(Act 2 page) “ Thou shall not commit adultery.”
The Crucible is when John Proctor confesses to committing adultery in (Act 3 page) saying, “It is a whore” to prove this, “I have known her.”
This affects the play in a major way because this is not expected and the outcome of the play will depend on the result of this accusation. There is also dramatical irony present in the play. This is when the audience of the play or the reader (us) are aware of things that are important that the other characters don’t know. An Example of this is when the girls who accuse people of witchcraft and releasing spirits upon them. We know that all this is a major lie, but the rest of the village does not know this and this affects the play in a major way also. Most of the village is hanging on every word that Abigail and the girls are saying. If this had not happened the hangings would have never taken place. Irony adds to the Dramatic Intensity because it doesn’t make the play predictable. And it adds suspense to the characters and their stage actions and keeps the reader interested to find out what happens after something ironic has happened.
Another dramatical device is characters in the play and how some stay the same throughout the play while others change. Static characters are the ones who stay the same and are unchanging throughout the play. An example of this Rebecca Nurse, from the start of the play is truthful and honest and is a good strong character and remains trustworthy. She won’t be forced or pressurised to confess,
(Act 4 page) “Why it is a lie, it is a lie, how may I damn myself?”
Also Abigail Williams is static character she is a lying manipulative girl from the beginning and carries to be so, until the near end of the play before she runs off with her Uncles money. Mr Putnam is always thinking about himself and his money and looking out for number one.
There are dynamic characters in the play, these change significantly as a result of events, conflicts or other influences. John and Elizabeth Proctor are examples of this they change as do their situations as well as their judgements of each other as their relationship progresses. John Proctor is a Dynamic character because he is constantly changing his attitude to things. In act 2 he thinks it’s all dumb and soon enough they will find out the truth about Abigail’s lying. He doesn’t want to go down to the village and tell them that it is all lies, even though he has to sooner or later and still won’t give his wife a straight answer,
(page 44 Act 2) “ I know I cannot keep it, I say I will think on it.” This is also telling us that there is tension between Elizabeth and her Husband. It shows that their relationship hasn’t improved much after John’s affair with Abigail. The reason he is extra stressful and delicate on the subject is because he doesn’t want his affairs to become public knowledge, and if he were to accuse Abigail of lying she might retaliate and announce how close their relationship really was and john fears this. However in Act 4 he goes to court and confesses openly to everyone. He also changes his mind in Act 4 when at first he is wiling to confess to witchcraft in order to save his life, when he learns his name will be nailed to the church door. He can’t let them and he rips up his confession. Reverend Hale is also a Dynamic Character and changes throughout the play. He believes that witchcraft is taking over Salem and is on the side of the court. When he hears more into the separate matters, he decides it’s all lies and is a way for revenge of a sad little girl. Near the end he is with john and wants him to live and tries to convince the court, “It is a lie, they are innocent.” Mary warren changes her mind a lot throughout the courses of the play. She is very erratic and has no structure, she is being pressured and threatened form everyone to either tell the truth and in contrast to lie for them. She alters her mind from being with Abigail to go to with Proctor but then changes her mind again because she takes the easier option and lies with the other girls, rather than tell the truth by herself or with the support or a broken man Proctor.
The way characters change shows us how real it is, as it shows basic human instincts and quality of human necessity for survival. Arthur miller wrote the play in such a way that the reader/viewer develops an opinion of the character, because Miller kept some characters the same it kept the plot moving with us still having a good idea of what is going on in the play. Characters in the Crucible made the play more dramatically intense because it keeps us excited and interested in the play while it is serious and realistic at the same time.
The language used in the play is formal and old fashioned rather than modern. The characters spoken words tell us a lot about them as does their tone of voice. The proctors in the beginning of Act 2 are very distant with each other talking in short sentences making very simple conversation.
(Act 2 page 42) John : “ pray now for a well summer now ”
Elizabeth : “ Aye ”
John : “Are you well today ”
Elizabeth : “ I am ”
It also shows that John is still walking on tiptoes around the house. The language used is very serious and is not funny or sarcastic, but since the play is serious the language is well suited to the type of play. The way Abigail speaks to the girls is very threatening for example,
(Act 1 page 15-Abigail) “ Let either of you breathe a word, or an edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.”
