Hale appears at a tense moment that startles Mr. and Mrs. Proctor, the audience knows this but Hale does not and so is not aware that he is unwelcome. The scene that follows is very intense and hilly with the dramatic tension constantly pulsing up and down. From the beginning the conversation between Hale and John Proctor is rather heated especially when issues of the church are concerned, “Powers of the dark.” It is clear to the audience that both Hale and Proctor are sceptical about the goings on Salem but do not want to show it. For example, when they are talking about the accused and Rebecca Nurse’s name gets mentioned Hale’s insecurity is shown when he says, “ God forbid such a one be charged.” Miller also shocks the audience over the accusation of Goody Nurse showing them the power the girls have over adults and Salem, also displaying to them how the girls position has been uncontrollably elevated, Mary Warren: “I’ll not stand whipping any more!”
Hale begins to question Proctor about the ‘Christian character’ of his house to which Proctor simply replies that he has ‘no fears of questions’. Miller is setting up the audience, at this point, for a major dramatic climax in the scene. Despite his ‘no fears’ comment, John appears uneasy when asked and tries to avoid questions of religious awareness and belief. Miller has planted hesitation in this play, like mines in a minefield; the most are trodden on in this scene and concentrated almost solely in John Proctor’s dialogue. Hale asks Proctor to recite the Ten Commandments to him. His unease is relatively transparent when he begins ‘looking off’ and ‘counting on his fingers’ the amount of commandments he says. Proctor says one commandment twice; “ Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.” The commandment he misses out was ‘Adultery.’ Hale at this point would just look at Hale trying to ‘define’ his character but this in a sense is hypocritical as they are in a strict Christian society that believes there is only one Judge, God. Miller skillfully creates impeccable irony when doing this, as the audience knows that John has committed adultery himself and has his wife, whom was suspicious remind him of the commandment. Miller also intelligently slots pauses, where needed, into John’s dialogue when he is saying his commandments. This is a blatant attempt by Miller to give the audience a clue as to the outcome of his, nevertheless, sticky predicament. Miller’s cleverly structured dialogue and sly hesitation and pause implants make this scene have an excellent dramatic content. This, however, varies to John’s argument for not attending church, before the commandment scene.
Hale, claiming that John has only been to church on a ‘rare’ occasion, “Twenty-six times in seventeen month,” introduces the drama for this part in the scene. The audience is starting to get the impression that John is holding something back from themselves and Reverend Hale, Miller manipulates this to his advantage and draws as much drama from this as possible. From this scene Proctors hate for Parris is revealed for the audience to see. He claims that he sees, ‘no light of god in that man.’ Miller has done this as a foundation for drama to progress as he creates a tension trickling conversation between Hale and Proctor, where Hale is backing up Reverend Parris and John is telling him why he despises him so much. The audience’s interest is kept at a peak with Proctor always finding the right words and previous events to battle Hale. The way that Miller has made John and Hale fight over Parris gives the audience a chance to decide whether a character in this play, Parris, is an image conscience reverend, shown by the insistence of ‘golden candlesticks’ in the church, which I believe him to be. Or the audience can follow Reverend Hale who believes that Parris is a devout, ordained, pious member of the church. This is the first time that Hale is confronted with an honest description of Parris’ so called, ‘ordained’ nature. This is why Hale finds Proctor’s depiction so hard to believe at first but starts to come to terms with it afterwards. Miller has timed this scene accordingly. The audience is taken with the way Hale’s dialogue is constantly interrupted, “Hale: I have no-, Proctor: I nailed the roof upon that church.” Despite Hale’s contradictions John clearly is triumphant and Hale swiftly moves on to the commandment scene. The tempo of the language fluctuates in this scene and has its highs and lows, which keeps the audience surprised, enthralled and eager to find out what happens next.
