The Crucible Reverend Hale Analysis

Reverend Hale admits to himself that he may have started the witch trials in Salem, feeling guilty Hale strives to save anyone that he can from being hung. After some time, Reverend Hale realizes that the witch accusations are driven by ulterior motives. He feels guilty because he is the one who confirmed that the presence of the devil is in the town of Salem, causing fear to overcome many people. Hale exclaims, “There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head!!”(Miller 131). He believes that because he started the unjust trials he is the one to blame for the execution of innocents. Hale is convinced that if he had never gotten involved then the witch trials may have never occurred. In an attempt to fix the problem he created,

For example, Hale says that “private vengeance is working through this testimony” (Miller 191). Reverend John Hale has fully realized that the witch trials are phony. Yet Danforth does not see that and Hale cannot believe that Danforth is being deceived so easily. In addition, Revered Hale says “I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court!” (Miller 194). Right then and there Hale is completely done with all the lies and the false, vengeful testimonies. The exclamation point Arthur Miller uses at the end of Hale’s line shows Hale’s seriousness. Nevertheless, Reverend hale does end up coming back to Salem. However, his incentive is much different than the incentive he first had when he first came to Salem. He is there to try to get the innocent to lie to save themselves by confessing as shown when Hale tells Elizabeth to “plead with [Proctor]” (Miller 208) to confess. Hale knew that Proctor would not “confess” on paper out of mere pride. It was not expected for Hale to have such an interesting change of

In Act 3 of The Crucible, he is one of the judges of court during a trial where John Proctor ended up being arrested for witchcraft. “Hale: I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court! He slams the door to the outside behind him” (111). Hale said this after not being able to persuade to the court that Proctor isn’t a very bad person as he seems. By reacting to the pressure of the people, he just leaves or I guess you could say “rage quits.” This next part in The Crucible shows Reverend Hale trying to do the good thing again, for John Proctor who is about to be hanged. “Hale: Woman, plead with him! He starts to rush out the door, and then goes back to her. Woman! It is pride, it is vanity. She avoids his eyes, and moves to the window. He drops to his knees. Be his helper! - What profit him to bleed? Shall the dust praise him? Shall the worms declare his truth? Go to him, take his shame away” (134)! Reverend Hale was pressured by the fact that Proctor was going to be hanged and he almost fully confessed himself and Hale saw the good person in him. However, when Hale pleaded with Elizabeth Proctor, he begged for her to take the shame away until Elizabeth pretty much could not do anything about it. In the end, like a good person like Reverend Hale should be when put under pressure, is to try to do the right

Hale has known to be the best witch-hunter, and he's psyched to finally get a chance to show what he got. Although he's probably a little full of himself, his main goal is to courageously fight the Devil. In Act 2, we see that Hale's confidence is slowly crumbling. This is shown when he shows up at Proctor's house. He's there, trying to get an idea of who the Proctors are for himself, without the court knowing. This action is a huge hint that he's probably already beginning to doubt the validity of his own conclusions. When John Proctor gets convicted in Act 3 caused by Abigail's clear schemes, Hale's confidence is completely broken. He quits the court and storms out in anger as I’ve stated in the third paragraph. The transition from overconfidence to failure is already a big trip, but then suddenly Hale shows up hoping to save some lives. He councils convicted witches to confess so that they won't be hanged and for the innocent people who were accused to lie. He's lost all his faith in the law and

For example, Hale went down to the jail in order to convince the accused to confess to witchcraft. To confess to witchcraft would be to lie, which was a damnable sin. Hale at this point believed that life was more important than dying for pride. This is extremely different from his faith in the first act, which was unwavering. He valued life over faith, something he never would have considered before. Hale also allowed his guilt to motivate his actions. He says, “Why it is all simple. I come to do the Devil’s work. I come to counsel Christians to belie themselves. (His sarcasm collapses.) There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head!” (Miller, Act IV). His guilt consumed him and caused him to abandon his beliefs.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an interpretation of the Salem witch trials of 1692 in Puritan Massachusetts in which religion, justice, individuality and dignity play a vital role. These factors define the characteristics of many of the most significant characters in the play. Some of them being John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Reverend Hale, Danforth and many others. The Salem witch trials were a result of the lack of expression of individuality and the fact that no individual could expect justice from the majority culture as a result of the deterioration of human dignity in the Puritan society of Salem.

The play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller recounts the events from 1692 to 1693 in Salem, Massachusetts, otherwise known as the Salem Witch Trials. Though set in colonial Massachusetts, the somewhat fictional piece serves as an allegory for the post-WWII Red Scare, or more specifically the McCarthy Hearing in the 1950's. Both incidents of mass hysteria had taken place almost three centuries apart, however, share the tragic theme of innocent individuals being accused and convicted of crimes without evidence. As well as, how the prior can be caused by economic instability and provoked public fear. The same theme of human nature is portrayed as Abigail, a young woman desperately in love with the older John Proctor, uses the growing suspicion of witches in Salem to attempt to get rid of Proctor's wife, Elizabeth. Several other girls of Salem follow Abigail as she begins to test the limits of who she can successfully accuse of bewitching her, this goes on until she feels confident enough to accuse Elizabeth Proctor. In quest of her goal Abigail, as well as her followers, become blinded by their new power in society, to the point of abuse. This abuse includes the witch hysteria that erupted in Salem due to their finger-pointing of 'witches' and overdramatic acting of being bewitched in court. Later John Proctor, Mary Warren, Giles Corey, and Francis Nurse try to disprove the accuracy of Abigail's and the other girls' claims. Unfortunately, Mary Warren ends up turning on Proctor,

