Between the very start of the play and the very end, there is quite a change in Samuel Parris’ character so our feelings towards him change also. As a member of an audience first watching the play, I would have no idea of the characteristics of Parris, which are described above, so when Parris first appears I am not biased towards him, and, in fact pity him as he kneels helplessly at the bedside of his daughter, although this feeling does not last long.
We can see through Parris’ actions throughout the play that he is actually quite a foolish man. Although it is obvious that there are many others who can be blamed for the start of the witch-hunts in Salem, Samuel Parris is to blame on many occasions. For instance, his inability to handle the situation, the dancing in the woods, where he found his daughter, niece and other young girls in the wood, doing what he thought to be conjuring spirits, and Betty’s state of unconsciousness. Parris could have handled the situation with humour, realising that such young girls were most probably unable to conjure spirits, and that Betty may have reacted like she did out of fear and hysteria. In this scene we find that Parris is very selfish as he cares more for his reputation than for the well being of his only daughter. He says that he does not wish to leap to withcraft for the cause of Betty’s state when he says, “Let him look to medicine and put out all thought of unnatural causes here. There be none.” We believe that he is worried about his daughter and does not wish to let himself believe that there might be some evil presence with a hold on Betty, but it soon becomes apparent that he is only worried about his reputation and how his enemies will try and use Betty’s condition against him, “Now look you child, your punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it.”
Parris can also be quite cruel. Instead of bringing up his niece Abigail as a cherished member of his family, he sends her out to work as a maid to the families of the village. Because of this, and all the previous discoveries made about Parris, it is easy for the audience to start to see his character differ from how it was at the very start of the play. We start to resent Parris, and start to see the cunning and selfish character of Parris, as described in Arthur Miller’s introduction to the play.
One action that proves just how prone to act before thinking Parris is, is when he calls for Reverend Hale of Beverly, an expert in seeking out unnatural presences, although he has already stated that he does not want to look to unnatural causes to find the source of Betty’s condition. He then progresses to tell Mr Hale that he caught the girls in the woods conjuring spirits, “Why, sir-I discovered her and my niece and ten or twelve of the other girls, dancing in the forest last night.” There was absolutely no need for Parris to have told Hale that. If he had not told him then Hale would have eventually have had to come to some conclusion about what was wrong with Betty and even if he did say it was to do with the unnatural world, Samuel Parris, nor any of the girls could be held responsible. It is doubtful that any of the girls would have confessed it themselves as the other girls threatened those who came close to telling. Later on in the play, Parris realises this early mistake he has made even though by now it is too late to save himself.
After Hale eventually manages to get the girls to confess to have conjured spirits, we see a great change in Parris’ views towards witchcraft. He no longer wishes to stay away from the possibility of unnatural causes; in fact he does all he can to put all the blame on it when he finds that he can use it to his advantage.
Parris seems to find it his responsibility to make matters worse for anyone accused of witchcraft, as with anyone who’s testament may stand in the way of him achieving what he wants. As the girls make wild accusations about the poor innocent members of the Salem community, Parris makes senseless claims that make it seem like the girls are telling the truth. He does the same with anyone who tries to defend someone he has accused. He does this solely for his own benefit. Take for example when, in Act three, Judge Danforth asks John Proctor, “Now, what deposition do you have for us, Mr Proctor?” to which Proctor replies “It’s a sort of testament. The people signing it declare their good opinion or Rebecca, and my wife, and Martha Corey.” Parris tries to enforce doubt into the minds of those present by questioning the validity of his argument, “Their good opinion!” though thankfully, he does this to no avail.
Parris’ character stays pretty much the same throughout the duration of the play. He continues to ruin people’s lives. He is quite wise as he is able to manipulate people’s words to make it sound as if they are confessing to have trafficked with the devil.
Nearing the end of the play, when John Proctor has been accused of witchcraft and is to be hanged, Parris’ character changes somewhat. Prior to the accusation against Proctor, Parris has slandered John Proctor and Giles to judge Danforth so that they will not be believed because he knows that if they are, it will look bad on his part. Soon after Proctor is accused, the people of Salem, who had always applauded the execution of ‘witches’, realised that the innocent were being killed. They chose to take out their anger on Parris and he received death wishes, one being a dagger in his door. This is what brings on the peculiar difference in his character. With his vain attempts, he tries to get Proctor to admit to witchcraft although he knows he’s not guilty of it. Parris’ reason for doing this is clear to the audience, and our beliefs that he is a selfish man are confirmed.
