Crucible confession

Tarryn Christison

‘In what ways does Miller succeed in making

the moment when Proctor tears up his

confession particularly dramatic?’

The Crucible is a play about the mass hysteria and persecution, which eventually led to the tragic Salem witch trials in 1692. It was written by Arthur Miller in 1953 and was performed all over America in the 1950’s. It was set in the late 17th Century and follows the life of a farmer falsely accused of witchcraft. The tragic drama was set in Salem at the time of the famous witch trials and gives the audience an insight as to a possible story that may have occurred. The play shows how a calm, farming community can be rocked by fear and paranoia of the devil. The play leads the audience through a time period of around 3 months; starting with the first accusations made by troubled youths, through the trials of those accused and finally concludes with the false execution of a hero, broken down and built up again through the play.

When the play was first released and performed in 1952 it was not accepted by society. This is because many of the people that became aware of the play and its themes related it to the communist trials of the time. The communist trials were trials of those thought to be supporting the expanding communist community in the 1940’s and 1950’s. People were called upon to name those they believed to be communist in front of a court. This had remarkable similarities to claims made by the youths in ‘The Crucible.’ People associated supporting Arthur Millers play to supporting the communist nation. However the play is now accepted as being one of the greatest English plays ever written. This is because now people do not see communism as such a major threat. The theme of fear even has relevance to today. People of today are scared of the growing power of China, especially the USA. China has a huge population and with people working at extremely low wages, products can be made very cheaply. His means that the country as a whole is very rich – even though the general population is not. This is worrying because products from China are replacing US products in the market because they are cheaper. Many people joke of how China is ‘taking over the world,’ but looking at the facts they know just how right they could be. This relates to the play because it again shows how a society can be changed due to fear and paranoia. This shows us how the play still has significance today. Though many now see the play as an outstanding tragedy with outstanding emotion and insight to the lives of those accused in the witch trials. One of the main reasons why the play has had such success in recent years is its fantastic, dramatic ending. This is where John Proctor, tried and sentenced to death for dealing with the devil, formally confesses to his sins to save his life. When the judges refuse to let him keep the formal account of his confession (it is to be nailed to the church door to inform the town of his confession) he tears it up! This is truly a shocking climax that strikes and stuns the audience. Arthur Miller succeeds in making this moment of the play highly dramatic in a variety of ways. He uses stage directions, dialogue and the reactions of characters to achieve this sense of drama building throughout the play. And when it finally breaks down the audience is left feeling sorrowful over the death of John Proctor and truly exhausted over the emotional ending. The end scene bewilders the audience, as this strong drama is layered slowly throughout the play, and fluently increases the emotion held by the audience for the main characters. Arthur Miller successful creates drama that explodes with precision. The audience seem lost in the way that tension that is, so slowly yet fluently, built up it is unnoticeable until the tearing of the confession when there is a sudden jolt of the pace and drama of the play.

In Act 1 there is quite a lot of background information given about the setting and situations of characters before we actually meet John Proctor. For example the audience finds out that Abigail drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife. This shocks the audience because this is the first time that the fact that the girls are not children becomes apparent. All through the scene so far the girls have acted like children in front of adults and like wise the adults have treated the girls like children. This also builds up the audiences expectations of John Proctor, they wonder of his relationship with his wife and why Abigail would want her dead. Very soon after this shocking truth is let known to the audience we meet Proctor. He is introduced as a sinner by Arthur Miller’s notes, so it is thought that an actor trying to play John Proctor’s character may try to portray this in a performance. Proctor’s first speech is made towards Mary Warren, whom we know is one of the girls who was present at the scene where the girls danced and supposedly performed witchcraft (though she swears she only watched them.) Proctor tells Mary to go to his house – she is a servant of his. He even threatens her with her job, ‘Why shall I pay you? I am looking for you more often then my cows.’ This shows us that John Proctor is a firm and boss like character. It is important that we see this side of Proctor first, we will soon learn of his affair with Abigail and how he ‘sweated like a stallion’ when ever Abigail was near him and that he has been looking up at her window. This has a huge effect of how the audience perceives John Proctor at the beginning of the play. It shows us that he is a sinner who has a serious weakness and this may make the audience this that he is a bad character. However the fact that he sweated like a stallion shows that he is conscious that what he is doing is wrong and that he does not want to act on his feelings towards Abigail. This shows us that he is a reformed sinner and that he realised what he was doing was wrong and now does not wish to be in that situation again.

