words
Charlie Smith
