Characterization Of The Crucible

Secondly, Judge Danforth’s irrationality and ignorance brings about poor decisions on his part. One of the instances where Danforth reveals his following attitude is when he denies to even look at a deposition presented by John Proctor as described by his words “ No, no, I accept no depositions” (Miller 88). John Proctor hands him a deposition signed by Mary warren, stating that

When Danforth, the judge of the Salem Witch Trials, asks Proctor to recite the names of whom he “saw with the Devil,” John says, “I speak my own sins: I cannot judge another.” (IV. 141). By saying this, he causes more trouble for himself rather than causing trouble for other people.

Explanation 2: Danforth allows himself to be so easily persuaded and tricked by Abigail and the other children. He lets his guard down when listening to Abigail because he believes her to be trustworthy: “Danforth, weakening: ‘Child, I do not mistrust you-’ ” (Miller 108). Part of this trust comes from Abigail having tricked the town into believing that she has been saved and it is her duty to point out the Devil’s people, but as a judge, it is Danforth’s duty to be impartial in the

Danforth the judge tried to make all people confess because it is the less people he has to see die. Proctor's wife Elizabeth tries to convince, at first she wanted him to confess since she had already been convicted and therefore he could take care of the children and still have possession of the land. Goodie Proctor still knows there is goodness in her husband John and changes her mind, not wanting him to confess. Elisabeth persuades John Proctor to not confessing with complying with the Devil.

When Francis Nurse provides signatures proving that the girls’ accusations are fraud, instead of looking into the possibility of it being credible proof, Danforth quickly has the signers accused saying “Mr. Cheever, have warrants drawn for all of these- arrest for examination” (Act 3, Page 87). This shows how little he cares about the people of Salem and how much he cares about his career and the number of people he condemns. He even refuses to postpone hanging and spare the lives of John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and others because he fears it will show a weakness in the court. “You misunderstand, sir; I cannot par-don these when twelve are already hanged for the same crime. It is not just.”

Danforth is the presiding judge during the witch trials. He is viewed, by the town, and by himself, as a holy man of God. Because he has more power during witch trials, he allows witchcraft rumors to continue. Throughout the play, there are many times when Danforth is put in a situation to stop madness, but he never does. In Act IV Danforth says, “You have most certainly seen some person with the Devil. Mister Proctor, a score of people have already testified they saw this woman with the devil”. Danforth is using the girls' testimonies as solid evidence. By doing so, he is allowing witchcraft rumors to spread, putting him in a greater position of

Dear ladies and gentlemen of the Appeals Court of Boston: I stand here today in representation of Elizabeth and John Proctor. While it is clear to me this trial has been closed. Hear me out, for the Proctors deserve a second trial. As Danforth was not fair in his justifications of the Proctor’s innocence. He was very fallacious in his reasoning. Which leads to the belief that the issue lies in the way Danforth handled this cases in its entirety. From the way he addressed the people in court and the way he accepted the information given by ones in the court.

99% of women and 91% of men in Chicago were honest when it came to putting a dollar down for a cup of lemonade based on the honor system (Honest Tea). Honesty allows for a strengthening of character along with relationships of all kinds. Being unbiased can result in keeping friendships, since neutrality has been chosen instead of certain sides of a disagreement. Another important trait is selflessness.

Many people in today’s society follow along with the majority because they don’t want to state their opinion. When people do this they are embarrassed to stand out of the “crowd” and would rather just go with the flow then state their opinion. In the play The Crucibles I think there are 2 characters that show this trait very well. I think that Abigail Williams and Thomas Danforth show that they follow the majority because they don’t want to be embarrassed and want to be the same as everybody else in the play. First I’m going to show you how it is shown in Abigail Williams.

Judge Danforth shows this by refusing to reverse his judgment that all the accused were guilty of witchcraft. Danforth is the head judge of the court and a narrow minded, strict interpreter of the law. At the beginning of the play, he believes the girls are telling the truth about the witches because in his eyes, the girls could not be lying about such a remarkable event. Danforth viewed the young girls as victims. However, when Hale confronts Danforth about the unlikeliness of all the accused being involved in witchcraft, Danforth changes his point of view.

He becomes blind with power, and he does not want to see the truth. He condemns innocence people to their deaths without concrete evidence that the allegations are true. Danforth believes what he is doing is right. He does not consider the unjust nature of people being accused without solid evidence, “You misunderstand, sir; I cannot pardon these when 12 are already hanged for the same crime. It’s not just” (68). Miller is trying to depict that power can blind those of wrongdoing. Danforth does not for a second think that he has overlooked evidence. He does however silence anyone trying to prove him wrong saying they should not “undermine the court”(69). Danforth also begins to use scare tactics towards the end of the play. He tells Giles Corey to “sit down and take counsel with [himself], or [he] will be set in jail until [he] decides to answer all questions...this is a court of law...I’ll have no effrontery here!” (121). Miller is depicting the chaos that goes along with false allegations, and how people can lose themselves in the

He is depicted as stubborn, as shown in his response when Giles Corey provides evidence that proves his wife’s innocence. Danforth responds by saying “Do you take it upon yourself to determine what this court shall believe…? This is the highest court…in this province, do you know it?” His refusal to hear evidence that is likely to contradict his guilty verdict indicates that ultimately, Danforth considers himself the final judge of what is right and wrong, reflecting the corruption inherent in Salem’s authority. The authors thus provide valuable insight into the signs and motivations of a corrupt government.

Yet he consistently executed innocent people. He cannot claim ignorance of their innocence either. This obvious when for the first time in the play a character confesses without motivation when Danforth asks, “Then you tell me that you sat in my court, callously lying when you knew that people would hang by your evidence?” and Mary squeaks, “I did, sir.” Yet, this is not good enough for Danforth so he continually suggests that Mary is lying until she agrees that she is. Danforth is certainly guilty of murder but can he really be called the most culpable man in Salem? No, while his actions were despicable, he was just protecting himself and his livelihood. On the day before he hangs Proctor, Danforth says, “Twelve are already executed.” Much more would have been executed had they not confessed. For Danforth, to go back on so many his judgments would have cost him his reputation and possibly his

In the play he was careless, self-absorbed, and doubtful of others. In The Crucible Judge Danforth says, “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for these, weeps for corruption” (Miller 1232). After seeing Danforth’s remarks, you will notice that during the witch trials he showed no compassion and care for these people that were falsely accused of being a witch. This also shows that Judge Danforth believed in witches who were falsely accused, but his prideful mind could not grasp that concept, and could not see the people who were either black mailing others, or false witnesses. Michael O’Neal’s words explain, “Judge Danforth lets his prize catch slip away by demanding that Proctor relinquish his signed confession” (¶1). At this point Danforth becomes more worried about getting Proctor’s signature so it will make him look better then he really is but he does not care about Proctor’s life or if he will die or live. Danforth cares about himself and will do anything in his power to make him look higher than anyone else, even if that means being

In this quote, John Proctor calls out the court for being anarchic because Danforth has not thought to question the source of where the evidence is coming from. One of the most important lessons