He tells us of,
‘A few, small windowed, dark houses snuggling against the raw Massachusetts winter’
The people had to fight to survive and
‘Had to fight the land like heroes for every grain of corn’.
The entire American continent stretched around them and contained savages and wild animals. This terrifying environment led them to become superstitious and fearful.
In the first act Miller creates tension by showing how the characters become more and more afraid of witchcraft. The reverend tells us how he discovered the girls ‘ Dancing like heathen in the Forest’ and thinks that it is part of an evil ceremony. He claims that Tituba was ‘screaming’ and ‘chanting gibberish’. This is a good example of irrational fear of any one who is different as Tituba was singing songs in her old language of Barbados.
Also in act 1 we are introduced to the tensions that exist in the community . Mrs Putnam is a ‘twisted soul of 45, a death ridden woman haunted by dreams’. She reports that Mr Collins saw Abigail flying. This is rumour mongering.
The tension in the early part of the play comes from a feeling of helplessness. Betty’s illness is attributed to witchcraft, and Mrs Putnam says that she has lost seven babies for no apparent reason and wants Tituba to contact the dead to find out who is responsible.
In act one the question that the act is based around is “Will the town Leap to Witchcraft ?” In act two the question is “ Will the Proctors get involved in the Witch hunt?” In act three The question being asked is “Will Abigail foil John Proctors attempt to discredit her?” and finally in act four the question asked is “Will John Proctor get hanged?” This repeated question and answer “Will the worst happen?” ”Yes” is the rythem of the play and it is uses by Miller by great effect to create and sustain great tension throughout the crucible.
Another point of tension in the play is caused by the fact that the characters follow a strict Puritan code and this causes terrible guilt. Abigail and John Proctor have an affair, which breaks the puritan rules, and Abigail sees that there is great hypocrisy in the community. In act 1 Abigail says,
‘I never knew what pretence Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by Christian women and their covenanted men…
You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is you love me yet’
A further source of tension is that some of the villagers are unsatisfied with Parris. Putnam complains that Paris wants too much in return for his services.
We can see throughout act 1 that the community is full of conflict, which has little to do with witchcraft, but talk of the supernatural power of witchcraft provides characters with an efficient weapon to use against their enemies.
In Act 11 we see that there is an uneasy relationship between John and Elizabeth Proctor. Mary Warren, (the proctors servant) should be at home helping Elizabeth, but she is at the court acting as an official. There is tension between Mary and John Proctor, as he does not think she should be involved in ‘Hanging old Women’. Mary tells Proctor that he should treat her well because she has saved Elizabeth’s life that day. This is a form of blackmail and she will not say who had accused Elizabeth.
The tension increases because we are aware of the impending danger to Elizabeth. The tension reaches a climax at the dramatic incident of her arrest.
Mary Warren brought a puppet home from court and gave it to Elizabeth. Hale finds the puppet with the needle in its belly. He immediately relates this to an incident that happened to Abigail earlier on involving a needle being stabbed into her belly. He then tells Elizabeth that Abigail charged her in court with responsibility for the event. Proctor is angry at the treatment of his wife. He says
‘I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem, Vengeance is walking Salem. We are What we always were in Salem but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom and common vengeance writes the law’
In act 1 the tension comes because the accused are in a life and death struggle. In this act the tension rises because we see a battle between the superstitious madness of the accusers and rational thinking.
In the court room Abigail along with Mary testifies that Elizabeth had poppets in her house for purposes of witchcraft, whereas John testifies that she never did.
At this point Proctor decides to tell the truth. A dramatic twist occurs in the course of the play. He tells the court about his affair with Abigail, and this is the reason that Abigail has charged Elizabeth. We feel that this should finally destroy Abigail’s credibility, but the tables are turned when Elizabeth’s misplaced loyalty destroys Proctor’s case. Mary Warren’s attempt to recant is destroyed by the force of Abigail and her followers. She denounces Proctor and he is arrested.
In act 4 much of the tension is resolved into sympathy, especially for Proctor who shows himself to be very heroic in standing up for what he believes in. He decides to confess because he wants to look after his family- but even this great consideration does not stop him from being true to himself.
The tensions in this part of the play come from the audience hoping that John Proctor will be saved, and that reason will triumph over mad bigotry. There is also tension because the people of Salem are getting angry about the hangings and are getting ready to riot. This is because John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse are Respected people not like the simple people who have been hanged already.
Danforth and Hale are now caught in the tension of knowing that they are doing things only to keep the peace. For example they want proctor to lie so that they won’t need to hang him. There is terrible tension in the audience because we all think about what we would do in his situation. Should Proctor confess to save his life or should he be true to his principles and die?
A great deal of the tension in the crucible comes from the fact that the society in Salem is a tyranny, which is controlled by religious bigots. They use religious beliefs and biblical references as a way to get what they want, but this situation gets out of control. Another main aspect of the tension is caused bigotry. The people are full of intolerance and superstition.
Everyone is insecure and they are always willing to identify super-natural reasons for their difficulties. It is also thought that anybody questioning the authorities of Massachusetts is launching an attack on the very foundations of society.
Tension is further developed by the conflict between the wellbeing of the community and the rights and freedoms of individuals. Salem was threatened by dangers of the wilderness. An unknown continent containing savage beasts and red Indians.
Envy played an important part in creating tensions between characters. Anne Putnam is bitter about Rebecca Nurse and her healthy family. The Putnam’s are also involved in disputes over land, and Abigail is envious of Elizabeth’s position as John Proctors Wife.
In his play Arthur Miller shows us how new and insecure societies can be torn apart with conflict between citizens. In 16th century Massachusetts civilisation was very frail and people both feared superstition and used it as a weapon to gain their own selfish objectives. 16th century New England was a melting pot in which people’s characters were put to the ultimate
test.
