Abigail’s behaviour is the main reason Proctor "breaks" but also the petition proving the innocence of Martha Corey, Rebecca Nurse and Elizabeth Proctor didn't impress the court and they demanded the names of those who signed the petition to be questioned. This distressed Francis and Proctor. However Proctors temper flares again when Giles Corey is arrested for refusing to give the name of the person who made accusations to him about Thomas Putnam. Abigail’s plea on page 88 forces his hand and at this moment all the attention is on Proctor and the audience await his response.
The actions and words of the main characters in Act Three are dramatically effective and significant to the rest of the play.
In this scene Abigail Williams has the most power because she is controlling the court through manipulation and deceit. Proctor is the only person who can see Abigail’s corruption. He describes:
"the little crazy children are jangling the keys to the kingdom".
Abigail uses mass hysteria about the devil to cloud the courts logic and reasoning. She indulges in play-acting to keep control of the situation. She seeks to gain power and will destroy anyone who threatens to stand in her way i.e. Elizabeth. On page 88 when Proctor confesses she feels her power base slipping away because she doesn't anticipate it and her first reaction is denial "Mr Danforth, he is lying". Proctor has the power to ruin Abigail and for this reason she attempts to divert the courts attention.
Abigail’s affair with Proctor awoke her sexually and she has power over him, this is where she first feels in control and finds that she enjoys it. She doesn't want to be a "covenanted Christian woman" she wants to run her own life without having to follow society’s rules and feels that she is an exception. For this reason she tries to corrupt the theocratic society so that she can live the life that she wants. In Act Three she shows the full extent of her power over the court and she tries to control Danforth in the same way she has controlled others, "if I must answer that I will leave and I will not come back" this response to Danforth’s question was unexpected and it momentarily shocks him. She won't answer him because she refuses to yield control and if she responds he will know that she’s lying. She also knows that Danforth will not answer back to her so "she turns and starts for the door" this shows the full extent of her power. She takes a chance but when she starts to leave she incites Danforth’s wrath "you will remain where you are!” At this point she is helpless for the first time in the play and the audience would enjoy watching her lose power.
Abigail has been the victim of violence in the past. In the play she tells the girls: "I saw Indians smash my dear parents' heads on the pillow next to mine, and I have seen some reddish work done at night". This experience influences her actions later on in the play. She seeks vengeance in everything she does and she corrupts the characters in the play because she knows their weaknesses. Her actions are significant in this scene because it shows that she seeks vengeance in order to gain more power. Abigail’s actions are representative of the actions of government during the 1950’s. Both the government and Abigail seek to manipulate the system to gain power (through Witch trials/McCarthy trials). Miller shows what power can do in the wrong hands and the way the government perverts the course of justice.
Proctor opposes Abigail during the trial; he refuses to believe her lies and knows that she is being hypocritical. Proctor has considerable influence over the "common man" in Salem. His reputation is important to him and his dramatic confession "how do you call heaven! Whore! Whore!" is completely unexpected. This provokes sympathy from the audience. Proctor is now a known "lecher" and he tries to explain "a man will not cast away his good name". This shows that Proctors reputation is important to him and he must protect it. Miller shows his own morals and ethics in Proctors character where Proctor sacrifices his good name. The implication is that Proctor did the right thing by confessing. It is also a dramatic turning point because he has effectively committed "social suicide" and this becomes the main focus in the trial.
Miller wants the audience to understand that John Proctor has been tackling his conscience since his affair with Abigail. After his confession in Act Three he is overwhelmed by guilt and shame because he has disappointed his friends. Miller shows the audience the hardships faced by an individual to stand up to the rest of society. This idea comes from the way Miller stood up against McCarthyism and was scrutinised for it.
Elizabeth Proctor is another character in the play that faces a moral dilemma. Upon entering the courtroom she is unaware of the events that precede her arrival. She is confused and this is noticeable from the faint way in which she speaks to Danforth. Both Abigail and Proctor are made to face their backs towards her so they cannot influence her testimony. This is a very tense moment in the play because the audience aren’t sure how Elizabeth will react under pressure. Throughout the play Elizabeth does not speak to Abigail but it is at this moment that the audience can feel her dislike and anger.
When Danforth first questions Elizabeth about Abigail, she knows that John has been accused of lechery. Elizabeth doesn't know whether to choose to save her husbands reputation or to tell the court he has committed lechery and to live with the consequence. "not knowing what to say, sensing a situation "she begins to "stall for time".
