The first way the extent to which this courtroom scene presents innocent characters risking their lives in order to tell the truth is an attack on the injustice of Salem as well as 1950’s America is conveyed through the feelings and emotions of Arthur Miller’s characters. We see the love and passion of Proctor and Francis for their wives. The pair of them are prepared to risk their lives for their wives. The courage, bravery and determination of the men get the authorities listening and for once take in what they are saying rather then pressurising them and tricking them. The audience at this stage of the scene would have a lot of sympathy for two because they are putting their lives at risk to save someone that they love dearly. The audience would feel sorry for them and most probably hate the authorities! This again can be interpreted as an attack on elements of society because it shows that the judges were unfair and that innocent people like Francis and Proctor were prepared to put it all on the line for their beloved lives. For example when Giles Corey the husband of Martha Corey presents his case he talks in ‘helpless sobs’ the effect this has on the audience is that he is ever determined to save and get his wife back and he has realised the mistake he has made. This again can be interpreted as an attack on elements of society because the innocent characters are risking their lives in order to tell the truth to the town that it’s the girls that are lying. This shows that the authorities are so cruel, callous and inconsiderate that Proctor and Francis are pleading and crying for the court to only listen to the truth and only the truth.
Secondly Danforths reaction to the plea of Francis Nurse is a blatant shock. He takes the comments made by Francis that the girls are a lie and ‘fraud’ and also the girls are a threat to Danforth. Danforth then asks ‘do you know who I am?’ and then goes onto to state that he has jailed ‘near to four hundred’ and condemned ‘seventy two’ by saying this he is making his presence felt and also is mocking Francis like he doesn’t know who he is. By stating the figures and facts it shows that he is a big man and a man with lots of authority and if he isn’t careful he maybe next. It may also suggest that no Nurse is going to influence his decision because if he does call of the trials out the blue he’ll be a laughing stock and his reputation and his loyalty will be in tatters. Personally I think he’s trying to avoid the embarrassment rather then convicting the people that are guilty. However Danforth isn’t all harsh and hard because he does listen to Giles when he is speaking. Danforth at this moment is ‘silent’ which shows that he has some respect. This can be interpreted as an attack on elements of society because it shows how corrupt the authorities were and also that they aren’t fair but biased. This maybe because if they are seemed to be judging wrong this could lead to him being stripped of his title ‘Judge’ and again be hated for the trouble he has caused. It shows that the judges like Danforth cared more bout their name in the society rather then finding out the real culprits and that’s the girls.
In act 3 Parris’s role is to agree and go along with the judges decisions and he is also interfering and creating more trouble and havoc for the people on stand. We know this because he’s always cutting in and saying ‘Beware this man’ and ‘this man is mischief.’ This jus proves he is siding with the girls and when he says these lines Proctor is on stand and wants him to be hanged. The shocking thing is that a religious man of his calibre a ‘Reverend’ is siding with the girls and judge but yet a high religious man like him doesn’t see the truth. To me Parris is evil because a person of God is meant to help out people especially in this case but he doesn’t, where as the other reverend Hale is supportive and tries to get both sides of the story to come an conclusion
In act 3 Hale realises that everything is a lie and that the witch trials are not right, and accusations are being made to people that are really innocent and the result is that they are being punished. Reverend Hale goes that ‘there is a prodigious fear of this court.’ By saying this he’s trying to interpret that innocent people in Salem are being hanged. Take for example Giles in act 3. He refuses to name names of the source of information because he knows that if he does grass the source the authorities will immediately go after the source and will be put on trial. This again can be interpreted as an attack on elements of society because it shows that no one could tell the truth and shows how religion can make the authorities stronger.
In act 3 Mary is probably the most disturbed and emotional character in the scene because she is faced with a dilemma that makes her change her decision back due to the pressure that being put on her by John Proctor. Proctor takes Mary to the court to confess that the girls are lying and only pretending. He tells her to tell the truth by saying ‘do that which is good.’ But the two judges Hathorne and Danforth again pressurise Mary and talk her into saying that Proctor had threatened her to say that the girls were lying because of the sudden change in her decision. But we know that Proctor didn’t. It was Abigail, the leader of the girls put pressure on Mary by ‘imitating’ and copying what she says. From this we can tell that Mary was pressured on telling the truth or either goes with Proctor or the girls and this wasn’t an easy decision. If Mary confessed that Abigail and the girls were lying she wouldn’t be popular with the girls and be hated especially by Abigail. On the other hand Proctor knew exactly what the girls were trying to do and that was lying.
