In Danforth’s case dramatic tension is amplified though his authority over the community of Salem as he is their leader of sorts, where as there is a theocracy, the power of church leaders is absolute. This high authority is often stressed thereby further increasing the dramatic tension as in the courtroom silence is obeyed as he enters the room or makes a speech. Nonetheless he also abuses this authority throughout the court case as he is constantly interrupting and upsetting the continuation of the court case. During the case Danforth has no care for truth, instead just wants the integrity of the court to be upheld. As head of the court Danforth also shows this as he uses strong hyperbolic language in his speeches throughout the court case, one such example reads, “We burn a hot fire here; it melts down all concealment”. Right the way through the court case, Danforth believes in moral absolution yet this cannot be justified since there is hardly ever a case involving this, there is always a grey area between the black and white. A clear example of this moral absolution comes when he speaks out in the court against Proctor, “A person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there is no road between”. He also views Proctor as a large threat to the integrity of his court as he moves from attacking Proctor about undermining the court to religion as he sees Proctor as a threat to his court. Proctor is seen by a modern audience as a determined individual standing up against a corrupt system.
Throughout the court case Miller uses a number of minor characters to continually shift the focus during the court case from character to character but back to Danforth. With these extra characters Miller points out their entrances to the courtroom along with the main characters big entrances. This creates dramatic tension in that there is usually silence when a single character or multiple characters enter the scene.
The first minor character is Reverend Parris as he has a part to play in the case, however lacks any authority or respect from people whatsoever. This is shown as he is stopped mid-sentence on numerous occasions, which becomes comical towards the end of the court case, as he is unable to talk at all. One such example of this sentence ending is, “They’ve come to overthrow the court, sir! This man is –”.
Miller uses Giles Corey a lot during the beginning of the court case but he disappears towards the end, but he uses Giles against Danforth in that Danforth views Giles, even the old man that he is, as a threat against the court, which subsequently creates friction between them. An illustration of this point is when Giles says, “They be tellin’ lies about my wife, sir, I –”. Danforth then replies by saying, “Disrespect indeed! It is disruption, mister. This is the highest court of the supreme government of this province, do you know it?” there is also in that some of Danforth’s hyperbolic use of language too, to produce more dramatic tension. Furthermore Danforth’s bullying of Giles and Francis Nurse illustrates that the court is indifferent to the people of the highest and lowest in society.
Miller uses the next minor character, Francis Nurse, as a man who respects the authority of Danforth, but still questions him in the court case. He questions him by telling him the truth quietly and with respect. When Francis comes on stage though, Miller turns the focus to him as he does with the other characters when they come on stage. This enforces the dramatic tension as the character takes the audience’s attention.
The part of the court case involving Mary, the girls and Abigail, is very unnerving for the audience that is watching and would be quite unbelievable for a modern audience as they wouldn’t understand the whole irrationality of the situation. The contextual background here is essential because in both the Salem witch hunt and McCarthy trials mass hysteria is demonstrated. During this, the girls in the courtroom backing up Abigail keep repeating Mary as she speaks, and this is implemented very well by Miller to produce the maximum possible dramatic tension out of the situation. This is caused by everyone having their say at the same time involving a lot of shouting on most people’s parts including Danforth, Mary, Proctor, Abigail and especially the girls who mimic Mary. Before this however Mary is very weak in the courtroom and is unable to finish her broken sentences as she speaks very hesitantly. One such example of these broken sentences is when she says, “I – I cannot tell how, but I did. I – I heard the other girls, screaming, and you, Your Honour, you seemed to believe them, and I –”, this is due to her being intimidated heavily by Danforth. From the moment she enters, the audience is just waiting for her to collapse emotionally.
With all of the minor characters in use on the stage, there is a tableau created, a set piece, almost a picture that a member of the audience would remember through the play. It consists of Proctor on the left, Danforth in the centre and Abigail on the right with Elizabeth coming on stage. This coupled with the minor characters creates a strong and lasting impression on the audience and raises the dramatic tension once again further.
Miller uses his character Abigail very effectively in act three of the play to create great dramatic tension. In some ways Abigail is at the centre of the dramatic tension and at points the act revolves around her in the courtroom. Throughout the court case, Abigail is threatened on numerous occasions and counters this each time as she plays her trick, which seems to work each time. She uses the girls, who are on her side, to start screaming or acting in their hysterical manner, which is psychologically disturbing for both the characters in the play and the audience. This hysteria creates such an atmosphere of dramatic tension that in the play; any character would crack under it, as did Mary Warren in the court case. However, Danforth appears at times to believe this fake acting and sides with Abigail that creates tension in the audience as they are unable to comprehend that Danforth can believe such lunacy. However as Hale points fingers and Danforth begins to turn against Abigail, to the audience’s relief, Abigail tries to throw Danforth off by getting the girls to start screaming with mass-hysteria about a supposed yellow bird amongst the rafters of the courtroom, which apparently had been sent by Mary. This part of the play potentially has more dramatic impact and creates more dramatic tension than any other part as they audience are in dismay about it as it is hardly plausible that any head of a court would in reality believe what Danforth did in fact believe. This is what Miller intended from this to get the most dramatic tension possible from it and shock the audience with it.
Finally, Proctor is the main character in the play, the tragic hero around whom events pivot. There are a number of situations in the court room scenario where Proctor is either angry or is calm, but he seems to try to take control of the situation towards the beginning of the case to get the truth out into the open. However when the state of affairs in the court room becomes quite heated Proctor calms this and relieves the tension, as Danforth, Hathorne and Parris are building it up, Proctor says, “There might also be a dragon with five legs in my house, but no one has ever seen it”. To the audience, he sounds like the voice of normality and reason against prevailing insanity.
However Proctor isn’t able to keep this calm throughout the case whilst everyone is against him. The only person on his side who the audience trust is Reverend Hale, as he and Proctor seem to be the only ones with any sense. Proctor also acts nobly in that he not only tries to free his own wife from the court battle but also tries to free the other accused women with a petition. However he is not able to and becomes frustrated, as he cannot see the twisted logic of the court, which builds up tension, as the audience are unable to as well. After, Proctor is near weeping and is highly emotional due to a different part of the court case and this creates tension as the audience can see that according to the stage directions, ”He has to clamp his jaw to keep from weeping”. Miller also uses Proctor very well in that he gets the audience to sympathise with Proctor and changes him to the status of a hero. However this heroic status has a tragic flaw in that he is dependent on three other characters in the court case, they are: Elizabeth, Abigail and Mary. He needs these characters to back up his version of events, but when one or more of them go against him, then he stumbles heavily. Miller here is exploiting the contextual background of the play – this is Salem, women would have no rights and no power, so it’s ironic that the play is built around the testimony of women.
Overall, though Miller has produced a well-executed play with a lot of dramatic tension built up in this, the strongest act and most important. At some points the audience is stunned and at others they are on the edge of their seat. This is what Miller intended to happen with this play as it portrays the true nature of the events in the 1950’s surrounding Communism, the red plague, and the McCarthy trials. They are similar to what is now happening today in that there is a lot of racist hate among Americans toward the Arab world and particularly the Islamic states and people.