The sign of firmness that he gives Mary (someone he is the boss of) and the firmness he gives Abigail when she tries to re-light their relationship can be compared. We can see from the way that he gets angry with her for trying to be close to him; he pushes her aside. Then when she mentions Elizabeth Proctor John roars at her and threatens her with a whipping. This will show the audience what Proctor thinks of Elizabeth and more importantly what he thinks of his relationship with Abigail. This reveals that he has a certain loathing towards Abigail and his affair with her. He now feelings the need to protect Elizabeth and this shows the audience yet again that he is a reformed sinner and a presently good character. The audience has a perceived image of what a man in an affair will think of his wife and how he will react to his mistress speaking wickedly of his wife. He defends Elizabeth and threatens Abigail with a whipping, this stands out and stuns the audience. Firstly the fact that Proctor threatens Abigail, ‘Do you look for whippin’?’ This shows the audience that he no longer has feelings for her and that he wishes to end the affair. This shows the audience that he is a reformed sinner. This also restores the idea that the adults of the town think of the girls and children. Proctor obviously is unaware of Abigail’s actions in the forest, that she drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor, he still sees her as a child that he has control over. The fact that Proctor does not want to pursue his affair shows the audience that their assumption of the Proctor-Abigail relationship was wrong and that it is in fact Abigail that is encouraging the affair, not John Proctor. This again shows the audience that though the town’s folk may treat the girls as if they are children, they are certainly not.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Miller re-defined what a hero is 1949. He did this because up until this point it was Aristotle’s definition that writers followed when writing a tragic drama. Aristotle wrote that it was only a character with nobility from birth could become a hero. This means that only a character that is a King or a nobleman could become a hero. Aristotle also said that a hero is a character that overcomes a conflict with a higher power, usually the Gods. However Miller wrote in 1949 that a hero could be any character that ‘to secure one thing – his sense of personal dignity.’ This shows us that Miller thought that any character could be a hero as long as he had the willingness to become one. Miller also seemed to think that rather then a hero fighting a higher power he could fight against his own society (which may include fighting a higher power) to ‘gain his ‘rightful’ position in his society.’ Miller argued that the common man could become a hero. He said that he “believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as Kings were.” This basically meant that commoners were as suited to be heroes as Kings were. This completely re-defined who heroes were and who they could be. This opened up the range of different characters that writers could introduce in a tragic play and therefore led to more of this type of plays being written. Miller also defined a hero as a flawed character who is broken down to his raw core and then he is built back up again (in the eyes of the audience) through his heroic actions. This new definition shows us that Proctor is the ideal character for a hero in the play. He is an honest, working man and he has sinned but he is ready to end his sinning and become a true Christian man. We can see this by the way he is ashamed of his sin with Abigail and the way that he tells her that it is over. The audience can now see that he is trying to regain his dignity and pride. The audience can also see, by the end of Act 1, that Proctor is the main individual that may become a hero throughout the play. This leads the audience to forge assumptions of Proctor’s future actions and reactions.

