When Hale arrived in Act 1 he came across as a man of high religion and a man who demanded respect due to the confidence that came across in his speech tracking down the old boy (page 30). In Act 2 Hale seems arrogant about his faith despite the fact that he knows in his heart that Elizabeth being innocent saying that it’s down to the court to decide and will agree with the decision right or wrong.
Hale isn’t a likable man in Act 2, as he doesn’t stick up for the Proctor’s even though it’s an injustice that Elizabeth has been arrested. But as the play progresses he becomes more a likable man as he does stick up for the Proctor’s even as far as going against his faith to try to save John’s life. This is because he becomes more pragmatic in his faith as the play wears on as he learns of the injustices of the world and realises the importance of John’s life being saved. The reasons for Hales conflict with Proctor are shown in Act 2 when Hale will not say whether Elizabeth is innocent or not even though he knows that she is as he doesn’t want to go against the court. There is also conflict with Proctor in Act 4 as Hale is trying to get Proctor to confess but Proctor is reluctant as he wants to keep his pride. The conflict he has with Danforth is because he has realised that the whole process is a lie and Danforth sees him as a threat to his authority as he is well-respected and if he sees it as a lie others will also consider it to so too. Even though it’s a lie, which Hale damns, he attempts to get Elizabeth to convince John to confess and therefore lie and that makes him a hypocrite. But he says that lie would be ok as no one can no what Gods will is meaning that he believes the lie will be ok to tell as it’s a life which would be saved if it was told. Although Hale is seen as a smart man and one who many will listen too Elizabeth seems to be one that considers her own conscience this is shown when she says I think that be the devil’s argument (page 106) showing that she considers the morale side of what Hale is saying rather than just accepting what Hale says as being right.
Danforth represents the hypocrisy of the House of Un-American Activities Committee who like Danforth exerted their power to strongly in the 1950’s especially which is when The Crucible was written. Danforth can also represent the Committee as to try and keep himself safe and the community to a certain extent, he invaded the privacy of others with no reason to do so such as asking Francis and Giles of the names who which signed the petition for their respective wives (page 75). When the final act begins Danforth is pre-occupied by Hale who denounced the court due to the injustices of what happened to John. He sees Hale as a threat towards him due to his high reputation within the community. Danforth is in this scene to see the executions of John, Rebecca and Martha, as he is the one that summoned them to death. As well as Hale worrying him the new of Abigail fleeing also worries him as it confirms that it was a lie and he was wrong to hang the people whom which the girls said they had seen with the devil. Although he knows he was wrong he would not accept it due to the fact that he cares so much about his reputation even though it will already be crushed when the news breaks to the community. You can see he is an arrogant man on page 103 as the speech shows that his position has not changed since he arrived at Salem despite him knowing that he is wrong due to Abigail fleeing. The imagery used in the speech gets his views across, this can be shown when he says I will not crack its voice with whimpering he will carry on going by Gods word how ever immoral and not stray away by whimpering and allowing John to survive. You also see his arrogance when he still believes he is in control in the speech when he says I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law this also shows he only has a one minded authoritarianism as the only way he feels he can discipline people is by hanging them but in actual fact it only makes the situation worse.
Danforth also has another speech on page 106 which show his Christian attitudes to be quite ironic as well as being unfair towards Elizabeth. I say this because he says that if Elizabeth doesn’t try to convince John to confess then she is stone which is ironic as he’s the one which is stone as instead of letting them go as they are innocent he wants them to confess so he still has a good name in the village even though if Proctor is killed Danforth’s name will be tarnished anyway. Another sign of ignorance is in Proctor’s last exchange with Elizabeth when they are talking about Giles and his death, (page 108). It shows that Danforth kills people not only for “committing witchcraft” but also for refusing to comply with the courts and remaining independent like Giles did. This is again linked in with the Un-American Activities Committee as Miller himself comments on how people would be tortured for not telling the Committee of people who they knew were communists.
Much of what Danforth says is ironic and for someone that is a representative of the church it seems as though he lacks moral values. His logic is unsound and his version of reality is the reason why the Proctors reject him. His views lack moral values as he finds it as blessing that if some one (being John) has dealing with the devil because it proves that he and the fellow judges were right and there is a underlying in flirtation with the devil. Another piece of evidence to show his lack of moral values is that he sees it as an added bonus that if Proctor confesses he should sign his name on a piece of paper to clarify it and to put it on the church door to make it a public announcement that they were right. Also when John confesses to Danforth says you will be blessed in heaven for this showing that he only thinks about himself and his name, as Proctor won’t be blessed if he lies and also if he has said he has seen the devil then he won’t go to heaven. But then Rebecca shows that she has a moral code where say how may I damn myself? I cannot, I cannot. Meaning that she cannot lie as she will be damned to hell if she does so which is the complete opposite to Danforth who says you will go to heaven if you do lie. This then further links in with why Proctor is in conflict with Danforth because he does have a moral code. And although he doesn’t always follow it (the affair with Abigail) but he is ridden with guilt because of it I will cut my hand off before I reach for you again (page 18).
