Miller manipulates the audience throughout this section of the act, to make the audience feel different emotions at different moments. For example, at the “testing” of Elizabeth, the audience feels tense because they are hoping Elizabeth will say that John is a lecher and so the truth will finally come out. The audience is then disappointed as Elizabeth does not have the heart to accuse John, but quickly their emotions run wild again as Hale tries to persuades the judges that the girls are lying.
“This girl has always struck me false…” however, here Abby realises her story is under threat, and so she plays up and makes up her bird vision. As stage directions Miller writes for Abigail to let out a “weird, wild, chilling cry”, which makes the audience change their emotions again and they now feel frustrated that honest Hale, has been stopped and that the future for the truth to be revealed is looking very weak, however also they can’t help being mesmerised by Abigail. Miller also uses this moment to show the audience how easily the court is turned over and they are amazed at how strong the mass hysteria has become as it is not just effecting the girls but sweeping up the lawyers and judges too. This leads to all justice being completely washed out as the whole community is in the power of a strong character who can defeat the truth and objectivity, without which justice cannot work.
The other girls’ reaction to Abigail’s actions and visions is instant and Mercy immediately responds to her,
“It’s on the beam! Behind the rafter!”
This shows mass hysteria, as it shows how the girls have all become so hysterical that they simply react off each other to continue the story they are creating and Abigail becomes so hysterical she becomes determined to use the situation to accuse Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft and have her sent to jail. Here, the audience feel shocked to find themselves so swept up in the hysteria of it all.
Although the yellow bird incident is one of the strongest instances of mass hysteria, Miller actually uses the children throughout the structure of the act. For example at the beginning of Act 3 only Mary Warren is brought on first, and this creates suspense for the audience as we wonder whether they will get a fair hearing or not. Also there is dramatic irony throughout, as the audience know the truth which the characters do not know. At this moment, it is very much the court against the individual telling the truth and the audience feel for Mary and she gets their sympathy as she is against all the others. Here, Miller brings out the theme of individuals versus society through the structure as seeing one small “child” against the large adult court structure symbolises the idea of society against the individual. The audience feel that Mary is terrified and frightened of the court through Miller’s stage directions, “hardly audible” and “weaker”. These directions show how powerless Mary is feeling despite she is the one telling the truth. This suggests that Miller wanted to show how the court make people feel worthless for being honest and how this was a serious problem at the time.
The structure of the scene changes again as the other girls enter, and immediately mass hysteria is brought into the court through the children. Once Abigail and the other children enter Danforth questions the children,
“Will either of you change your positions now?” and Abigail is quick to respond that it is Mary who is lying. Through the questioning and evidence of the poppet the audience is edging the court to accept the truth and there is also dramatic irony as we know Proctor has had an affair with Abigail but is not revealing it and all this leads to a huge suspense created for the audience. Mary Warren is then used to show how mass hysteria works as Paris tries to get her to faint, but Mary Warren says she cannot,
“I have no sense of it now… I heard the other girls screaming and you, your honour; you seemed to believe them… it were only short in the beginning but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits...”
This explains how the mass hysteria has affected the girls and shows the audience how everything has got so crazy. Then when John Proctor finally reveals his affair there is a great dramatic moment and shock because the audience have been desperately waiting for him to reveal it so justice can come his way. There is also slight relief as the suspense is released and the audience is left hoping that this evidence will be enough for the truth to finally be revealed.
There is again another structure change as Elizabeth Proctor is tested and we learn of Elizabeth’s great love for her husband as she finds it too difficult to admit what he has done. This then leads to the closure of the Act as the whole court goes into total madness after Mary Warren breaks down and is drawn back into Abby’s power. Here the strength of Abigail is shown as she twists the court completely her own way. It also shows the audience how the “religious, fair” morals the community is based on are all lie and virtually no-one has the courage to stand up for the truth and what they believe in. The final hug as Mary returns to Abby is used to make Abigail seem “goodly” and “angelic”, as despite Mary’s turn against her she has finally seen sense and return to Abby and this makes the audience feel even more resentful towards Abigail and shows how very twisted Abigail is.