After the conversation between Proctor and Abigail, in Act 1, of their relationship and previous affair the audience has preconceived ideas of Elizabeth and her relationship with Proctor. The first we hear of Elizabeth is at the beginning of Act 1 when Abigail is talking to Parris. She says that Goody Proctor is a ‘bitter woman, lying, cold, sniveling, woman.’ This is all brought about because Goody Proctor dismissed Abigail from her services, secretly for her affair with John, however Abigail says it is because she would not be a slave for Goody Proctor. This is the first the audience hears of Elizabeth and at this point they do not know of the affair between Proctor and Abigail so they have no reason to question Abigail’s information of Elizabeth. Also up until this point in the play Abigail has been admitting to her misdeeds. Again this gives the audience no reason to question what Abigail says. The opinion of Elizabeth given to Parris from Abigail suggests that Elizabeth is mean as she was spreading rumors of Abigail. The audience knows that at the time in which the play was set young girls had many rules of conduct that they had to follow, shown in the way that the girls will be punished for dancing. If Abigail hates a woman so much that she talks of her in such a ruthless manner to an adult then the audience may conclude that Elizabeth is an evil character. This depends on the audience’s thoughts of Abigail. I think that they would perceive Abigail as a bad character. I think this because of what has been revealed about Abigail. At this point we know of her affair (‘I know how you clutched my back behind your house’ and ‘I know you, John’) and of the potion she drank to kill Goody Proctor (‘You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor’). Both of these facts give the audience the idea that Abigail is a troubled, evil character. ‘Evil character’ is supported by the way that Abigail threatened the other Girls in Act 1, ‘I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you’ she said.

When the audience learn of the affair between Proctor and Abigail they assume that the relationship that Elizabeth and Proctor is not a loving one. They would argue that if it were a loving relationship then Proctor would not have engaged in an affair.

When Abigail and Proctor are arguing over Elizabeth Abigail says ‘you bend to her John.’ This makes the audience think that Elizabeth is threatening and has great power over John, this is seen as a very bad quality. In the 17th century the man in a marriage was the boss and the threatening character, to see a woman being portrayed like this is quite shocking to the audience.

Elizabeth is expected to be an unloving and gossiping character by the audience. These two characteristics are shown by the way that John had an affair and when Abigail says that Elizabeth is ‘blackening her name.’ Both of these traits would have been frowned on in the 17th Century, Elizabeth was expected to be quite, loving and obeying as a wife in this time period. This shows us how what others say can affect the audiences opinions. This is very important. If Elizabeth and Proctor had an unloving relationship when John dies at the end of the play the audience would be not quite as attached to him. If he had an unloving and hard time in his home life some may see him dying as a blessing.

When Elizabeth is introduced in Act 2 for the first time she is singing to her boys. This suggests that she is a caring mother, she is singing which is a loving trait. She is introduced as a calm, caring mother making the audience take notice because they immediately think that their perceived idea of her is completely wrong. Her singing shocks the audience because they may have expected her to be shouting and ruling the house as Abigail’s comments had suggested in the previous scene. However there is still some credibility in the suggestion that the character is unfeeling as she has not spoken to Proctor. Her first line to Proctor is an accusation ‘What keeps you so late?’ This keeps alive the idea that though she may not be evil she still seems cold. It will be thought by the audience that if the Proctors had a strong, loving relationship Elizabeth may have welcomed Proctor, kissed or hugged him.

In the first snippet of their long conversation at the beginning of Act 2 there are many more accusations made between the couple, and even if the inquiry is not made an answer is provided. For example when Proctor comments on the stew ‘It is well seasoned.’ Just before Proctor sits down to dinner with Elizabeth he re-seasons the stew without her knowing. This symbolizes many different things about the Proctors. Firstly I think the seasoning of the stew symbolises the couple marriage. I think it shows the audience the lack of heat, passion and ‘seasoning’ that the couple seems to have between them. Also, I think that John seasoning the stew shows his love for Elizabeth and wanting to please her. I think that he seasons the stew so that he can make an honest compliment to her later about it; he knows that the compliment will please her. The audience may feel that when Proctor is eating the stew the atmosphere is uneasy. Proctor’s comment of the stew may suggest that Elizabeth is asking for his acceptance. Though when Proctor kisses her after his meal it says in the stage directions that she accepts it but he is left disappointed. This suggests that though she wants his approval she does not wish for his tenderness. This shows the audience that though Elizabeth is a fragile character (she needs Proctor’s acknowledgment and approval of her cooking) she is not necessarily a loving, affectionate character. Elizabeth shows how fragile she is throughout Act 2; for example when John questions her over letting Mary go into Salem – she says Mary ‘frightened all of her strength away.’