As a Christian woman, Elizabeth believes that God condemns liars and if she lies her reputation will be tainted. Abigail has corrupted Elizabeth to the extent that she is now powerless and either choice she makes she will lose. The audience expects her response to be the truth and is shocked when she lies. She felt a great importance in telling the truth but she was overcome by emotion for Proctor and didn't want to see him get hurt. She has never committed a big sin in her life so when she lies, she knows that the guilt will follow her for the rest of her life
Elizabeth is put under the most pressure in this scene and she is one of the victims of Abigail’s corruption. Miller wanted the audience to recognise that tragedies happen to good people and that the wicked can often escape their punishment. He shows that when a person has to decide between faith and love, human instinct can often overpower belief. Although Elizabeth wrestled with her conscience before making her decision but she felt that John’s life was more important. Her behaviour is significant in this scene because it is the first time in the play she shows how much she loves John.
Reverend John Hale is an outsider and his judgment is not tainted by vengeance or personal responsibilities to the other villagers, he set out to find the devil in Salem. As a priest his duty is to council Christians to stay on the right path but his role in Salem changes. When he first arrives in Salem, he believes that the devil had taken over and he was sent to save them by using his books "here is all the invisible world, caught, defined and calculated. In these books the devil stands stripped of all his brute disguises". As an educated man Hale is able to quickly judge a good person from a bad person which is illustrated when Hale first meets Rebecca Nurse.
By Act Three Hale sees the truth about Salem and that it is not about witches but of vengeful girls. He learns that you cannot dictate human nature and the answer to the hysteria of the town lay in the people and not in his books. When Elizabeth comes into court and commits perjury he cannot take it anymore. He tells Danforth it is "a natural lie to tell" because he sympathises with Elizabeth and Proctor and he feels a bond with them. He explains that the trials were about private vengeance and not the devil but the court chooses to be ignorant. In anger he leaves the court "I denounce these proceedings! I quit this court" because he feels that there is nothing he can do. He is referred to as "Pontius Pilate" (Proctor-Act Two) because he “washes his hands” of logic and chooses to side with the court.
In Act Three Hales conscience takes control of him because he can't accept Abigail’s treachery and corruption which caused the deaths of innocent people. "I may shut my conscience to this no more" he also feels partly responsible for what happened to the villagers. On page 91 Hale has a dramatic change and he makes his intentions clear for the first time in the play. His behaviour is significant in Act Three because he recognises changes in himself and other characters. He understood that Abigail was manipulating everyone around her and he saw her thirst for power. Miller’s purpose for creating Reverend Hale was to show an individual standing up to society and Miller saw his own attributes in Hale as he was asked to give names of communist sympathisers he had met at meetings. Miller couldn’t do tell the courts the name of any communists because his conscience wouldn’t allow it. Miller stood up to the injustices created by the government as Hale stands up to Danforth.
It is argued that Arthur Millers purpose for writing The Crucible was to show a person status and the impact they made on society. It teaches that an individual’s voice can influence others around them. In my opinion this scene is dramatically successful because it forces the audience to contemplate their own standing in society. It is also makes people aware of other injustices that are in any society, which makes the play intellectually stimulating.
In Act Three, Millers intentions become clear by his use of language. A courtroom is the appropriate setting to play out Proctors confession because of the way it heightens the drama. The courtroom is parallel to Millers trial with the American government and he stood up to them and wasn't "bullied by the authorities" and these beliefs and morals are echoed into Proctors character. Proctor believes that the law and the government is unjust so he disagrees with Danforth and Hathorne "it is hard to give a lie to dogs" because he cannot forgive them for causing the death of his friends. Miller wants the audience to consider the roles the characters played in Salem and to ask themselves whether they would do the same allowing the audience to empathise with the characters. He wants them to question whether there are people like that in today’s society and to make them question the world around them.
The Crucible shows an "awful chapter in human history" which still has an impact on the world today. It shows that “witches and communists could be equated" because they were both victims of the government. Miller wanted to show that society hadn't learnt anything from the events that occurred in Salem and that “what is manifestly parallel was the guilt, two centuries apart, of holding illicit, suppressed feelings of alienation and hostility ". The government will stop anyone who poses a threat to the state (like Abigail). Including censorship of the Arts e.g. songs by artists like Eminem, whose lyrics scrutinise the actions of government. In response the government brands this behaviour as unpatriotic.
The play therefore teaches us that people will always be used as scapegoats by the government because they will always be able to find “victims”. It shows us the reality of alienation and the power of paranoia, particularly in the way it clouds logic. We learn that as individuals we should avoid becoming the “victim” and should stand up for what we believe as both Proctor and Miller have done.