The tension in the audience at this point is high. This is because it’s like the climax of the scene because now they will find out whose side Mary will take. Also because of the confusion they are confused just like the authorities and the play has taken another twist yet again. Her inability to faint shows that she was influenced by the girls and that she only used to fait because she thought she saw spirits. This can be interpreted as an attack on society because it’s the authority there, which makes confessing a good thing and more, and did it to only simply eliminate the people they hate i.e. Abigail hates Elizabeth. So in conclusion naming names gives the confessor a lot of power and authority.
However Giles chooses not to mention the name of his source of information to the courts because he know and is very aware of the action the authorities will take if he mentions the name to the court. Another reason he might not mention the name is maybe because he talked about his wife Martha Corey and goes ‘burn in hell long enough for that.’ So that maybe the reason why he said nothing and stood speechless when asked. Also he feels that he has done too much damage already and doesn’t want to cause no more harm to anyone.
John Proctor has made a name for himself in ‘The Crucible.’ He’s the husband of Elizabeth and has had an affair with the leader of the girls Abigail. But he still puts everything he has on the line when he takes the court on in bid of proving his wife’s innocence. Firstly he come to the courtroom with Mary Warren and tell her to tell the truth and nothing and but the truth. With all of this he is also trying to free everyone and for all the courts got and Mary says ‘never’ seen any spirits. Everyone is in disbelief especially the judge Danforth and replies to Proctor by saying that the court burns a ‘hot fire’ that melts down ‘all concealments’. This may suggest that Danforth is siding with the girls and doesn’t believe a word that Mary and Proctor are saying because the girls seem to be with ‘God.’ By saying this Danforth maybe telling Proctor to back out now while he has the chance or trying so frighten him.
But however the odds are stacked against him. They (the authorities) have evidence that he ‘plough on Sunday’ and that he goes to church ‘once a month.’ This may imply that he isn’t a strong Christian believer like the rest of Salem but believes in witchcraft. Proctor could have not defended his wife with the obscene accusations but he did defend his wife, which shows what a loyal man he really is. This can be justified as an attack of injustice of Salem and of 1950’s America because the courts are just not simply prepared to listen no matter how hard the people try and plead just like John Proctor!
The court officials are consistently shown as weak and overbearing, which emphasises the injustice of Salem and McCarthy. At the beginning of act 3 Giles has just made a dramatic entrance and is all fired up. But he has disturbed Hathornes questioning of Martha Corey. We clearly see that Giles is enraged and determined and fully focused on getting his wife back because we can see it in his ‘roaring’ and the aggression that’s inside him and also because of the use of speech marks ‘They’ll be hangin’ my wife!’
This shows that he’s about to explode and its getting tense in the courtroom and this creates a sense of tension as well as in the audience. There is also a verbal and physical violence when Giles really loses the plot and goes ‘damn you!’ Herrick ‘pushes’ Corey out of the courtroom this is an example of physical violence.
All the above points prove that there was verbal and physical violence included at this moment in ‘The Crucible.’ This shows that it was all-intense in the courtroom and also people of authority had to use ‘physical violence’ to get the situation under control, and the fact that people had to throw ‘verbal violence’ to get the attention and make the judge listen. This sums up the cooped up atmosphere in the room and how far people had to go to get the officials attention. One another showed no respect to each other and shows the judges were wear and overbearing which emphasises the justice in Salem and McCarthy.
In ‘The Crucible’ the judges like to show off and show boat in front of the people being put on trial. They try to make themselves look big and powerful by stating how many people they have hanged, killed or condemned. Take for instance when Francis is on stand Danforth make a mockery of him by saying ‘know who I am.; This shows that he’s trying to point out who he is, and then later on he goes on to state the figures of how many he has condemned ‘four hundred are in jails’ and ‘seventy-two condemened’, and when Hale points out he has ‘seventy two death warrants.’ Again this may suggest that the authorities showed power by sending people to jail. This would make them look big, tall and someone not to be messed with.
