The battle begins with a very simple, but also rather crucial, statement from Francis: “The girls are frauds.” The audience know that this is true, but some of the characters on stage do not. The audience are hoping that Danforth and Hathorne will realise that the girls are fake. They are relying on Mary to give evidence, but the judges do not want to hear it; the audience are disappointed by this. But when Hale says, “I think we must hear the girl,” the audience are exited for the characters and will start to think the Hale might be one of the ‘Goodies’. Unfortunately, none of the others believe what Mary has to say. Things aren’t looking too good for the ‘Goodies’, and the audience are egging them on.
Things quickly get better for John, as he finds out his wife is pregnant. The audience discover this at the same time as John does, this means they know how much of shock it must be for him. Elizabeth will be saved as she is with child, John could leave at this point and win, but he choose to keep fighting justice and to save his friends. The audience are glad that Elizabeth is safe, and also that John still wants to do the right thing.
Next, John shows judge Danforth a piece of paper signed by ninety-one people, as a testament declaring good opinion of three of Abigail’s victims. The ‘Goodies’ and the audience think this is a definite win, which makes the extremely shocked and disappointed when it backfires in them. Danforth orders the ninety-one people to be arrested, which is bad news for Francis as he promised them they would have no trouble. After this, Francis says very little.
After that catastrophe, Giles quickly steps in with an attention-grabbing accusation. He says there is a witness that states Putnam told his daughter to “cry witchery upon George Jacobs”. However this also backfires on them, as he gets arrested for contempt of court for not giving the name of his witness. The audience are taken aback by this, and will be waiting for the ‘Goodies’ to take the lead again and hoping Giles will not get hanged.
Mary and John are trying to tell the court that she was lying before, and that the other girls are pretending and condemning innocent people. The audience are pleased, as it seems the Judges believe them, however this soon changes. Hathorne asks if the girls were pretending to faint in court before, and although she confirms this, she fails to prove it. This disappoints the audience, as they know that Mary is being truthful. To make things worse, the girls start screaming, claiming that Mary is sending a cold wind onto them. Mary denies this accusation, but the Judges do not believe her. At this point the audience are wishing that the judges could see that the girls are fakes.
Just when it seems that Mary and John are going to loose the ‘battle’, John lets out a secret. He shouts, “Whore! Whore!” and tells the court about the affair he had with Abigail. Even though the audience are already aware of this information, John shouting it out to the court would still shock them. The audience know that if the court believes him, Abigail will be in a lot of trouble, which is exactly what they want. Abigail does not deny it, but also refuses to admit it. John tells the court that Elizabeth knows about the affair and she never lies. The audience are hopeful; it seems that Abigail will finally be found out. When Elizabeth is brought in and asked, “Is your husband a lecher?” The tension is high and the audience are holding their breath waiting for the answer. The audience are almost distraught, and John definitely is, when Elizabeth mutters, “No Sir.” This is an example of dramatic irony, as John and the audience know it is a lie, but Danforth and Hathorne do not. Even though Hale believes John, Abigail is getting away with it and Mary will be the one in trouble. The audience do not want Mary to be condemned, as they know she is telling the truth now.
Things get even worse for Mary when Abigail says that she sees a yellow bird in the corner, and that it is Mary! When Mary denies this, the girls start copying everything she says. Usually this is a funny game; the audience do not find it amusing, as it is a very serious moment to start playing games. The judges believe that Mary is witching the girls, and denying it is getting her nowhere. Mary realises that she can save herself by lying again, so she tells the court that John is the ‘Devils man’. The audience are shocked by this as they thought that Mary was on the Goodies’ side. The audience are still hoping that John might win, but all hope fades away when John shouts “God is dead!” The audience are shocked by John’s poor choice of words, as they are very incriminating words to say. At this point the audience know that Abigail will win and John will most probably be condemned.
Act III ends with Hale quitting the court and leaving Salem. The audience do not want Hale to leave, as he is the only one who believes John. And the end of the act the audience are disappointed that the Goodies have lost the battle; they are also curious about what will happen in Act IV, as the battle has already ended.
Another way that Arthur Miller made Act III exciting was his interesting choice of language. He uses a variety of different languages styles to engage the audience, He uses many word and quotes from the Bible to represent the importance of religion to the characters. The audience hear words like ‘lecher’, ‘harlot’ and ‘whore’, which were used in some earlier translations of the Bible – the latter of these words is a rather shocking word to hear, especially in a courtroom. Miller also refers to the story of Cain and Able from the Bible. The audience are shown the effect that religion has on the lives of the characters and how the Bible can relate to real life.
There is also a lot of old fashioned language, the sort that would have been spoken in the seventeenth century. The audience will find the play more believable if the correct kind of language is used. The women are referred to as ‘Goody’, meaning ‘good wife.’ This is the sort of language used in the 1600s and is far more interesting for the audience to listen to than modern day English. There is also a small amount of Latin used in the play to show the knowledge and power of a character. Danforth uses the Latin phrase ‘ipso facto’ to show that he is an intelligent and powerful man.
A threat is something that can keep an audience interested in a scene. Giles says, “ I will cut your throat.” This is a direct threat, leaving the audience in suspense, waiting for an act of violence. However there is no violence in the act. There is also a small amount of humour. Giles gives a very graphic image when he says, “A fart on Thomas Putnam.” This is a very simple form of humour, but it is still amusing to the audience.
In my opinion Act III is by far, the most interesting act of the play. It has shocking plot twists, lies, threats and humour. Miller uses a variety of different techniques to keep his audience in suspense, and he does so very well.