Following this, Hale’s exit is delayed and there is an excruciating tension build up, with new stones being turned over and essential twists in the play. The audience is gifted with the knowledge that the girls are telling one tremendous lie because they want to modify the consequences from dancing in the woods. Hale is completely oblivious to this fact, which helps add to Miller’s intended suspense. With this information the audience watching the play are left to find out how Hale will react and what he will do. The emotions of the audience are stirred up even more when they find that Hale, instead of believing this information; he starts to become suspicious again. “Why- why did you keep this?” Pauses also play a significant piece in this part of the scene, Hale is constantly hesitating and pausing. The audiences is very confused at this point and do not know whether he is thinking suspiciously, doubtfully and this is also adding to sensational suspense that Miller is building for the audience. This is added to when Proctor tells Hale that he has ‘no witness and cannot prove’ what he is saying. What is Hale thinking? What will he say to this? How will he react? These are just some of the thoughts that Miller is trying to provoke in the audience by adding detail to Johns exclamation. When Hale says, “Sarah Good and numerous others have confessed to dealing with the devil,” Hale believes he has outwitted Proctor and is lead to think that Proctor is lying after all. But Proctor tells Hale that they may as well confess ‘ if they must hang for denyin’ it.’ This also shows and justifies Hale’s scepticism about the witch trials when he enters close to the beginning. The audience find that Hale is shocked, because all his own beliefs and conclusions are from the truthfulness of the confessions that the girls make. Hale’s scepticism from before is shown in the stage direction, where Miller clearly writes, “It his own suspicion, but he resists it.” Hale then has to accept that he was wrong and had been taken in by a melodramatic performance by a few teenage, adolescent girls.
Hale then attempts to convince Proctor to visit the court and testify. The chances of him going increase but he is still at doubt and ‘had not reckoned with goin’ into court.’ Before Hale, who is still confused about the plot, can go he asks Proctor whether he believes in witches. Proctor says that he cannot deny them as the Bible speaks of them but is an obvious nonbeliever. He then approaches Elizabeth with the question. Elizabeth also has an interesting view about witchcraft. She says that if she is believed to be a witch she does not believe in them. Hale takes this the wrong way and blames Elizabeth of going, ‘against the Gospel.’
When Giles Nurse enters the scene Proctor’s views on testifying completely change. He hears of the charge and throws his views out of the window. This brings to light the theme of loyalty; Proctor is willing to allow the ‘darkening’ of his own name in order to save his friends wives. Miller has done this so that the audience draw themselves to Proctor’s side because of the courage he shows. Vengeance is also shown to the audience since Putnam accused Nurse because he wants land, with Mr. Nurse out of the way his land is free to buy. The drama is built up; the situation for the Proctors becomes more threatening. The room is full of conflicting emotions as the scene progresses. The audience find out that the, ‘very brick and mortar of the church,’ Francis’s wife is convicted, which adds an extra layer of drama to the scene. Her arrest shows the audience and the characters the scale that the hysteria has risen to. It adds to the tension because it shows not even the most innocent people can be free from facing accusation and conviction. The crowd is given an even more prominent clue as to the chaos that Salem has been entrenched in. Miller introduces the first actual murder accusation here. This is very apt as the emotions that are being flung about in the household, good or bad, can be directed to the accusation of Francis’s wife. The audience is kept in suspense, again, because Miller has prolonged the reason for the accusation of murder to make sure that everyone in the audience has caught up and knows what is happening, and to slow down the tempo of the story. Miller has thought ahead and by slowing down the story he has assisted the audience in finding a parallel between the accusation of Rebecca and the Putnam’s ploy for land. The disheartened Mr. Francis explains that his wife has been charged for the labelled, ‘supernatural murder of Goody Putnam’s babies.’
So far the audience is aware that Hale can be a pragmatic character because it is clear that he does not believe some of the accusations can be true, which is why he is on his rounds. The puritan theology that he relies on has brought him to be a stern character, believing that ‘theology… is a fortress,’ that the audiences have to decide is congenial or disagreeable.
The arrival of Cheever causes a mass silence in the room. This is done to give the audience a chance to put events into perspective and allows the tension floating tirelessly around in the room to build up. Cheever approaches the household with bad news. The audience must be feeling sorry for him, as the men seem to be friends. Giles says to Cheever, “ it’s a pity… that such an honest tailor might have gone to Heaven must burn in Hell.” Cheever is sympathetic but he says that he is doing what he is told. This shows differences between some of Giles friends. Proctor is willing to ‘darken’ his name in order to revert the charges to Giles’s wife but Cheever is two faced, willing to throw away his friendship with Giles for money that he earns on his rounds. The suspense is built up even more as the audience is now eager to know what Cheever is doing in the house and what business of the court he is addressing. The audience is then stunned on the note that Cheever’s arrival is because he holds the warrant for the arrest of Elizabeth. Proctor, whom has had an overt hate for Hale since his entry, is enraged as he said that Elizabeth was not charged just, ‘somewhat mentioned.’ Hale, however, is just as shocked and proceeds by asking, “when were she charged.” The audience is really interested by this point; Miller has timed and written this section linking almost everything to a previous scene.