The dramatic way in which the couple were forced apart in Act 3 means that Miller needs to show some resolution in their relationship in Act 4. He does this on page 107 were the couple talk showing that there is no hard feeling in the relationship after what happened in the courtroom in Act 3. This may be because John realises that even though Elizabeth is a good Christian women she made the ultimate sacrifice in lying as she thought she needed to, to save him. In Act 4 when the stage directions say It is as though they stood in a spinning world it shows that after all of the trauma beforehand they have united together as they understand how much they love each other after being apart for so long. It also shows that they love each other so much its as if they are in their own reality were they can only put eyes on one another and nothing else.
When the re-introduction occurs it seems as though the audience is silent waiting in anticipation for them to speak, as it’s a matter of life and death on John’s part. When they speak and interact there is a difference in their proximity, physically and metaphorically, from Act 2 when everything suggested they were distant from each other. I say this because when they interact in Act 4 they seems to be at ease in their conversation as it flows were as in Act 2 the conversation is awkward and the awkwardness can be felt too. As well as that physically you see the difference as in Act 4 John pats Elizabeth, which Elizabeth receives and in turn lets him touch her face in amazement showing their love but in Act2 when John goes to kiss her she does not receive it showing the distance then in their relationship. Metaphorically there is a difference as in Act 4 when they sit they sit facing each other but after John stands at the door in Act 2 she sits facing away form him representing the distance between them and their coming together at the end of the play. When they talk in Act 4 they only speak brief sentences, Miller has them converse in this way to show that the conversation flows and there in no thinking when they speak to one another as its easy to talk but in Act 2 they feel awkward and the way the sentences are stringed together show that.
Much of what they say to each other in Act 4 is an echo of their exchange in Act 2. This can be seen when she refuses to make a decision for him about whether to confess or not (page 110) as it was not her conscience it what his that would have to deal with the consequences of confessing and in Act 2 she says she cannot judge him (page 45). This is an important idea for Miller as he commented on the McCarthy era, Above all, above all horrors, I saw the accepted the notion that conscience was no longer a private matter but one of state administration. I saw men handling conscience to other men and thanking other men for the opportunity of doing so, meaning that he saw people accepting that ones conscience was not something for one person but for one of the administration which is shown with Danforth who doesn’t care about Proctor’s conscience and the guilt he will feel if he does confess, all he cares about is himself. This links in with both of the Proctor’s as throughout the play they have both been reluctant to accept truth of the reality that others such as Danforth have asked them to accept. As they have both been prepared to question and take into account their own experience of what is right and wrong and having principles rather than relying on versions of others. Making it inevitable that Elizabeth will not judge him in Act 4 as its his principles and his judgement of what is right and what is wrong that is on the line.
Although twice in the play Elizabeth has used very similar words once in Act 2 and once in Act 4 the tone in Act 4 is very much different to the one in Act 2. As the one in Act 2 is more of a confession meaning that she is saying it to him for the first time making him bewildered. Elizabeth saying this is effective because she says the magistrate sits in your heart that judges you which is ironic because rightly or wrongly its not the magistrate in his heart that judges him but the magistrate itself is the one that judges him. In Act 4 she says she can’t judge him, as it’s his decision at that moment as he can choose whether to live or to die.