Danforth in ‘The Crucible’ is shown weak and overbearing when is authority is tested evident to a closed mind is after Mary is questioned and comes clean and tell the truth about the girls. Danforth is again astonished by Mary’s sudden change of heart. At the beginning of the scene Danforth doesn’t believe her she come here with ‘such a story’ that he clearly doesn’t believe.
When Proctor is being questioned he asks straight away is he a ‘Gospel Christian’, ‘Not come to Church.’ This just proves that he has major doubts on the pair of them. Danforth is also trying to say that anyone who is against the girls, they are evil themselves and undermine the judgement of the court. The impression we get of Danforth is that he never wants to be wrong because if he is everyone will point fingers at him claiming he Is the devil. But yet such a high judge is blinded from the truth by the girls is amazing. Also he has the backing or ‘Parris’ and plays another big role in his decision-making. This is because he is always interfering and if anything bad is said about the girls he always has to say something and is all the time backing up what Danforth is saying. By having a religious figure on his side and agreeing to everything he’s saying he would feel as if he’s doing the right thing.
Miller might be trying to show court officials were, if someone went against them this is how the court would react and respond to I if they did turn their backs against the court.
In act 3 only Abigail has control over Danforth. She has him wrapped round her finger because she want as much people as possible convicted for witchcraft the same applies to Danforth so he can make a name for himself. She is trying to use and take Danforth with full advantage because she knows he’ll always agree with her. We can tell Abigail has full authority over him because she goes ‘To be mistrusted’ and Danforth replies saying ‘Child, I do not mistrust you.’ This shows that Abigail has Danforth where she wants him and if he did disagree with Abigail she would do everything to turn people against him and instead accuse him of witchcraft. This shows that people that have named names are mightier then the judges themselves.
Reverend Parris in act 1is the reverend that cares about his name most rather then finding out the truth. Also in act 1 he didn’t want anything to do with witchcraft. We know this because he says to Susanna speak not nothing of ‘unnatural causes.’ This means that he doesn’t want anything associated with witchcraft and doesn’t want to hear or think about it. But on the other hand in act 3 Parris decides to change from not believing what witchcraft exists to proving it does. We know this because he states ‘Beware this man.’ By saying this he’s trying to imply that witchcraft exists more then ever. Also the fact that he is always ‘interrupting’ in the questioning and saying ‘devil lives on such confidence.’ This constant interrupting proves that he wants people to be convicted of witchcraft.
Reverend Hale in act 2 in very concerned man and aware of the accusations being made and is trying to look for any signs of weirdness and witchcraft because after all he supposed to be an ‘expert’ on witch craft. On his visits to discover the truth he visits the Proctors and questions them on the beliefs John and Elizabeth have. He asks ‘the Christian character’ of the house. This suggests that he is trying to get to the bottom of these accusations and pick out the real witches if any. But however in act 3 we see a change in character of Hale. He is one hundred percent sure that the people accused of witchcraft are innocent and then realises the girls are lying to the court and tries to make the court see that, but fails.
Hale claims that ‘every defence is an attack.’ In a way it is because anything the accused people say the court turns it into another matter and then another whole new chapter starts. By saying this Hale has a point to prove and that is he has discovered the truth and there is no witchcraft going on. It’s all an act.
The two Reverends play a big part in ‘The Crucible’ and they change their decision throughout the play. It’s a test for both religious leaders and of McCarthy, because the religious leaders made the authorities stronger and make them think that they were doing the right job. I think that Parris changes his mind because of his own is part of the girls. If her were to go against this would mean he’s accusing her of lying, and also to save his name. This shows selfishness and cowardice. On the other hand Hale does the opposite. From believing that witchcraft exist to not believing it at all! He has figured out the truth and is now on the side of people getting accused. The point Miller maybe trying to point out is that McCarthy use religion to catch out the innocent and by having a religious leader on their side they grew much more stronger.
The first way in which the slow build up of tension throughout the scene emphasises the emotional trauma suffered by the victims of both Salem and McCarthy is the dramatic entrance of the girls. They have come to the court because Mary is up and saying they are a ‘fake.’ The slow build up on tension is created by the stage directions incorporated in the lines for example ‘Abigail rises slowly’ and ‘thinks glances at Mary.’ Also the pauses in the lines enable Danforth to think what he’s going to say next. This shows that Abigail had a lot of power within her and could make the judge slip up at anytime if any awkward questions are asked.
