In the opening of the play we are introduced to Reverend Parris, who is praying at the bedside of his sick daughter Betty. Betty had been among the group of girls caught dancing in the woods, some of whom were naked. When they are found there is terrible panic all of which affects Betty. The next morning she appears to be in a trance and cannot wake. Parris sees a connection between this and the evil episode in the woods and sends for Reverend Hale, an expert in witch hunting’s.
‘He cannot find no medicine in his books. He bid me tell you that you might look for unnatural things for the causes of it’’, he prays.
This establishes one of the most important causes of tension in the play. The tendency of the characters to attribute all that goes wrong to the supernatural. One of the many examples of this include Mrs Putmans allegations that perhaps the loss of her seven babies in strange circumstances is due to witchcraft. She asks Tituba to contact the dead to find out who is responsible. The tension in the early part of the play comes from a feeling of helplessness; therefore, many things are attributed to witchcraft.
Also in Act 1 we are introduced to tensions that exist within the community. Mrs Putman is described as a ‘twisted soul of 45, a death ridden woman haunted by dreams’. She reports that Mr Collins saw Abigail flying and asks ‘How high did she fly?’ which shows her obvious belief of Collins rumour. The people in Salem are so self-absorbed that they make up these rumours to make others look bad or at least worse than themselves.
Another point of tension caused in the play is caused by the fact that the characters follow a strict Puritan code and this causes enormous guilt. The rules forbade singing or dancing and people had to attend worship with special wardens who took names of those failing to attend. Abigail and John Proctor have an affair, which breaks the Puritan rules, and Abigail figures that there is great hypocrisy in the community. In Act 1 Abigail says, ‘I never knew what pretence Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by Christian women and their covenanted men. You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is you love me yet’.
A further source of tension is that some of the villagers are unhappy with Reverend Parris. Parris feels persecuted in Salem and indeed everywhere he goes. He feels like he has authority and is insulted if someone opens the door without his permission. He is very self-absorbed and only cares about his appearance to the community of Salem and tries to keep the respect he has built up for himself, but Mrs Putman complains that he wants too much in return for his services.
Throughout Act 1 we see that there is a conflict within the community, which has little to do with the witchcraft, but talk of the witch-hunt provides the community the chance to revenge themselves on old enemies and to settle old scores to do with land ownership.
The tension increase further as we become aware of the impending danger to Elizabeth. She has been accused of witchcraft. The tension reaches a climax at the dramatic incident of her arrest. Mary Warren, a servant to the Proctors, brought a poppet home from court, were she had been attending with John, and gave it to Elizabeth. When Reverend Hale visits the Proctors home, he finds the poppet with a needle in its belly. He immediately relates this to an incident earlier on involving Abigail and the sticking of pins in a doll. He then tells Elizabeth that Abigail accused her in court with responsibility for the event. Proctor is furious at the treatment of his wife. He says, ‘I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem, Vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of kingdom and common vengeance writes the law’. John insists that Mary must go to Salem and expose Abigail and the other girls as frauds.
In Act 111 the tension comes because the accused are in a life and death struggle. In this act the tension rises because we see a battle between the superstitious madness of the accusers and rational thinking.
While in court, both Abigail and Mary testify that Elizabeth had poppets in her house for purposes of witchcraft, whereas John testifies that she never did. As this point John decides to tell the truth and a dramatic twist occurs in the course of the play. John tells the court about his affair with Abigail, and this time is the reason why Abigail has charged Elizabeth. We assume that his confession should finally destroy Abigail’s credibility, but Elizabeth’s misplaced loyalty destroys John’s case. Mary’s attempt to recant is destroyed by the force of Abigail and her followers, therefore, denounces John and he is arrested.
In the next act, most of the tension is resolved into sympathy, especially for John who shows himself to be very heroic in standing up for what he believes in. He wants to look after his family and figures he will have to confess in order to do so. Much of the tension from this part of the play comes from the audience hoping that John’s life will be spared and that reason will triumph over mad bigotry.
There is also tension because the people of Salem are becoming angered about the hangings and are getting to riot. Danforth and Hale are now caught in the tension of knowing that they are doing things only to keep the peace. For example, they want John to lie so they won’t need to hang him. There is enormous tension in the audience because we all think about what we would do in his situation. Should he confess to save his life, or should be true to his principles and die?
John is sentenced to hang but is told that if he signs a confession he will be spared. In a moment of weakness he signs but realises that he cannot be untrue to himself. John is hanged and the audience admire the way that this man has stood by his own beliefs.
A great deal of tension in the Crucible comes form the fact that the society in Salem is tyranny, which is controlled by religious beliefs. The town was governed by a mixture of church and state law. They use religious beliefs and biblical references as a way to get what they want, but this situation gets out of control. The people are so full of intolerance and superstition and everyone seems to be insecure, always willing to identify supernatural reasons for their difficulties. There are also masses of little incidents, which help build tension. Abigail and the sticking of the pins in the doll. John, unable to remember the tenth commandment etc. Envy also played an important part in creating tensions between characters. Anne Putman is bitter about Rebecca Nurse and her healthy family. The Putmans are also involved in disputes over land, and Abigail is envious of Elizabeth’s position as John Proctors wife.