She is clever and that’s how she got away with everything, The language of this play adds to dramatic intensity because it gives a sense of strength and structure of the play. It helps identify what the play is really about. The tone of voice, feelings and emotions attribute a great deal to the drama of the play/ It lets the reader/viewer see the importance of the proceeding of the play. The final dramatic device I am going to discuss is the narrator and stage directions. The narrator helps a series of events more dramatic and helps us understand the play even more so as it sets the scene. We also wouldn’t know how the characters moved and behaved or who was where and when he/she entered or left. This is important for us to know what is happening especially if we are reading it. The stage directions tell us what a character does and how they do it. Time and again there will be phrases such as ‘pleadingly’ or ‘Angrily’ or ‘ crying out’ are used to assist us to understand how a character is feeling so the reader may familiarize themselves with what is gong on and the emotions they are going through. The narrator can also give us background info on characters so you can develop an opinion on them that we might need. The narrator and stage direction adds to the dramatic effect of the play as it paints a more vivid image in the mind of the reader. It puts more action and impact into the play making it more real. It ties the play together and makes it come alive! If the characters just stood anywhere or somewhere not knowing what their expressions are it would directly become boring. All the devices put together add to the dramatic intensity of the play because it really helps the structure and arrangement of the play by adding images in the mind of excitement and interest as the plot unfolds!
I will now be revising Act 3, the courtroom room scene when notions and instincts come into play. The scene is important, as it is when the main themes are unearthed and dealt with and where new revelations come into light, which disrupt the village of Salem. Immediately the narrator gives us a vivid picture of the setting, which is the vestry room of the Salem meeting hall, and introduces the characters here. We are brought straight into the action of Martha Corey’s trial. Soon after, Giles Corey bursts in claiming he has evidence for the court, along with Francis Nurse, who were determined to prove the girls as frauds. This is when John proctor enters dragging Mary Warren. Proctors evidence is Mary Warren to admit that she has been lying about the whole affair. The court starts to pressure them and Paris insists that their defense is an attack upon the court. Reverend Hale, the only one who believes them, helps to influence the judges decision. In the courtroom john is pressured into one corner of the room by everyone’s judgments of him, where he confesses to having an affair with Abigail Williams. After they hear this they call his wife to ask if this is true and we find out that she is pregnant with his child. In the end Mary turns against John proctor and accuses him as the devil’s man and is led away shouting out aloud “whore.”
Now I am going to learn and explore more about the people of Salem as a community and what was actually going on there before and during the mad witch hunts. The people of Salem all were living happily among each other or so we though, however we didn’t know what was going on in the back of the minds of some people. Some held grudges over stupid pettish things, such as (the narrator tells us) Thomas Putnam’s brother was up against Samuel Paris for the job of the minister, the odds were that the Putnam was going to get the job and even though 2 thirds of the votes were favoring him he wasn’t selected as the minister. Also many many years ago land had been pinched off the Putnam’s ancestors and he wants it back. The dynamic characters who changed their minds during the course of the mad witch hunts. It all appeared that this was a good loving community that were puritan, god loving and church going people. But when the girls began the lying it all changed people became back stabbing and two-faced( they didn’t want to be accused so they did the accusing themselves.) silly events from the past were brought up like Martha Corey was accused of cursing a pig, she had sold it to a man and after 6 years it had die, this is one of the reasons she was accused of a being a witch, which is really pathetic. The whole community is generally dynamic because they change from being good to each other to spiteful and horrible towards each other.
Now I am going to discuss the development of the play and how Arthur miller lets the plat unfold gradually, therefore building tension. The crucible is split into 4 Acts and each act has its own focal points of dramatic intensity. IN Act 1 we find out what type of a girl Abby really is, when she threatens the girls that if they speak a word.
Act 1 Abby, “ Let either of you breathe a word, or an edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.”
This builds up tension because it makes you wonder is anyone going to crack under the pressure of telling the truth in the events of the play? Or are the girls going to keep Abby’s secret to themselves? And if they do tell how’s this going to go down with rest of the village?
In Act 2 we see how strained the relationship between Elizabeth and John Proctor is, as they try and have a normal conversation, in their house before they are interrupted. Hale comes and informs them that Elizabeth has been accused and questions them on how much they know about Christianity. This is when john ironically forgets the commandment ‘Adultery’ as he is the one who has committed adultery, at this point in the play we are really beginning to get opinions of characters. Act 2 is when Elizabeth is taken under arrest. This is really dramatic because we know that she is innocent and that Abigail is lying. At this moment the reader is waiting for further developments to take place, we know that john has a short temper,
Act 2 John Proctor: “I’ll not give my wife to vengeance.”
And we want to know what he is going to do to get wife back. This is where miller is really clever, he’s telling us what’s happening without giving us too much information so we will want to read on and find out more.
In Act 3 events and accusations are brought to light, not due to characters expectations, but because of pressure and spur of the moment events. Like for example Proctors confession was not expected adding to the conflict of the play, because we are not expecting him to confess, this is one of Arthur millers ways of letting the audience and characters from the play slowly learn of these developments. The confession is a focal point for the dramatic intensity because it is really serious. This is because we are unaware of the events to come and we feel scared for him because our general thought on him is that he is a good guy even though the fact that he had an affair. Another dramatic moment in this Act is accused of being the devils man by Mary leaving him with no one on his side.
Act 3 : “ You’re the devils man!’
