In the beginning the first character we see is Reverend Parris. We can spot fear straight away because while Reverend Parris is praying at Betty’s Bedside his facial expression is rather droopy and is in a state of disbelief. It is confirmed that he fears something when he says “Oh my God, God help me!” In saying this it is evident that Paris is praying more for himself than he is for his sick daughter. He fears for himself because it has been said that Betty’s illnesses are more to do with un-natural causes, un-natural causes are seen to be something to do with the Devil. Because of this he fears he may loose his job, because the puritan’s will accuse him of harbouring witchcraft.
Miller Seems to be representing fear through the characters by the way they act and speak, for instance when Revd. Parris is confronting Abigail about her reputation in the village her misleading appearance is revealed. I saw this by the way that she changed from the character of an innocent teenager into a Snappy and argumentative girl. Miller does this in the stage directions by giving the character a loud, snappy and aggressive voice in order to get her point across. Here fear is shown by Abigail’s determination and aggressiveness towards her defence of a good name in the society. Her fear and aggression are shown again when she confronts the girls and intimidates them with her loud and powerful thus authoritative voice when she says “Look you, All of you!” This is said with power and emotion and therefore giving the audience a sense of her fear, because she is ordering the others to give false statements in her defence. When she is later facing accusations she quickly turns innocence into terror.
All of the Girls in Salem have been written to have an essence of secrecy about them. Usually an audience will see secrecy as a sign of being scared of something. In my opinion the characters are being secretive because if the truth gets out they will be punished with a hanging for witchcraft. At times Abigail is very loud and aggressive, In being aggressive this tells the audience that the character is powerful, feared and intimidating. This is in comparison with the power and fear McCarthy had over America with his bias trials and harsh punishments.
Later the Putnam’s Arrive in the scene. The scene changes dramatically because they almost instantly start looking and accusing witchcraft as being the problem. When witchcraft is mentioned the other’s start accusing people of being in league with the devil. While the Putnam’s are accusing people Miller is showing fear by the way they are behaving and speaking as it is rather rushed and unstable. This makes the audience think that the subject that they are talking about is striking fear into their minds. Fear is also represented in the line “It surely is a stroke of hell upon you”. This is seen as fearful because “Hell” was seen as an extremely unpleasant place to be because it was a place of sin. It also suggests that Mrs Putnam has seen the truth about Betty’s illness and that it is the devil’s work because there is no other solution.
In Salem religion plays a leading role in the lives of the puritan villagers. If somebody did not believe in or follow god they were seen to be corrupt and in league with the Devil, this means they could be hanged. Because religion was so important in their lives it was seen as disrespectful to God to sing or dance outside of church.
In the play accusations suggest that the person making them is either scared or fearful. The reason I think this is because, by the girls making accusations they are trying to draw attention away from their own wrong doing because they fear they could be whipped. The audience can sense fear and insecurity because their voices are loud unexpected and draw attention