There are also many others who can be blamed for the Salem witch-trials. One other is Abigail Williams. I think that Abigail is the main, and close to being the only cause of the witch hunts in Salem. In comparison to all the other characters that I will describe, she is relatively young, yet she seems to be the wisest in the art of corruption and deceit. As with every character in the play, as a member of the audience I know nothing about Abigail’s character other done what she shows through how she portrays herself on stage. Because of this, when we first meet Abigail’s character, we have no previously existing feelings towards her.
We first see Abigail when she has just entered the bedroom of her cousin Betty, who lies inert on her bed after the shock of being caught dancing in the woods. Her character seems to be gentle and caring. We soon learn that she is not so innocent because of two things she does, or has done. The first is the news of the cruel deed that she is supposed to have committed against Elizabeth Proctor, as Parris says “Abigail, is there any other cause than you have told me, for your being discharged from Goody Proctor’s service…she comes so rarely to church this year for she will not sit so close to something soiled. What signified that remark?” By the way that she responds to this, it is simple to see that she is very aware of how she feels about people, and cares nothing about the respect she should show them, through what she says, “She hates me, uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave. It’s a bitter woman, a lying, cold, snivelling, woman, and I will not work for such a woman!” The second is the change in attitude she has towards Betty. She claims that she will never do anything to harm Betty, “I would never hurt Betty. I love her dearly.” But as soon as Parris has left the room, we see that she is conniving and all that she said whilst Parris was in the room was an act.
Immediately we grow to resent Abigail as we have seen her for just a short while, yet she has already been deceitful to someone that she should have great respect for. Abigail, in fact, has no real care for Betty. Her only care is that Betty does not land her in trouble. Once Parris has left the room, Abigail becomes more aggressive in her attempts to get Betty out of her unconscious state, “Betty? Now stop this! Betty! Sit up now!”
Abigail is a person who easily intimidates her peers. I personally think that the other girls allow her to be so dominant over them as they think that she has no fear of anyone because of what happened to her parents, “…I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine, and I have seen some reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!”
There is much that can be said about Abigail, and her contribution to the evil in Salem. As Mary Warren tells her early on in the play, all Abigail has to do, to save her own, and many others lives, is admit to having had danced in the woods. If she had been straight with Parris and told him everything that went on in the woods – instead of blaming it on Tituba – then she, along with the other girls who participated, would have only been whipped for their dancing.
When Abigail and Proctor are first seen together in Betty’s room, we see once more the lack of Abigail’s innocence as we find out about the pairs brief encounter, “Give me a soft word, John. A soft word.” The manner in which Abigail talks to Proctor is not of that of a child, so any beliefs that we assumed about the innocence of her character are dashed.
When Reverend Hale first arrives and begins to question Abigail, she is frightened of the thought of being caught, and then when Hale simply asks if she was forced into it by Tituba, she finds a useful way of shifting the blame away from her, and onto someone that she herself knows is entirely innocent. Because of this our feelings towards Abigail change dramatically. Not only has her character lost its innocence, but it has also gained a streak of deceit, cruelty, and cowardice.
Out of pure fear for her life, Tituba confesses to having had conjured spirits, but when Abigail joins her in confessing, it is done purely to alleviate her from the guilt of letting Tituba take all the blame. The fact that the other girls soon join in after Abigail either symbolises the same thing it did with Abigail or just shows how much power Abigail expresses other them.
Because of the fact that Tituba is supposed to be a cherished friend of all the girls, how easily the girls can blame her comes as a shock, and just shows how far from kind the girls are.
Unknowingly the adults actually fuel the start of the witch-hunts as they feed the girls with names of people that can be held liable of committing the ‘crime’. However, Abigail is fully aware of what the adults are doing and uses it to her advantage. The other girls follow Abigail, but only out of the hysteria.
