Abigail now starts claiming that Mary is making a yellow bird appear, and as Mary tries to deny this the girls just repeat Abigail. Eventually Mary finally cracks under this pressure and does what the court would prefer her to do claiming Proctor is the devils man. Knowing that Mary is now back on Abigails side and that he has lost Proctor screams that ‘God is dead.’ Though he maybe saying this because there is no justice and that the girls are getting away with it all, Danforth and Parris take this as a confession to being with the devil. Hale is furious and storms out of the court and there ends the act.
At the start of the scene the atmosphere is tense, as Mary is confessing to the girls pretending. The audience are unsure of who the court will believe. Abigail is a strong character and speaks to the judges easily with confidence. She also speaks with indignation and haughtily as if what she’s saying is absolutely right. Throughout the play she uses this power of hers on people to bully them and influence them. Abigail uses this now on the judges. The type of language she uses is intelligent and clever. For example when she is first trying to influence the girls, she speaks of Indians smashing her parents’ heads and how she witnessed it all. By combining this brutal violence with her dead parents, the audience feel slightly sorry for her but at the same time influenced by her words. This is the same for the girls and Abigail uses this moment to influence them. Mary however is nervous and scared despite telling the truth. She speaks quietly and stumbles on her words. Mary however is a good, honest person. Throughout the play she is constantly under pressure. When the audience first see her she is unsure about pretending as she is worried about hanging, she even questions Abigail about it, as she knows they’ll only be whipped if they admit to pretending. Then she is under pressure from Proctor as he finds out Elizabeth has been accused. Finally she is under pressure in the courtroom as Proctor gets her to tell the judges about the pretending and that it is all a hoax. In the courtroom she is under pressure from Proctor, Abigail and the Judges. This is wear Abigail influences the girls to copy Marys words and it is here where Mary finally gives into Abigail and the court and accuses proctor. Abigail is a strong character whilst Mary is a weak one even though Mary is doing the right thing and Abigail is doing the wrong thing.
Proctor is a strong character also but is also flawed. He speaks well and is respected throughout the village. He is quite confident and knows what he is doing. Despite being truthful everything goes against Proctor he is not as influencing as Abigail. He has also committed adultery with Abigail, and this comes out during the courtroom scene. Knowing that the courts are believing Abigail, Proctor claims that she is a whore. This changes the atmosphere completely as at first everyone is dumbfounded by this information then as it sinks in everyone starts talking at once. Proctor knows that he can hang for adultery and is nearly weeping. He tells his story speaking quickly but is being overcome by weeping and anger, so pauses irregularly. By his emotions the audience can truly see that Proctor is deeply sorry for what he has done.
This idea of committing adultery was a deep sin in those days. If the man was married then he could be hung, and the woman could be hung with him or be an outcast fro the rest of her life. Since the community also believed in god thoroughly not committing adultery was of the 10 commandments which made it a even more serious crime. This point of is being one of the ten commandments would have a impact on the audience as they would realize from earlier in the play that one of the commandments Proctor could not name was the adultery one, showing he still feels much guilt for his crime.
The atmosphere now becomes tense once more, as Elizabeth is called into the courtroom. Proctor and Abigail are asked to turn their backs. Elizabeth is a good, strong character she has never lied in her life. But also like Proctor has some weak points. When Elizabeth is asked the questions she speaks slowly and quietly as if she is choosing her words carefully and knows what Danforth is talking about. She frequently glances at Proctor for a cue. By speaking and acting like this the audience know that what is being said is true. The atmosphere becomes even tenser as the questions go on and both Elizabeth and Danforth are still speaking calmly and quietly. This calm quietness while silence is all around them is what makes the atmosphere so tense. In the end though Elizabeth lies and the tense atmosphere is broken at that everyone begin shouting out loud. Proctor shouts ‘Elizabeth I have confessed it’ but judge Danforth wants to here no more and has Elizabeth removed. Hale despite all this still believes Proctor and insists ‘it was a natural lie to tell.’ This is Elizabeths weak point she has lied to save Proctors life. This is significant in many ways as the main reason Proctor has come to the courtroom was to have the girls seen as liars to save Elizabeth. Now Elizabeth has saved him. From this the audience can see that John Proctor and Elizabeth Proctor are very similar characters and would do anything for each other.
From this it can be seen that Hale and Danforth are opposites. While at first Hale believed the girls he has admitted his mistake and now sided with Proctor. Whereas Danforth will not admit any mistakes he has made as he believes he is doing everything in the eyes of god. Also the intense pressure is only felt by the good people trying to stick by their principals. Two such people are Mary Warren and Elizabeth. Mary just wants the girls to stop pretending and admit the truth. But when she admits this in the courtroom the girls begin to copy her and she cracks under the pressure and sides with Abigail again. Elizabeth feels the pressure when she is in the courtroom and is being asked about her husband and Abigail. She does not know whether to stick by her principals of being good and honest or to lie. Again she cracks and lies. There are many other good characters in the play that are under this pressure and have to choose whether to stick by their principals or be hung. Such people like Mr Jacobs who has to choose whether to admit doing witchcraft when he was not or tell the truth and be hung. Through out the play these decisions have a heavy impact on the audience as they watch to see if the main characters make these decisions.
This scene is very dramatic as many things happen within a short space of time. Though the characters may seem over the top to the audience at times, this play is set in 1692 Boston where at that time God and the Devil were thoroughly believed in. This strong belief effects the audiences view through out the play, as they begin to learn more about each character and how he/she thinks. Characters like Abigail use God and the Devil to manipulate other characters, while other characters like Danforth believes everything he does is right because he is a minister to God. This is one of the themes of the play and is especially used in the courtroom scene. Another theme used is hysteria. This is especially used when the girls believe they are seeing Mary Warren conjure up a yellow bird. The girls with Abigail leading them all start to shout and repeat Mary Warren. This effects Mary Warren as this hysteria leads to her cracking under the intense pressure. This hysteria also has a heavy impact on the audience as they start to feel their emotions rise during this moment. The audience will start to feel for Mary under this intense pressure and they will also truly see the influence and power Abigail has on the girls. It’s as if Mary is almost the opposite of Abigail. The play is full of these parallel characters.
The play was also a parallel of the 1940s, when it was written. This was a time of McCarthyism; this was a time when Senator John McCarthy was obsessed by hunting out communist supporters in America. People were called in and asked questions about their friends and family and to name people that they thought had links with communism. The play is a direct parallel of this. The search for communists is like the witch hunting, with people being called in for questioning about how people have been behaving. When watching the play the audience will be able to make the links between that and the play. I think this can be most clearly seen in the courtroom in Act 3. As judge Danforth is questioning Abigail, Proctor and Mary. People like Mary are forced into lying about people and accusing them because of the intense pressure they are under. This is made even more dramatic to the audience by the fact that this is a direct parallel of what has happened in the 1940s and knowing there is truth to it.
Finally, although the audience would not realize it while watching the play the grammar in the play is another reason why act 3 has a big impact. As at some parts everyone is talking at once, the use of hyphens shows how people are interrupting one another. With everyone speaking, interrupting each other and talking quickly the atmosphere is built up dramatically. In the book all this is broken down by hyphens and the 3 dot convention.
All these ideas, themes, actions and language all effect and impact the audience to create a dramatic Act 3, the most dramatic in the play.