Analytical Review of The Crucible

by Don Rey

     Out of pride or out of guilt all people hold back certain truths about themselves from the public, and even from those closest to them. Arthur Miller’s drama The Crucible demonstrates this as an underlying factor. The reader is first exposed to some seemingly small happenings in a seemingly innocent and far-from-peculiar Puritan town. They, as true Puritans, are merely concerned with the strange and unfortunate juvenile misbehavior of several girls in their community. The reader soon becomes aware of the secrecy of certain affairs and the long-held grudges based on public opinion between many of the townspeople. These in part and a greed for vengeance complicate the proceedings of Christian normality. When they call upon external and unbiased authorities, specifically Reverend Hale and the court, the townspeople fear first for their pride and then for their lives. Through these fears, they confuse matters when they overlook truthful secrets and make untruthful accusations of secrecy. Because of original secrecy, they can no longer trust even what their fellow townspeople confess. When the authorities and the townspeople dismiss truthful secrecy, naïve public opinions prevail and they forfeit justice as demonstrated by law and by the Bible.

     From the exposition, Miller first portrays the townspeople as Christians, but humans nonetheless with flaws and pride, while he introduces the characters as individuals. For example, Reverend Parris is a man who fears his name will be sullied if the town hears that his niece has been involved in sinful activities (10). Abigail fears she will be punished for her actions and emits the slightest concern for Parris’ name, whether having basis or not (10-11). Once the reader is aquatinted with a few individual characters, Miller then puts forth the nature of the community. The personal opinions of one another become apparent and mesh together to form the public opinions of the townspeople through gossip and common sentiment. The townspeople see John Procter as an honest man, but not as one who conforms to the opinions gossiped by the other townspeople (27). This establishes him as a threat to the community from the very exposition. On the other hand, the public view of Parris is as an honest, just man who works hard to maintain his position and reputation. These personal opinions are powerful enemies to the secretive truths that come about when crisis arrives.

     Blind belief begins to complicate matters when accounts of the so-called witchcraft are being given. Abigail tells her false version of what happens and first accuses Tituba of forcing her to perform the acts she did (40). Reverend Hale and the others in the room believe her. They are taken by her story and summon Tituba (41). She defends herself by shifting blame to Satan, and the two become apparently to the townspeople entranced in salvation. They then roll off the names of several other townspeople they claimed to see walking with Satan (42). By this escapade, they successfully convince the townspeople and Hale that they have been saved and are now delegates of Christianity. This creates problems in that they, by no means, have good intentions toward their community. Even the reader at this point is left suspicious of where the truth lies. In the beginning of act two, the Proctors and the nature of their household are opened up to the reader (47). Miller at this time makes known their strengths and their weaknesses, which will soon enter the severest of judgments. Hale tries very hard to point out the goodness in Proctor’s ways as well as in the ways of everyone. In this, he strengthens reputations and credibility. He deals with public opinion and public truths. On the other hand the court, entering first as Francis Nurse, Ezekial Cheever, and Marshal Herrick, consistently points out the flaws in everyone but the girls. It tears down reputations and credibility, scavenging for secrets and trying to ruin pride.

     The crisis arrives when nearly the entire town is either involved in or witness to the trial. It is now that pride is so nearly destroyed that it almost ceases to be a factor. The people involved unveil their secrets one after another. Giles’ makes his secret knowledge of his wife’s books known for the second time, but for the first time to Deputy Governor Danforth (79). This puts the first question of the accused witches’ guilt in the mind of Danforth. It also sets the tone for the crisis in this play; a tone of despair and hostility. It is the despair that diminishes pride, and the result of this and threatened lives that creates hostility. The next confession of secrecy is Mary Warren’s confession that her acts were pretense (82). With each secret unveiled, Danforth feels his dignity and credibility is threatened. In this manner alone, secrecy is battling public opinion. Danforth fears not for pride so much as for credibility in his judgment, which is very important to him as Governor. After this, Proctor’s flaws are examined in that he goes to church but once a month, sometimes plows on Sunday, and opposes the teachings of Parris, a well-respected reverend. The revelation of Mrs. Proctor’s pregnancy establishes the court’s respect for her credibility (85). Her inability to lie is mentioned once more before Proctor’s most sacred secret is unveiled. It is, however, dismissed when Mrs. Proctor hides it unaware that it was made public. She is also not aware that John Proctor’s pride at this point is virtually gone. His last hope is for justice and the freedom of his wife and those of his friends.

     The climax occurs when Proctor gives the two depositions to Danforth and the courtroom erupts into chaos. Abigail denies Mary Warren’s deposition in its entirety and leads the girls in a trance supposedly invoked by Mary Warren. Abigail manages to redeem herself once again by accusing satanic acts of bewitching them even in the courtroom (106). Through this chaos, all public opinions are destroyed, and all secret truths are overlooked. Proctor’s dignity is gone in the eye of the townspeople, and he sees now that he must rebuild it, at least in the eyes of God. Parris, who made it common to dispute everything which Proctor had to say, had no longer a grasp of what he believed or what to make of the situation. He gives up debating Proctor and now only wants to know what is happening (109). Dansforth took the side of the girls who seemed to him to be the only ones left with any credibility, though uncertain credibility. This credibility lying in the "ipso facto," or the invisible by nature, as he denotes it (93). Even his own credibility was questioned by Parris, Proctor, and himself. Hale now tosses aside his credibility in saying "I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court!" He wants nothing to do with what has happened, and is "washing his hands" of these happenings as Proctor had made the analogy to Pontius Pilate earlier (73, 110). Pride has been crushed, credibility dismantled, Public opinions thrown out and forgotten, and secret truths put forward but dismissed.

     In the resolution, Miller even diminishes Herrick’s credibility when he drinks almost to the point of drunkenness. Hale now abandons all of his previous reservations and simply attempts to bring those on death row to the Lord and possibly to a saving confession. Parris does nearly the same and helps out with Hale’s ministry. Few of the accused confess because they wish to maintain their credibility at least to God. They want to die as saints rather than stoop to a sinful confession, even if the price is their lives. The new public opinion of them has been set by the outcome of the trial, and in essence by Danforth and the court. They are now seen undoubtedly as witches who, by confession, will be opening themselves back up to God again. The most notable struggle with the question of sainthood or sinful confession is in Procter. He knows the right thing toward God would be to confess only to being innocent. However, he knows that if he confesses guilt to the court, he will be set free and not be hanged. He looks to his wife Elizabeth for an answer first, but she does not provide one. She wants him to live, but she wants him to be right in the eyes of God as well. Hale tells him to give up his pride and save his life. It is not his pride, however, that he is saving. Public opinion no longer matters to him, but it is the fact that he is innocent, which has become a private truth, that keeps him from confessing to guilt. He confesses verbally, but cannot use his name. In a final crisis, he finds pleasing God instead of the people is the only way he can rebuild his credibility at least for himself and those who know of his innocence. He is hanged a martyr.

     Public opinion and private truths play a major conflicting role in Miller’s play. From beginning to end, they are in constant struggle. Because private truths are dismissed by the townspeople in general, true justice is forfeited to please the public opinion of the people. It is the private truth of innocence, again dismissed by the court that sends Proctor and his colleagues and the other wrongly accused witches and wizards to their death by the noose.

Works Cited

Miller, Arthur. "The Crucible." NY: Penguin Books, 1995