The children are also used to manipulate the adults and this brings out another theme of the corruption of justice. Danforth is central to the corruption of justice among the adults, and although we realise he knows where the truth lies at the end, he still decides to cover his own reputation. This shows how much the adults are risking on the children’s stories and how Miller uses the children to bring out the concept of corruption in the court. Danforth has already decided on where the truth lies, even before hearing Mary Warren’s deposition, and has already made his judgement as he says,
“The entire contention of the state in these trials is that the voice of Heaven is speaking through the children.” Miller also uses Abigail to show how Danforth is pushed by Abigail to believe her story,
“I done my duty pointing out the devil’s people – and this is my reward! To be mistrusted, denied questioned like a-” and this pushes Danforth and he replies much “weaker”,
“Child, I do not mistrust you!”
This gives the effect on the audience that the court which is supposed to be a place impartiality and fairness is easily swayed. This represents the society these people are living in, one that is unjust and based on people caring for their own reputation only.
This makes the audience feel how hard it must be to tell the truth and how much the truth is disregarded in court or how the court system is abused to further the judges’ own ends. This brings out Miller’s ideas about the social, historical and cultural problems at the time. It shows how everything is not perfect in the Puritan society and how it is very divided within the church. It also bring out the idea of power and who controls it, and Miller uses Abigail to express this as others think she is acting in the eyes of God and so her story becomes unquestionable, gaining her a huge following. This also reveals how Miller uses the children to show how in the community, fair justice has become more to do with religious evidence than hard evidence, and this is used throughout Act 3. For example, Danforth uses religion to try and play on Mary’s honesty.
“Do you not know that God damns all liars?”
Also Parris, is a good example of how cracked the community was as in a community based on religion and strong morals, the own religious minister thinks his position and status in the community is more important, than his religious morals. There are many examples in Act 3 of where Parris shows his priority for protecting his own reputation rather than the good of the community. For example, Parris questions Danforth and makes him feel stupid for even hearing Mary and Proctor’s story.
“Excellency, you surely cannot think to let so vile a lie be spread in open court!”
However, here Miller uses dramatic irony to create emotion for the audience, as they know Parris knows the truth, and is lying just to protect his family from trouble. Also, as the court begin to discover some of the truth about the children dancing in the woods, which the audience know Parris knows about, Parris immediately tries to cover himself, by deterring the subject,
“Excellency, since I come to Salem this man is blackening my name.” This make the audience feel angry and anxious as they know Parris is lying and that the future for the truth is looking worse and worse. Miller uses Parris to bring up questions and criticisms he wanted to be revealed about the US society in the 1950’s.
Danforth is used throughout Act 3 to show the corruption of justice, but the main example of this is when Danforth is reading Mary Warren’s deposition. Miller uses plenty of stage directions to show how he wants this to be strongly shown. In the RSC production, they closely followed Miller’s directions to create a long pause that was needed to give the audience a chance to realise what might be going through Danforth’s mind. He realises where the truth lies and he has to decide whether to risk his reputation and admit the truth, or overlook justice and save his own reputation. The pause creates dramatic suspense for the audience, as they wonder what Danforth will decide and whether he will go with the truth or the more convenient choice.
In conclusion, I think in Act 3, the children are key to revealing the various wider concepts, themes and relationships within the play that Miller wanted to be uncovered through “The Crucible”. I think the children definitely helped to create emotions that “grabbed the audience by the throat, rather than presenting an emotion which you could observe and then walk away from,” which was the effect he wanted to achieve, which they quoted in the RSC’s programme. Miller uses the children to deliver hidden meanings and to help achieve what the characters possibly are not saying, as well as creating different emotions for the audience, through emphasis and physical actions.