The kiss in Act 2 leaves the audience with speculation over the couples relationship. However it has a much more important role later in the play. In Act 4 when Proctor dies there is another kiss shared between the Proctors. The audience can compare this to the kiss in Act 2 to confirm any variation in the relationship between the couple. If it is even less affectionate the audience will feel that if Proctor dies he is not leaving a lover behind and there will be less h However if it is more passionate the audience will think that the couple are much closer and the relationship has blossomed in that last 3months. They will be seen as a much bigger tragedy for Proctor and Elizabeth to lose the new stronger relationship that they have obviously not had for a very long time. This shows us how important the kiss in Act 2 is.

At the end of Act 2 Elizabeth is accused of being a witch and is taken to the jail. Proctor promises to get her out of jail and bring her back home. This is where the hysteria that the play accelerates. Act 3 starts with the court hearing of another woman who has been accused like Elizabeth. The hearing is very biased and the judge seems convinced in his verdict from the beginning giving the impression that the court hearing is simply for show and that it is realistically impossible for the ruling to be in favour of the defendant. This makes the audience worry that Elizabeth will have an unfair trial and she will hang for her ‘sins.’ We see the first accusation made in the scene quite early on. It is made from Judge Hathorne to Martha Corey (the defendant) ‘I am innocent to a witch. I know not what a witch is.’ ‘How do you know then, that you are not a witch?’ Here we see how a witch is prosecuted, this makes us think of fragile Elizabeth and wonder of how she will cope under the strain of court. Here we also see the power used by Hathorne. He uses accusations to make him seem in control and that he holds the power.

Proctor and his friend storm into the court and the judge sends them out but then goes to talk to them for disturbing his courtroom. Proctor tries to use Mary Warren’s confession to lying to the court to free Elizabeth but soon realises that the only chance of saving his wife’s life is to prove that Abigail is lying. The only way he can do this is by proving that she has a reason for wanting Elizabeth dead, to take her place. Proctor confesses to lechery and Danforth says that if Elizabeth will confirm that Abigail and Proctor had an affair he will let all the accused go free. This will prove that Abigail had an evil aim that she was trying to accomplish by accusing women of witchcraft. Elizabeth is brought in and Miller makes this part of the play a semi-climax. There is a lot of tension because the audience are pleading for Elizabeth to claim lechery on John, knowing that it is one of the Ten Commandments. Miller makes this moment dramatic using stage directions. This is a part in the play where Miller is very particular about where each character is and how the stage must be set out. The first directions are give as dialogue from ‘(to Abigail) Turn your back. (To Proctor) Do likewise. Now let neither of you turn to face Goody Proctor. No one in this room is to speak one word, or raise a gesture aye or nay.’ This series of speech shows that seriousness of the court and also the power of Hathorne. Proctor has been told not to speak but the audience hope that he will do the exact opposite. At this point in the play the audience know that Proctor loves Elizabeth and that he would do anything for her, however they are not aware of the strength of Elizabeth’s affections towards her husband. If Elizabeth’s morals come above her love for Proctor she could tell the court that he committed lechery and in this bizarre sequence of events this could save her life. This moment in the play may be seen as a build up to the confession and execution of John Proctor. These moments may be seen as similar because it is at both these points in the play where the audience is wishing for the Proctors to not follow their morals and confess to a crime. Tension is built up at both of these points, however there is a considerable amount more of strain in Act 4, this is because the consequences are clear. In this scene the consequences are clear if Elizabeth prompts lechery upon her husband, she will save not only her and her husbands lives but she will put an end to the witch trials. Firstly tension is caused here by the pure fact that Elizabeth can not rely on her husband to give her answers, after all it was his crime and she may fear that if she tells the truth he will suffer for it. This is shown by the many attempts that she makes to look at Proctor for guidance. Each time Danforth stops her until she sees that it is impossible to receive an answer from her husband. Repeatedly Elizabeth strays from the subject to try and show how her husband is a good man but again she soon realises that she can no come to a faint conclusion. This is shown when Danforth asks her directly, after interrupting her many times, ‘Answer my question! Is your husband a lecher!’ This shocks the audience because up until this point Danforth has remained relatively calm because he is seen with such great power that no one dares deceive him. Elizabeth angers Danforth because she seems to be more concerned of the wellbeing of her husband then acting in the court. At this point Elizabeth sees no other option then to give an answer and the audience feel that should break her personal morals and say that Proctor did not commit the crime of lechery. The audience thinks this because so far Elizabeth has tried to defend Proctor with irrelevant information that he is not a drunkard and that he is not slovenly. This shows that in her mind she is debating of which answer to give and though the audience suspect that she will tell a lie they are pleading with the play that she does not. Millers directions of when she gives her answer to the enraged Danforth is ‘(faintly): No, sir.’ At this moment time seems to stop because all of a sudden there is uncertainty in the future of all of the characters; whether Danforth will reverse his demands and believe Proctor, whether Abigail will crumble under the pressure and what will happen to Proctor.