We learn from Cheever that sixteen people had been charged that evening and all to be arrested. Cheever then begins to look around the room for any ‘poppets’. Miller has timed this to perfection as the audience is queued to remember the one that Mary Warren had given Elizabeth earlier that evening. Of course Elizabeth will not remember this after all the commotion. The audience are shown this when Elizabeth claims she ‘has kept poppets’ since she was a girl. Cheever persists in his search, as her word is not reliable in court. Cheever finds the one that Mary gave to Elizabeth earlier and refuses to believe that it is Mary’s. This adds to the tension and also is a ploy for an even more terrible consequence. Elizabeth then goes to get Mary Warren in an attempt to prove her innocence, whilst she is away a most unimaginable discovery is made. There is a needle stuck in the belly of the poppet. Miller makes Proctor struggle to find out the significance of the needle. Whereas the audience is well aware of the significance that the needle has as this will be misinterpreted for a link to Abigail Williams being stabbed and are eager as to what Proctor will say or do. Proctor claims that ‘she done it herself.’ But Cheever does not believe this statement because Abigail had accused Elizabeth’s ‘familiar spirit’ of doing the deed. In such a puritan, god-fearing biblically run society accusing somebody’s familiar spirit will mean they are telling the truth and the accused was a witch. The audience does not know this it what it means but they are able to catch on. At this point tension is at a titillating peak and the plot is steady. Hale is struck by the proof and is incapable of believing Proctor’s suggestion. Mary is brought down and is questioned consecutively. Her bewildered attitude as well as disagreeing opposition questioning her allows the questioners to manipulate her words and stutters to their own liking. After gathering the basic outline in all the conflicting opinions she clearly says, “… I made it.”
Her admittance to the ownership and the placing of the needle in the poppet but this does not dissuade Cheever. He is convinced ‘’Tis hard proof!’ Miller has an excellent perception of the thoughts and moments that the audience are not anticipating, his pauses and hesitation in Mary’s dialogue give the audience an idea of how she is feeling and why she is stuttering so much.
When Elizabeth finds out that Abigail is the one who has accused her, she loses her temper and says something that guaranteed her a one way ticket to jail. “She must be ripped out of the world.” Elizabeth, by saying this, has virtually condemned herself, and the chances of her leaving innocent get slimmer. Proctor then gets a chance to protect his wife; this appeals to the audience, as they know he is sincere and trying to forget Abigail. Proctor in a fit of rage tears Cheever’s warrant and attempts to get rid of the uninvited company. Miller has opted for Hale to stay quiet throughout this confrontation to show his cowardly characteristics to the audience, as he has not said anything that he had said to the Proctors to Cheever. Proctor also knows this and his hate for Hale is again shown when he himself calls him a ‘coward.’ This also shows how everyone who is a sceptic of the goings on in Salem does not want to publicise their queries in case the girls, for being too close to the truth, accuse them. Proctor keeps backing up his wife, whom knows there is no point because she will have to go whatever he does. Elizabeth is scared and the audience has now adopted a serious hate for Hale whose words are ineffective and does nothing to stop Giles, Francis’s and Proctor’s three wives from being arrested, he is frowned upon by everyone as a fake. Before she leaves Elizabeth tells Proctor to continue as normal. The audience may be sympathetic towards Hale because they know his religious status restricts his opinion. There are a few main points when hale enters that form the rest of the play; when Proctor claims that the goings on in Salem had naught to do with witchcraft and the arrest of Mrs. Proctor.
This scene is flooded with instruments that create drama, suspense and emotion provoking feeling. The character description is appropriate and lets the audience differentiate good from evil. Miller employs splendid literary skills that keep the tempo and tension levels at unbearable highs. The language is elementary and a lot of it is biblically surrounded reflecting the puritan society. His repressed feelings about the freedom of thought and speech in 1956 are all expressed without regret in the story and gives the Crucible a tailor made, captivating essence for the reader and audience.