The second way the build up of slow tension is shown by the faked attacks. Again Abigail and the girls are they reason for these ‘faked attacks.’ They pretend that Mary has sent a spirit onto them. By doing this they are trying to turn Mary against Proctor and getting Mary to side with the girls, which they finally do. Straight away Abigail goes ‘a cold wind has come’ and accuse Mary. This creates tension and pressure on Mary once again. This is ironic because the girls at this point know what’s exactly happening. This is evident Mary goes ‘Lord save me!’ and Danforth replies ‘you send your spirit out?’
The attacks show that she was put under a lot of pier pressure to side with the girls and by doing this it lead to Mary changing her decision.
The third way slow tension is built up through out the scene is by Proctor’s confession and the dramatic irony of Elizabeth’s ‘natural lie.’ Her husband finds it hard to admit to lechery. His shame of the officials of being ‘blinded’ by the girls is shown through Proctor’s voice. But Proctor does a brave thing and because he confesses, because it’s his wife he really wants to save. He is telling the truth because he has already ruined his good name and has nothing to lose now. This shows us that the lengths these people tried to go to clear their name but didn’t succeed.
Then Danforth brings his wife n to prove and back up everything he has said. This again may suggest that he doesn’t believe everything that Proctor has told the court this is when there is a climax and things get a little out of control. All emotions run wild. Danforth seems to be calling the shots now. In the film we see Elizabeth stuttering and can’t get the words out of her mouth. This maybe because she doesn’t want to say anything wrong that may harm Proctor. It’s all very tense at the moment this is where we will find out what happens and Danforth asks ‘is your husband a lecher?’ and the tension is broken by Elizabeth replying ‘no sir’ the people are shocked and astonished and Danforth has her removed from the court. The irony here is that she knew everything about it but yet she said no to save her husbands name and the story now is concluded.
The forth way in which the slow build up of tension throughout the scene emphasises the emotional trauma suffered by the victims of both Salem and McCarthy is by the build up of mass hysteria to a hectic climax at the end of act 3. Mary again is the victim because she told the court the girls were fake.
Abigail then pretends that she is talking to a ‘yellow bird.; In coincidence the yellow bird is Mary and has come to attack her. The only way Mary is going to stop Abigail is by siding with her and this exactly what Abigail wants. Then we see the girls mimicking Mary. ‘I’m here, I’m here!’ The impression we get is that Mary is now the devil and once again Danforth has sided with the girls by saying ‘Have you compacted with the devil.’ This shows that Abigail has used her power and got Danforth on her side. All the above shows how much pressure is being put on her and the innocent people. Mary couldn’t withstand the pressure being put on her so she decided to go with the girls when she says that Proctor is ‘the devils man.’ It shows how one’s decision can be influence by pressure.
The final way in which slow build up of tension throughout the scene emphasises on emotional trauma suffered by the victims of both Salem and McCarthy is by Proctors damning lines at the end of the scene. Proctor is outraged and loses it completely. He says in a damning way ‘I say- I say- God is dead!’ The people in the courtroom would have been in shock now. Their minds we made up that Proctor was most probably the devil now. But on the other hand Proctor nothing and nothing to lose he had lost everything, his name, his dignity and his wife. So now Proctor is faced with naming names or face being hanged. The dilemma here is that Proctor is now defenceless his only hope was Mary but she had decided to side with the girls and now might as well give up rather then getting other people into trouble. This shows how naming names was so powerful that Proctor could have stopped him from getting himself hanged and got someone else hanged. But he didn’t.
Having considered the dramatic nature of this scene, I believe it criticises Salem’s authority and of McCarthy trials. It shows how corrupt the courts were and they simply wanted to send down as many people as they wanted. The innocent characters are being forced and pressurised to ‘name names’ or else be hanged. The damning lines show how much people would do to jus clear there names but the courts weren’t prepared to listen. It shows a little rumour has ripped apart society and this will be hard to fix back together. It also shows the emotions and love between the characters and how far they would go to save there loved ones.