At this point Miller restarts time quickly and it seems that in a matter of minutes Mary (a character that had been forgotten in this Act) crumbles under the increased pressure of Abigail and accuses Proctor of being involved with the devil. This is the very end of Act 3 and at this point Proctor breaks down and lets all of his thoughts and emotion run wild by screaming every words that he thinks for all to hear. This is all shown in his last lengthy speech of Act 3. ‘A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it’s my face, and yours, Danforth!’ This shocks the audience because like Danforth Proctor has kept himself quite controlled and also like Danforth he explodes with rage. It is very relevant when he likens himself and Danforth as being both images of the devil. Though they may seem complete opposites (Danforth is condemning people to death and Proctor is trying to save these people) their characters are very similar. They both fight extremely hard for what they believe to be right. This similarity gives the audience hope that Danforth may be lenient in Act 4 when Proctor has pain and difficulty in confessing.

Act 4 has great drama and shows the real tragedy of the play. The audience is drawn to the first time the Proctors properly met and talk since Act 2, when their separation was distinct. The audience are at wonder as to how the relationship will have suffered or been enhanced by the traumatic events. When Proctor enters to Act 4 there is a long description of him given by Miller. One of the descriptors in this paragraph is ‘his eyes misty as though webs had overgrown them.’ This shows that Proctor is truly broken. The audience is comparing his character to the last time that they saw him; this was at the end of Act 3 when he was breaking however they can now see that he is a crumbled and betrayed individual. Proctor and Elizabeth are left alone and Miller again leaves a huge paragraph of directions for the actors. He says that it is ‘as though they are in a spinning world.’ This seems both impossible for an actor to display and impossible of an audience to notice. Miller tries to explain in full detail what he wishes this moment to be portrayed as. Miller explains Proctor’s feelings as ‘a strange, soft sound, half laughter, half amazement’ that comes from his throat as he touches Elizabeth. This shows his disbelief that he is actually with his wife. It also presents Proctor as a form of primate in the way that it seems impossible for him to speak. This emphasises the vision of Proctor as being a broken soul. Seeing Proctor weak and degraded is necessary for him to be seen as a hero. It is said that a character must be broken down and built up again through an act of pure goodness to become a hero. Proctor and Elizabeth start to talk about their growing baby inside Elizabeth. This causes great stress among the audience because they are aware that Proctor is to be executed at sunrise and that the couple seem to be talking as if they have hours or even days together.

