Miller presents Reverend Parris to the audience in this first act as a reasonably who is mentally unstable while being very protective about his family. This behaviour could lead the audience to believe that he will do this again later on.
Parris’ language in this scene is sophisticated and short, to the point. This is shown in the stage directions as he is straight to the point and his words are getting shorter as well in his dialogue. Such instances are, “No – no, I cannot have anyone” and “Oh, pray not! Why, how does Ruth ail?” The short sentences show that Parris is not giving anything away to the characters which shows Miller’s use of dramatic irony. We know that Parris has seen girls ‘dancing’ in the woods which could show why he is slightly panicked.
Parris’ language and tone of voice can suddenly change or give a new conviction to a person. When he is arguing with his niece, Abigail Williams, about the girls dancing in the woods and far from just accepting it as just “sport” he thinks they are conjuring spirits and practising witchcraft. “(turns now, with new fear, and goes to Betty, looks down at her, and then gazing off): Oh, Abigail, what proper payment for my charity! Now I am undone.” He is accusing Abigail for just taking him for granted. What he means by ‘undone’ is his reputation. Miller suggests his reputation as a minister is more and more becoming dented by the accusation of witchcraft on his household.
Abigail Williams is introduced to us as a, “striking beautiful girl…with the endless capacity for disassembling.” This shows that Abby(Abigail) is a beautiful girl who can take things apart but this was not meant a literally. She can take peoples lives, families and reputations apart by using her beautiful looks or by some other means.
The actions of Abby in the start of Act 1 as a timid servant to her uncle, Parris, but throughout the act she gains confidence and starts to accuse Tituba, the Negro slave, of raising the Devil but there is no proof of this. At the end of Act 1, however, we can see her “endless capacity for disassembling” when she “wants to open herself to God” and Betty mysteriously becomes awakened and accuses random people it seems, in the village. Abby joins Betty in this and accuses Goody Sibler of being with the Devil. The stage direction states, (It is rising with a great glee) and this direction shows Miller’s quickening of the accusations and the increased number of accusations.
At the start of The Crucible Parris gives a sense of dramatic actions and one that could have lead to all the hysteria. Parris’ stage directions are, “(scrambling to his feet in a fury.)” Miller shows him distraught and such an action to happen so quickly the audience would remember that clearly in the later scenes.
The themes of causing hysteria are when Parris presses against Abby convicting her of conjuring spirits. “(Pressed, turns on her)”, Parris is anxious to know what has happened to Betty and goes over the top with Abby, evading her personal space and with the play being performed would mean that it would look very effective.
When Mr and Mrs Putnam are talking with Parris, they start referring to their own child exploits and tell of murdered babies. Parris is at first shocked and then slightly disbelieving of them until Putnam mentions a murdering witch. “(Parris turns to Betty, a frantic terror rises in him.)” This shows one of the most dramatic parts of Act 1. Miller gives the audience the impression that hysteria will happen in the future. I think this because this is an action that shows a mortal fear in Parris for witches because of what the accusation will do to his reputation. This could explain his actions later in the play and why he is damming the suspect with such conviction.
Miller structures the idea of witchcraft being spread throughout the village very carefully and intelligently. He sets up some characters, Abby, Mercy, Goody Putnam and Mr Putnam, to be gossipy, manipulative and vindictive. They hear a hint of witchcraft and instantly they play upon the this rumour to their own advantage. We can gain these clues by the opening actions of characters and the ‘background’ information provided by Miller. Here are a couple of characters I have chosen.
Abby – “(A striking beautiful girl, an orphan, with and endless capacity for disassembling.)”
Mr Putnam – “Another reason to believe him a deeply embittered man with his attempt to break his fathers will. So it is not surprising to find that so many accusations against people are in the handwriting of Thomas Putnam, or that his name is so often found as a witness corroborating the supernatural testimony.”
These quotations give the audience clues of their darker side in their personalities.
The dramatic action in the first act sets up expectation of an explosive story and plot. When Parris presses Abby and aggressively questions her as well and Abby viciously shakes Betty on the bed. These incidents could lead to there being more of these in the future.
Some parallels can be drawn from the first acts events and events later on in the play. When Parris presses in Abby and she tries to speak her opinion, this happens later on but with Proctor, her secret adulterer instead of her uncle, in the first act. Also at the end of Act 1 the children are causing hysteria by naming random people in the village, they cause hysteria when Mary Warren tries to prove they are unauthentic. The actions in the first act are structured by Miller so that the actions reappear in the later stages, while the people don’t learn from their mistakes.
The language that Miller uses is Arcane, the old English that was used in the colony of America. He uses this old language to great effect to reflect the time and the religious metaphors and symbolism that is contained in Arcane. One such phrase is, “Mark this!” This is a great phrase for people to hear you and recognise you in a conversation.
He uses implicit meanings in the language to try and give clues for later on in the play. He uses this in his opening description of Abby. “..an endless capacity for disassembling.” The explicit meaning of this is that she can take things apart for a long time but there is a sub-meaning to this. She can break more things that are not physical with her “strikingly beautiful” looks she could break people, their hearts and their life’s.
I feel that The Crucible has a lot of cumulative factors that give is clues to the storyline, the action in the future and how the characters will develop.