The language inside the courthouse changes almost with every different characters involvement in the scene. Danforth being in the highest position judging over the case is keen to keep the language in a formal tone throughout the proceeding, mainly speaking to ask questions of and to the accuser or accused. Parris however is constantly interrupting Danforth’s speech in order to make accusations or comment which put pressure on Proctor or Mary Warren, for example when he asks Mary Warren to faint in front of the court to prove that she was faking the spirits in court previously; “Now there are no spirits attacking her, for none in this room is accused of witchcraft. So let her turn herself cold now, let her pretend she is attacked now, let her faint. Faint” This immediately puts unnecessary pressure on Mary Warren to please the court, something that she is unable to do. Mary Warren’s language is very simple and short. She does not want to be involved in this affair and it seems she is not willing to partake in these games that Parris and Danforth are giving her the central role in, because she is terrified and bewildered at the whole ordeal which has put her under enormous pressure to say the correct things in order to save herself and Proctor, we can link this to the McCarthyism of the 1950’s, the basis of which Arthur Miller wrote the play, The Crucible and how vulnerable those people who were accused of communism were and that McCarthy and other members of HUAC could play on this vulnerability in order for them to name others who they expected to be communists.
What Miller does do to excellent effect is keep the pace of the plot speeding along and twisting in different directions all the time, at one time the focal point is on Danforth and his control of the court, then at another it is Abigail and the girls feigning that Mary Warren’s spirit has possessed them. Throughout this extract he keeps the dramatic effect by having many different plot lines run into each other at this point; Proctor’s attempt to save Elizabeth, Mary Warren’s declaration that the girls are putting on a show and Abigail Williams’ and the girls dramatic role-play claiming Mary Warren is sending her spirit out on them. All of these plot lines are intertwined in the court room scene and are exposed in John Proctor’s announcement that he is guilty of lechery.
Some of the central themes and concerns in The Crucible are evident in this extract intolerance, being a society run strictly by a theocracy means that Salem is run by strict laws and religion. Any wavering outside these rules or religious thoughts is unacceptable. Danforth is intolerant when listening to Proctor and Giles Corey’s attempted reasoning and proposals. Salem at this time was intolerant of any un-natural endeavours, just as America in the 1950’s was intolerant of any un-American activities or communists. Acts of search and arrest became known as McCarthyism, led by Senator John McCarthy. Hanging those who were accused was seen as restoring purity to the theocracy in Salem.
Another recurring theme in The Crucible is that of personal reputation. In this extract Proctor seeks to keep his name from being tarnished by giving testament against Abigail claiming that she is delivering her accusations through jealousy of his wife Elizabeth, and by announcing that he has committed adultery through his affair with Abigail. Reverend Parris acts only on what he thinks is best for his reputation throughout the whole play, particularly in this extract when he lies about seeing the girls naked dancing in the woods, “I do not deny they danced, but I never saw any of them naked”. Parris lies in order to keep his reputation, for if it were released that he had found his daughter and many other girls dancing naked in the woods and ‘compacting with the devil’ then he would be driven from his office as the reverend of Salem. Judges Danforth and Hathorne are both unwilling to accept that Proctor is innocent and do not want to admit to being deceived by a bunch of girls claiming witchcraft and are therefore forced to charge John Proctor to keep their own reputations, making the interrogation partial towards the young girls and unfair on Proctor.
The other central theme of the play is the role that hysteria can play in societies. The lies by Abigail all the way through the play and particularly in this extract easily manipulate the judges and the residents of Salem to turn against the accused which ultimately leads to their executions. Miller has linked this hysterical theme to the McCarthyism period in which he lived in the 1950’s, the hysteria led by Senator Joseph McCarthy and his hunt for communists and communist sympathisers in post WWII America and during the Cold War. Miller seems to have based his character Judge Danforth on the individual Senator Joseph McCarthy: both are over-seeing the hysteria of the communities and are leading the search for the accused and presiding over their trials.