This event helps to inspire Abigail. Throughout the rest of the play, Abigail uses this technique to claim that she saw people with the devil. She is believed by the court officials because, as judge Danforth says, “…witchcraft is ipso facto, on its face and by its nature, an invisible crime, is it not? Therefore, who may possibly be witness to it? The witch and the victim.” As I have already stated, Abigail is clever and it does not take her long to realise that she can blame people that she wishes to take revenge on, whatever the reason may be. For example, Abigail accuses Elizabeth Proctor because she wants her out of the way so that John Proctor will return to her.
Abigail seems heartless as she jeers when she sees people that she knows are innocent being hanged. For this reason, and many others that I have described, including her infatuation with John Proctor, I blame Abigail for the Salem witch-trials. She contributed more than most of the others.
Although it is not his fault, John Hale can be blamed for the conviction of people accused of witchcraft. However, John Hale did not contribute much to the evil.
Through all of his actions, John Hale acts honestly and is genuinely convinced that the people are possessed. Hale is a minister who specialises in ascertaining witchcraft. He is convinced that he can tell if a person is possessed, and does not mean to cause any harm when he uses his ‘gift’ to convince people to confess to trafficking. The accused know that confession is the only way of staying alive, but, at this moment, Hale is oblivious to it. Fortunately, Hale realises what is going on, after he is confronted by Proctor when he speaks of how many have confessed to witchcraft, “…why not, if they must die for denyin’ it? There are them that will swear to anything before they’ll hang: have you never thought of that?” Hale is truly remorseful and from that point on, does everything in his power to resolve the situation. But, with Hales case, although he does nothing to promote it, it shows how much image overpowers common sense. Hale brings with him weird books and he is thought of as a great healer, whereas Giles Corey’s wife is hanged for reading books that could have been just like Hales.
Compared to most of the other characters, the Putnams played a relatively small part in their contribution. In these times, it was thought that if a child died young it was the mother’s failure as a woman. Ann has had seven of her eight children die at a young age and is ashamed of what the townspeople must think of her. Because of this we pity her. When Goody Osburn is blamed, Ann is relieved and is quick to find that she can now use Goody Osburn as the reason her children died, as she states, just after Goody Osburn is charged, “I knew it! Goody Osburn were midwife to me three times. I begged you, Thomas, did I not? I begged him not call Osburn because I feared her. My babies always shrivelled in her hands!”
Unlike Ann, Thomas Putnam does not act out of grief, but out of greed. For this reason, we don’t pity Thomas, and, in fact, feel resentment towards him, as he is heartless. He feels absolutely no guilt or remorse in falsely testifying in court about someone that he wants something from. For instance, Thomas Putnam convinces his daughter Ruth to cry witchery on George Jacobs so that he will be arrested, as it is obvious that such a man will not admit to working with unnatural spirits. This was because the law on witchcraft was, if someone was executed after being accused of witchery, but does not admit to it, then their land becomes state property, which means that anyone can buy it. Giles Corey realises that Putnam is acting out of greed and heads straight to court, in an attempt to overthrow the court, as Danforth questions Putnam “I have here an accusation by Mr Corey against you. He states that you coldly prompted your daughter to cry witchery upon George Jacobs that is now in jail.”
John Proctor can also be blamed because from the start, he could have brought the situation to a halt if he had not been such a coward. From the start, Elizabeth tries to tell John Proctor of the dangers of Abigail but he does not seem to grasp just how dangerous the situation might become, until it is too late.
When John Proctor and Abigail Williams are first alone together, it is obvious to see that he quite obviously has feelings for her still, although he tries to deny it. This may be another reason for Proctor not telling the courts about Abigail: he does not want to admit to himself that someone he had feelings for would be capable of such evil. Another could be because of his family name. Proctor is a farmer and his name has always been associated with good in the town, he does not want to tarnish it. Proctor’s cowardice is what prevents him from stopping the situation. On many occasions he is in court, but not charged, and has the opportunity to tell the judges but his own pride prevents that. It is not until Elizabeth is charged, and he sees how she has been accused (Abigail claims that Elizabeth made a voodoo doll in which she stuck a needle in its stomach – in truth Mary made it - then goes to the court officials with a needle imbedded two or three inches in her own stomach) that he realises how dangerous Abigail is.
