In order to understand the strong conflicts that emerge between the characters, it is necessary to learn of their backgrounds and the past. Miller deals with this very well, not only relying upon the dialogue, situation and setting but a number of passages that familiarize the reader to the character’s backgrounds. Indeed in the First Act, there are many historical digressions that cannot be conveyed through theatrical devices.
There are three characters that represent the supernatural and its uncontrollable qualities, with three characters that oppose the witchcraft accusations. Reverend Hale is probably the most complex character due to his contradictory beliefs, and his ability to change sides. Firstly, I will deal with the characters that instigate the witch trials in Salem. Miller chooses the Reverend Samuel Parris to be the man who symbolises the paranoia that characterise the trials. Miller establishes Parris as a materialistic man whose main concern is his reputation and status in the community. We can tell this from Parris asking for the deeds to his house unlike any preacher before him. He explains, saying, “I want a mark of confidence … majority feels the whim”. He is a man generally disliked in the community. This is due to his preaching of “hellfire and bloody damnation”. With the presence of witchcraft looming, Parris now has a concrete manifestation of the evil he fears.
The second character that serves as a catalyst to the mass hysteria and paranoia is Thomas Putnam, and to a lesser extent his wife. Thomas Putnam shows that his motivation is in his long-standing grudges against others. The witchcraft trials give Putnam an opportunity to exact revenge against others under the cover of the accusations. We are told in Miller’s information about Putnam, that a mysterious faction had stopped his wife’s brother-in-law from ministry. He feels himself to be intellectually superior in the community, and his vindictive nature has been proved. His wife is quick to assume that the cause of Betty’s illness is witchcraft, and is described as “a twisted soul, haunted by dreams”.
The last and the main accuser of witchcraft is Abigail Williams. Miller quickly establishes Abigail as a pretender, or “a strikingly beautiful girl, with an endless capacity for dissembling”. She demonstrates a great ability for self-preservation: she admits what she must at times, and places the blame for her actions on the most convenient source, in this case Tituba. An excellent example is given within the First Act, when Abigail says, “I always hear her laughing in my sleep. I hear her singing her Barbados songs and tempting me with-”. Her motivations lie at the bottom of the accusations that grip Salem. It is therefore important that Miller establishes early on in Act One her affair with John Proctor, a character yet to be mentioned. All the accusations grow from her desire to displace Goody Proctor as John Proctor’s wife. She originally wants to use the witchcraft trials to achieve her aim, but soon finds that the trials serve as an escape valve for others’ hidden motives. She finds this to her disadvantage at the end of the play after John Proctor himself is accused and is hung.
In contrast to these three characters, the next characters show the opposition facing the accusations. Firstly I will discuss the protagonist of the play – John Proctor, whom I have already mentioned. Proctor is a steady man, in whose presence “a fool felt his foolishness instantly”. He is described as “a man in his prime, with a quiet confidence, and an unexpressed, hidden force”, which reveals his nature to the reader. Despite his affair with Abigail that becomes the source of the accusations, the reader feels sympathy towards him due to his preference of rationality over the supernatural, and his modern quality in his logic and his willingness for a better life for future generations.
The Nurses, particularly Rebecca Nurse, are represented as near saints who rely upon practical wisdom and experience. Miller reveals that the Nurses have held a grudge against the Putnams both over land, and also over Putnam’s wanted man in the ministry. Rebecca Nurse symbolises the good in the community although this does not affect Putnam’s motivations and the accusations that are made. The last character is Giles Corey. He is a man who “didn’t give a hoot for public opinion”, but is able to oppose Putnam and Parris due to his contentious, and combative manner.
Finally, there is the Reverend John Hale, who approaches religious matters with the conviction of a scientist. He holds the belief that they cannot rely upon superstition to solve the girls’ problems but they may find a supernatural explanation for the events. Although he does not side with anyone, he is wrapped up in the hysteria that has been created, and evokes further paranoia. He shows the essence of the conflict of religion and superstition that is at the foreground in ‘The Crucible’.
The First Act of ‘The Crucible’ shows several significant themes that continue during the play. I think that one of the most important themes is the ability for accusations to snowball, gaining pace and involving others that were in the background. An early example of this is the charges against the girls and Tituba. At first they are accused of simply dancing, then of dancing naked. These accusations proceed until Tituba is deemed a witch, and others are accused of Satanism.
Another important theme is the shift of blame from one character to another. This is largely due to the minority of people willing to accept the consequences of their actions. The ability of characters to choose whichever position suits their self-interest is encompassed in the First Act largely with Abigail, who uses everything for her own purpose.
As I mentioned during my introduction, the play is aptly named ‘The Crucible’, which serves as an instrument in which tensions reach a climax under the cloud of accusations. In Act Three, Danforth refers to the title in saying “We burn a hot fire here; it melts down all concealment”. This is true in the sense that all the motives of the characters are revealed, but these have to be firstly explained, and this occurs in Act One.
Miller uses imagery and language to add to the tensions and conflicts encountered in the First Act. He uses double negatives as a way to emphasise and also to set the play in the right period of history. Miller uses such imagery as “sweated like a stallion”: an image taken straight from the farm to reflect the themes and set the period. Miller writes that Abigail states that “Let either of you breath a word … sun go down”. This quote contains very powerful language and gives a sense of the harshness of the atmosphere that they lived in.
After Act One, the accusations spiral out of control with countless others being accused including Elizabeth Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, and John Proctor himself. The mass hysteria reaches a climax with the accused being hanged after refusing to confess to a sin that they did not do. Reverend John Hale sides with Proctor and says that these accusations are not based upon anything, just personal vendettas.
In conclusion, Arthur Miller uses the First Act of ‘The Crucible’ as a strong foundation for the mass hysteria and the intensity of the paranoia that follows in the play. The themes of the play need to be sown into the play quickly and effectively so as to ensure the quick rise of tension. The main issue throughout the play of the conflict of religion and superstition is involved straight away and Miller establishes the stem of all the accusations of Abigail’s affair with Proctor quickly, as well as giving an insight into the motivations of the other characters. Miller establishes the characteristics of the Salem community that make it so receptive to the witch hunt and how accusations can ignite fears and panic which can seize a town to such a great extent.
‘The Crucible’, thought of as an allegory to the McCarthyism that gripped America is elaborately constructed to illustrate how fear and hysteria mixed with an atmosphere of persecution may lead to tragically unjust consequences. The seeds of future conflict are intricately sown in the first Act to provide ‘The Crucible’ with a solid base on which the accusations raise the tension and conflict to such extreme heights and where characters are wrapped up in the hysteria that make the play so compelling. All the important themes are encompassed during the first Act, such as the shifting of blame, and the conflicts of characters, that allow the rest of the play to spiral out of all proportions permitting ‘The Crucible’ to be so powerful and utterly riveting.