Elizabeth is silent when John asks of her opinion if he confesses to this false crime of witchery to save his life. She does not want to influence him. This is the second time in the play where we see Proctor requesting Elizabeth’s approval. The last time we saw this was in Act 2 where he expressed how he ‘means to please’ Elizabeth. This shows that he was true to that statement when he said it, he wants Elizabeth to be happy even when the decision is over his own life. (Pause, for the first time he turns directly towards her) shows the audience that Proctor wants to show Elizabeth that he really does love her and that he feels guilty for his affair and that he regrets it. It is now that he asks for her forgiveness. And it is also now that Elizabeth breaks down. Up until this point she has kept relatively quite but when asked for her forgiveness she lets out a ‘heaving sob.’ This shows that she does not want Proctor to die and even more that she does not want Proctor to die and feels that she still has not forgiven him. Proctor pauses after explaining that he could not die a saint because he is not one, he has sinned and God will not excuse his sins because he died as a hero in the eyes of the village. His pause shows that he needs Elizabeth’s approval, he needs Elizabeth to be ‘normal’ and show what she really thinks and feels and not act like the people of Salem have pressured her to. All of these stage directions inform the audience of how the couple is feeling. The fact that the stage directions show in volume the thoughts and desires of the characters shows why there is very little dialogue between the couple.

However once Proctor convinces himself that he is not a saint and can not pretend to die as one he tells Hathorne that he would have his life, meaning that he would confess to his ‘crime.’ When Danforth hears of this he says ‘Praise to God, man, praise to God; you shall be blessed in heaven for this.’ This shows how Danforth is very quick to accept a confession from Proctor. This is because he knows that the witch trials were not honest and that Abigail was lying. He knows that if Proctor confesses he will keep his power for longer, he hopes that Proctor’s confession will trigger others to confess. There seems to be a sense of urgency in the confession (Cheever hurries to the bench with a pen, ink and paper) this is tries to be portrayed as urgency in Proctor’s favour. This is because it is soon sunrise when Proctor is due to hang but we know that it is because news of Abigail’s disappearance will soon spread and this will prove that the executions were unnecessary. Proctor is awed by their efficiency shown in his stage directions (with a cold, cold horror at their efficiency). Proctor uses accusations like Danforth, asking why the confession must be written. This is another comparison between Danforth and Proctor but there is a startling difference in what the two characters ask questions for. Danforth uses accusations to show his power, Proctor uses them in bewilderment. An example in Act 4 where Danforth uses accusations as a way of representing his power in court is when he asks Proctor if he saw the devil. He starts by asking formally “Mr Proctor, have you seen the Devil in your life?” Danforth gets frustrated when Proctor refuses to answer he sees it as being disrespectful. So, he asks again in a more omnipotent manner “Did you see the devil.” This shows that Danforth uses accusations because he regards himself as powerful and expects that other should too. Proctor uses accusations quite differently. “Why must it be written?” This shows the audience that he feels completely lost. The word must shows that he feels he has no choice in the matter; that he is not in control.

When Proctor is asked if he saw the devil his jaws are described as locked. This shows the audience that he hates lying because his last association with lying was his affair with Abigail. Proctor goes on to admit to seeing the devil but when asked who else he saw with the devils he collapses yet again. He calls the confession a lie. Danforth tries to regain power; he sees the laws as being just and right and will not tolerate any variation of them. He tells Proctor that he will not accept the confession if it is a lie. Proctor then tears up the confession. Parris takes great pain when Proctor tears up the confession he is described by Miller to act ‘hysterically, as if the tearing up of the confession were his life.’ This is the moment that the audience have been dreading and like the semi climax when Elizabeth was in court it is the fear of the unknown. They hope that Parris’ outburst may bring about some change and that Proctor’s life will be saved but he is taken by the guards and hanged with Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey. The audience is aware that this is the point of the play where the title shows how it is appropriate. This is where John shows the purification of the town. He has shown throughout the play that parts of him have been ‘boiled away’ (like in an actual crucible) until the audience see the raw character of John Proctor as if he were in a crucible. This execution also shows how Proctor’s death filter the town of its evil because he is now a true … hero.