Hale says, “I come to do the devils work. His sarcasm collapses. There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head!!”(121) His guilt has reached a point where he simply loses all inhibitions and does whatever he can to protect Proctor. Hale is the one who attempts to make Danforth sufficient with the verbal confession. When Proctor denies all questions concerning the innocence of Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey, it is believed that Hale is unable to finish his work. Hale makes a petition to Proctor. “Man you will hang! You cannot!”(133) Proctors reply is,“ I can. And there’s your first marvel. You have made your magic now, for now I think I do see some shread of goodness in John Proctor”(133). This statement redeems Hale, although he does not know it. Hale has inadvertently sent John Proctor to God. This is the full realization of Hales holy work.

Quickly after Mr. Hale’s arrival in Salem, the situation regarding witchcraft escalates. Mr. Hale gets sucked into the middle of something which didn’t impact his life personally in the first place. As rumors of the devil spread around, more names known to be “seen” with him are mentioned in the court. Mr. Hale takes it upon himself to visit the houses of those who are accused of involvement in witchcraft. “No— no, I come of my own, without the court’s authority. Hear me. I know not if you are

The Crucible is a play that takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the year 1692 and in short contains Abigail the Reverend’s niece accusing several women of practicing witchcraft. This leads to a witch-hunt. John Proctor and his wife Elisabeth realize that Abigail, with whom John once had an affair with, started all this in order to get Elizabeth hung in order for her to be able to get back together with John. Trying to save his wife’s life John testifies in court about the affair. Elizabeth trying to save her husband, and not knowing he admitted to it, denies it causing John to be accused of witchcraft. John was offered the chance to sign a confession and save his life but refuses to do so as he is concerned over the innocent citizens

The Crucible is a play written in 1953 by a New Yorker named Arthur Miller. The play revolves around the Salem Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts, which happened during the late 1600’s. This was the time period where people would accuse others of performing witchcraft and “signing the devil’s black book in their own blood.” The witches would then either be jailed, hanged, or burned at the stake. It was a very dark time for the Puritans of Massachusetts. In the play, it is caused by a group of girls falsely accusing people they don’t like of being witcher. Miller threw in references to the “Red Scare” and the Communist Hunts during the 1950’s as well, as he was comparing the two events to each other. The characters and events in The Crucible were based on the diaries Miller found, so every character in the book were real people who were alive during the trials. Even though Rebecca Nurse, a wealthy old woman, and Elizabeth Proctor, wife of John Proctor, are separated by wealth, social status and likability (how liked they are), but they are very similar to each other because they have both been accused of witchcraft, and their personalities are more similar than once thought.

On page 1172 and 1174, Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris’ niece, accused Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife, of witchcraft. When in reality, Abigail was sleeping with John for a time until he had ended it for the greater good. Not only does he interrogate Elizabeth, but he soon finds out from her that John had been committing adultery. Reverend Hale proceeds to ask John a series of questions, including having John recite his commandments. John was able to recite all but one of his commandments, which was adultery. When Hale leaves, he is very wary of the Proctor’s, which is when the thought of witchcraft begins to cloud his judgment. Sooner or later Hale begins to want to find and prosecute witches. He is willing to convict anyone that appears to have the devil within him/her. Yet he does not say that he will convict those who were accused. Hale says something along the lines of, “...powers of the dark are gathered in monstrous attack upon this village. There is too much evidence to deny it.” (MillerI, ) This states that Hale believes that Satan has already reigned down upon Salem and that there is so much evidence that the townspeople cannot deny the truth. As the trial progresses, that is when Hale begins to see some hypocrisy on the part of the court. He truly believes that the good, innocent people have nothing to fear because God will protect them. This is the unraveling of Reverend

Literary characters such as Macbeth or Professor Moriarty, while typically portrayed as “evil,” are morally complex characters that view themselves as protagonists, similar to Reverend Hale. In Arthur Miller’s seminal recreation of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, The Crucible, a group of Puritan farmers, landowners, and priests collide in a tale of desperate fear and hysteria. Reverend Hale, is a minister with what appears limitless knowledge of the supernatural, thrust into an event that his expertise could never prepare him for. While Hale’s intentions to eliminate all Demonic presence from Salem appear noble, the outcome leads to the deaths of many innocents and the greater spread of hysteria. Hale creates chaos by placing himself into a leadership position and refusing to acknowledge his pride, but is not a typically “evil” character. When he realizes his mistakes, Hale attempts to right his wrongs and stand against the court using his words to defend the accused as a form of redemption.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a famous play which was written in the early 1950’s. The Crucible is a play based upon the events in 1692, which led to the ‘Salem Witch Trials’, a series of hearings before local magistrates to prosecute over 150 people accused of witchcraft. This was due to the hysteria caused by a group of girls accusing innocent people of witch craft. The play was set in Salem, Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. Salem was a very isolated and puritanical community, so their biggest fear was the devil and witchcraft. A person being accused of witchcraft was the worst thing possible in this society.

Hale said in the play, “It is a lie! They are innocent!” (IV.132). Of course, this would imply he does not agree with the practices being carried out. This change of mindset would lead him to act differently, as new evidence can change one’s actions and beliefs.