At the end of the play, Proctor’s reasons for not admitting to lechery become clear when he refuses to sign a written copy of his admission to being a witch, he does not want to ruin his children’s future, “I have three children – how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?” and feels guilt towards those who hang for not admitting to lies, “…it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang!”
Lastly, there are the Court Officials. Although they do not come in until late in the play, they do the most damage as they have the deciding voice, especially Judge Danforth. From the beginning, the judges should have taken on the situation with a different approach and the ordinary people of Salem who were called to be court officials should not have so readily sold out their friends. The first of the court officials appears late into Act 2. When Hale goes to see the Proctor’s, he has no sense of evil in him and actually hopes that he can gather enough evidence to prove Elizabeth’s innocence, but it all goes wrong when John Proctor seems to forget one of the ten commandments and Hale takes offence, “Theology, sir, is a fortress; no crack in a fortress may be accounted small”. From this point on, everything seems to grow worse as, subconsciously, Hale becomes suspicious of Elizabeth’s innocence, and, along with the fact that the Proctors have not been in church for some time and only two of their three children have been baptised, it is obvious that Hale will have a bad review about the pair and will not hesitate to tell the judges the absolute worst about them.
When Rebecca Nurse, whose name, if not for this case, has never been associated with anything other than good, is charged, it seems plain that the judges should begin to suspect that the girls are up to something, although this would be obviously very prejudiced, if they only thought the girls may be dishonest once someone they like and know to be good is charged. However, they foolishly continue to full-heartedly support the girls and their accusations. Out of all of the Court Officials, Judge Hathorne and Judge Danforth are the ones who very often acted out of evil.
When Martha Corey is accused after her, kind but daft husband tells Hale that she has been reading strange books and he cannot pray when she reads them, Judge Hathorne is shown to be truly evil. He manipulates the fact that she claims she does not know what a witch is to make her seem guilty, “How do you know, then, that you are not a witch?” When Giles bursts in claiming to have evidence that will prove his wife’s innocence, Hathorne and Danforth are fast to silence him. If they had been good men then they would have gone out of their way to first calm Corey from his hysterical state then carefully listen to his evidence, instead of trying to remove him from the court. Judge Hathorne suggests that Giles be arrested for attempting to overthrow the court so that it does not reflect badly on them that they almost executed an innocent woman. In this though, Danforth does not seem so cold as he does offer Giles the opportunity to have a hearing for his evidence.
By this time, Hale has realised how wrong the court is and is on the side of the people when they plead with Danforth that they be heard. In this, there are many points where it seems that Danforth is beginning to soften and consider their evidence when either Hathorne, or Parris will make some sort of comment to prevent him from doing so.
When it come Mary’s turn to speak, Parris and Hathorne have convinced him enough and he purposely phrases questions, so that whatever her response be, it reflects badly on her.
As the scene progresses, Francis gives Danforth a deposition of people who do not believe that Rebecca, Elizabeth or Martha Corey are guilty. There are ninety-one who have signed it and Parris tries to claim that it is an attack upon the court, which angers Hale when he says, in a fit of rage, “Is every defence an attack upon the court?” and, for a moment it seems that Danforth agrees, “It is not necessarily an attack, I think.” But that soon fades when he agrees with Hathorne that the people be summoned for examining. Also, Danforth purposely has the rest of the girls brought into court when Mary wants to confess, ‘cause in his head he knows that she will be intimidated and so her answers will be influenced. And the girls do just that. They turn on Mary and claims she sends her spirit out on them. Eventually, Mary cannot take anymore and she turns on Proctor, claiming he made her come to the court to overthrow it. Hale realises what is going on and tries to convince all the others that Mary just acting out of fear but he fails, and John Proctor is accused of witchcraft.
In the last scene in the whole play, when Proctor is to be hanged, Danforth makes him sign a written copy of his confession so that he can hang it on the church door. Proctor signs it, but then refuses to have his name hung on the church that he built, with so many people feeling disgust with him. Also, seeing the others that are to hang influences his confession as he feels guilt for letting the others die by not submitting to lies. He pleads with Danforth to leave things as they were, saying his confession by mouth was enough, but Danforth will not accept anything unless it be written and signed. Danforth is heartless in doing this, as he knows the confession is not necessary, for he has not taken a confession from anyone else.