As well as confrontations with others like Hale, Danforth and Elizabeth, John also has a confrontation with himself, which provides us with the final climax of the play. Even though it’s the final climax Miller has prepared us for the closing moment by revealing Proctor’s guilt to the audience early in the play with his exchange with Abigail in Act 1. You can first see the confrontation with himself when he has a troubled conscience of page 16 where it says he has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud due to the affair with Abigail. It is also clear that he is still attracted to Abigail but has made the decision to deny that attraction as he has a family and a reputation to withhold. You can see he is still attracted to her when she claims that she sees him outside her window every night and he does not deny it. Another early sign of a confrontation with himself is in the court room in Act 3 were he has so much difficulty in confessing in his sin of adultery as it says he trembling with his life collapsing about him (page 88). The trembling shows that he doesn’t want to say it but to free his wife and the others he feels the need to. The reason for him not wanting to say is because he cares so much for his name and the reputation he has within the community of Salem. Another sign of a confrontation with himself is when he is talking to Elizabeth in Act 4 and she attempts to convince him of his goodness he rejects it and claims only spite of the authority has kept him silent showing that he doesn’t believe he is a good man. In the exchange between the two of them Proctor uses the word pretence this is significant because he has used the word before in Act 3 about the girls saying it was only pretence (page 92). This therefore makes him a hypocrite as he says its pretence on their part and says its wrong but he then says he is pretending making it a contradiction as it makes out that its wrong for them to pretend but not for him. The reasons for him confessing to Danforth are that he wants to live and the only way of doing so is by confessing to the authorities (page 110), but it is not because he feels it’s the right thing to have done as he calls it fraud.
Miller inserts the confession of Proctor as it adds to the dramatic impact of Act 4. It is his final refusal to comply with Danforth once he changes his mind and rips up the confession. The confession also surprises the audience as he has been considered as a man of integrity beforehand. The feeling from the confession is mixed as the audience want to see Proctor live but if he does then the authorities would have won meaning they still have the power but on the other hand people are upset that he has confessed as it is a change of his personality to comply with the rules and also because the audience want to see the authorities become undone and be an authority no more. Another reason for Proctor changing his mind about the confession is Danforth implicating others and his insistence of the signature which Proctor doesn’t like and makes him change his mind and take on a role of a martyr. This situation can be compared to the House of Un-American Activities Committee as McCarthy the man who led the proceedings as they demanded confessions from people otherwise a punishment will ensue and forcing people to confess like Danforth, this can therefore make Proctor a representation of Miller as Proctor refused to confess in the end and Miller refused to give names of who he thought were communists when he was brought to the Committee.
Miller uses the confession to heighten the drama of the closing minutes of the play, he also uses the language of Proctor to heighten the drama with repetition of words like because in his speech on page 115 showing that he thinks for himself and has reasons for him ripping up the confession. Also Proctor’s language involves rhetorical questions such as what more is needed? Showing his unhappiness at the situation and he just wants to get it over with as he’s ashamed of what he is doing. His language also shows him to have pride and deep feelings as he asks Elizabeth to hold back her tears without reason but probably because he doesn’t want to cry to as he has too much pride in himself. The drama is also heightened by Proctor’s tears on page 115 as it shows part of him still wants to live but it would be wrong to confess and let Danforth win. Another way is the tearing up of the paper as Danforth leaves Proctor two avenues and leaves him the decision which makes the audience wait in anticipation for what Proctor will do with the paper intensifying the drama. The passionate embrace with his wife also heightens the drama as it’s their final goodbye and implicates that its almost definite Proctor’s life will be taken. John sweeping up Rebecca Nurse on page 116 heightens the drama as it shows they will unite together against confessing. Danforth’s last words heighten the drama too as they show how ironic he is again. As he says who weeps for these, weep for corruption when he is the one who is corrupt as he says that Proctor will be blessed for confessing he has seen the devil when you would expect him to be damned for him. Parris’ pleading heightens the tension as it shows how pathetic he is and also how selfish he is as he is only thinking about himself and his job and he knows he will lose it if Proctor dies. Hale’s pleading does the same too as its ironic as he says take the shame away but him pleading like he is puts shame on him and also as he has encouraged Proctor to lie makes him shameful. The three drum rolls finish the play off effectively as it ensures the audience that Proctor is dead specified also by the description of them rattling like bones. Elizabeth’s actions on the last page also heighten the drama as when she stares down the doorway where Proctor is being lead through it shows she is resigned to him dying and can’t decide for him as she can’t judge him. The drum roll drawing her attention to the window heightens the drama as she is looking out the window probably to see her husband hang and maybe that’s why she needs the window to support herself. Her escape form Hales pleas close the matter once and for all as she is the only person who can really save John but as she won’t judge him he won’t live. The symbolism of the sun pouring down her face shows that after the death of John she will start a new. All these points help decide who is the triumphant. In my opinion I believe Proctor is the one who is triumphant as Danforth and the authorities have lost all respect due to the death of him. The final scenes show that Proctor has changed from being a pragmatist to being a man of principles as he wants to keep his name and not confess therefore losing respect, and as he has not lost any respect and in fact gained it, it furthers the point that he won and Danforth lost.