The ending of the play is very climactic. It uses the background of Proctor and the earlier scenes of the play to build up tension and strain. Through doing this the audience is also brought closer to the character of John Proctor. This means that by the end of the play when Proctor’s life is in jeopardy the audience feels that they want him to live. This means that any hope that Proctor will live is magnified sub-consciously by the audience and when this hope is broken by events in the play it seems to be a tragedy in itself. This means that the tearing of the confession is particularly dramatic because the audience seems to feel that he is so close to surviving this awful sequence of events.

The ending is such a complex and seemingly counteractive one that the audience is torn of which outcome they wish for. If Proctor confesses he will live but he will be demoralising himself. The audience does not want this to happen because they want Proctor to be a hero. However if Proctor does not confess he will hang, though he will be an honest man once more. I think that the reason why the tearing of the confession is so dramatic is that Proctor signed it first. The signing of the confession symbolises all of the themes put forward in the play; faith, paranoia, legal proceedings, accusations and reputation. The confession symbolises faith because it is to be nailed upon the door of the church to inform the town. It also shows the idea of faith because of what is written on it. It says that John admits to seeing the devil. This shows the audience of what a big crime this was at the time, linking the themes of faith to legal proceedings. Reputation is a big part of the confession, I believe, because it is all centred on the proof. The proof being John Proctor’s name. John does not want to sign the confession because he wants to be left with his name after betraying his friends. It is important to the court to have John Proctor’s name on the confession in case he refuses to admit to witchcraft after the confession. Parris rightly says that it is a ‘weighty name,’ meaning that Proctor has a good reputation and if he confesses it will shock others into confessing. This is all very important to Parris, as he knows that his daughter has run away and that she is most possibly guilty. This shows all of the different symbolic meanings that the confession has and also why John Proctor did not want to sign it. This would also mean that the audience would not want him to sign it; they would be aware of all of these factors implied by the signing of the confession.

Once Proctor signed the confession the audience convinced themselves that it was the right thing to do. It seems like the right thing to do using modern day empathy. People will be concerned about Elizabeth, their children and their unborn baby. They also want whatever Proctor does to be the right thing because they want him to be a hero. However Proctor then tears it up. This throws the audience because they are already satisfied that Proctor did the right thing by confessing; he can be with his family. Now the audience has to accept that Proctor was wrong and by dying he will become a hero. By Proctor dying he is able to undo any wrong doings that he has done previously. Him dying for something that he did not do to save friends and family shows him gaining back his goodness. Proctor is seen as a hero and martyr at this point in the play. This shows how Miller made the tearing of the confession dramatic.

Miller built up tension throughout the play that resulted in the confession being dramatic in some respects exhausting. Miller used clear and lengthy stage directions to show how characters reacted to one another. These stage directions were often very descriptive which means that an actor performing the play could express Millers exact interpretations. This means that the audience could predict (whether they were reading or watching the play) how each character would react to the tearing of the confession. However most characters did not follow their expected routes. For example Parris was in hysteria and though the audience had seen him in panic in Act 1 he was never concerned of Proctor’s life and business. At this point he seemed to be the most affected. This shows us how Miller used stage directions to create bonds, which would be broken at the tearing of the confession, between the audience and characters.

Finally the ending of the play still seems very dramatic even though it was written over 50 years ago. This is because the play was based on fear growing into paranoia in a community. This theme can be related to any time period such as communism in the 1950’s. It can even be related into the society of today (possibly with the growing fear of the power in china) which is why I believe that the play is still so popular and why it is still seen as a huge tragedy; people can relate to it. People could relate to it in the 1950’s when it was written because of the conflicts with Russia and communism and people can relate to it now with the threat of China’s growing power. People in society will always have fears, therefore the play will always have some relevance no matter which time era it is being read / performed in.