We are really worried for john and what might happen to him, because its not looking good for him
The ultimate dramatic point of Act 4 and the whole play was the hanging of John Proctor. As miller builds up tension by the events leading up to the hanging, John has a choice, he could either lie by signing a confession to witchcraft or tell the truth and die by now you can’t help feeling sorry for him. In the play john is a good character and we don’t want him to die and everything seems to be going well, he is lying and has signed his name, but after this it strikes him that he can’t give his name away as he knows it will be nailed to church door and he has too much pride and dignity in him that he can’t do this. The theme of ‘ the importance of ones name ’ comes to its highest point throughout the whole play. He rips up the piece of paper and we are on the edge of our seats to see what happens next. Arthur miller unfolded the play gradually by giving us background information enabling us to get an conclusion of some characters and as the play went on, telling us what happens but always keeps us wanting more.
Now I am going to revise how judgments and opinions of characters alters b their actions and their tone of voice. A sour class were reading the play as a whole my opinions of some characters changed for example. John Hale I thought at the beginning that he was a bit of a snob type person because of the way he came to Salem and how people had heard of him and so he thought too much of him self, however as the play progressed I realized he wasn’t a snob but actually quite clever and didn’t let the villages opinions influence his beliefs but realized it was all a lie. The reason opinions of characters change are because of their actions and what they say. Using John Hale again he tries to help the village and the whole affair and pleads with the judges:
Act 3 “ the child has gone wild”
he’s talking about Mary Warren when she is accusing Proctor. The changing of opinions make the play more dramatic because it helps move the play naturally and adds that much suspense.
After watching the film and reading out the play, I am now going to focus on contrasting and comparing the two. I will be looking for differences and similarities. The video allows you to see the characters and see their actions. Sometimes when you are reading it is hard to visualize the character appearance’s emotions as well as what is going on in the rest of the play. These are clearly portrayed for us in the film. Leaving us less distracted than we are reading the play. The video has added events to the play as well as adapting situations slightly to make it more dramatic and also to catch the eye of a modern audience and to make it enjoyable for them. Act 3 is set in the courtroom throughout the whole Act. However in the video we see the girls run out of the court when they are inventing to see Mary’s spirit. Mary then accuses John of being the devils man, so the girls all run into the river washing them themselves. This symbolizes that they considered Proctor as evil and dirty and wanted to escape his evilness. As john makes his way into the lake the girls run out as if the water has been contaminated.
This is one the major distinctions between the two. Another is when Giles Corey is being crushed to death. In the play we do not observe this event, but merely hear about it during a conversation between the Proctor’s
Act 3 : Goody Proctor “ They press him John”
John Proctor “ press? ”
Goody Proctor. “ Great stones they lay upon his chest until he plea ‘Aye or Nay.’ They say he gave them but 2 words ‘More Weight’ he says and died.”
The video gave us a visual picture of what happened to Elizabeth’s description. We can actually see how Giles behaved and the mental and physical pressures he went through just before he died. In the video we are witness to the execution of john Proctor, Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse. We hear them saying the lords prayer before the silence of their hangings. We know for sure they die in the video. The actual play ends before the hangings take place so we would be uncertain of what happened if it wasn’t for a small section in the back of the book entitled “ Echoes of the Corridor.” This passage tells us that the myth is that Abigail became a prostitute in Boston and that Elizabeth married 4 years after the death of John. Other than these changes and the fact that Tituba is younger in the film and that the girls are older in the film, the rest of the play is the same as the play. In my opinion the video was a exceptional version of the play. It didn’t ruin any images of the characters that I had in my mind, other than the appearance’s I think that the video helped me to appreciate the play more. I would have to say that the only bad thing about the video was that unlike the play there was no narrator.
No one to give the background information so we had to work it out ourselves. Watching the play was definitely more intense and dramatic for me whereas the play wasn’t as exciting to read, although it did bring more depth and background to the people of Salem. The video was easy to follow as emotions were acted out really well. Whereas in the play all we would read was their emotions in brackets e.g. (angrily. ) this could be very dull and dreary at times. The 2 are very different and have a high quality in their own ways. Each form of the Crucible is an interesting way of illustrating the story, and adds to the dramatic intensity because we are able to see and read about people’s feelings and emotions, these are very valuable to drama as it adds interest and has the edge of the seat effect.
The crucible is a thrilling play which gripped my attention, and after researching the play I have found how Arthur miller has allowed the plot to flow naturally to unfold dramatic intensity shown through themes to add tension and emotion to the story line. The theme witchcraft adds anxiety as other themes are unearthed,. The individual and society theme, when everyone is expected to act the same we discover witchcraft, which is brought by one of the main characters which does not belong to the same society. The narrator & stage instructions added to the text added conflict, however after watching the play I found it greatly enjoyable. I felt Arthur Miller made the crucible dramatic by showing feeling and emotion shone through accusations and the events of the play.
