The Role Of Danforth In The Crucible

Reverend John Hale is the minister who is called in to investigate the witch trials in The Crucible. At first he believes them, but later he returns to the town to try and stop the trials. Deputy Governor Danforth is the judge at the witch trials. He is dedicated to removing all witches. He rules by the law and will not allow exceptions or anyone to try to undermine his court.

This inability to question Danforth fuels the hysteria within Salem. The quote “And do you know that nearly four hundred are in jails from Marblehead to Lynn, and upon my signature” shows his belief in his authority and he uses the quote to create a fear to question him. If people felt they were able to challenge him, it could have ended the trials sooner and possibly saved lives.

Everyone is biased at least once in their lives. Many are biased more often than not. In Arthur Miller’s brilliant fictional play The Crucible, one of the characters is incredibly biased throughout all of Act III and Act IV. Deputy Governor Danforth is biased towards many characters in this book, including Giles Corey and John Proctor. Danforth’s bias and be a curse or a blessing, depending on which day one meets him on, or, rather, it might just depend which person meets him.

One of many reasons the witch trials were able to continue was because of Judge Danforth’s ignorance towards what was actually going on in Salem. When Francis Nurse and John Proctor try to explain to him the girls are deceiving him, he over rules their ideas by challenging “And do you know that near to four hundred are in the jails from Marblehead to Lynn, and upon my signature?”(Miller 179). Danforth is proud to say that he has put people in jail, put people to death for witchcraft because his ignorance blocks him from seeing the evidence he is presented with is false. As well as being exposed to false evidence, Judge Danforth also makes the claim that witchcraft cannot be disproved; therefore the court has to rely solely on the girl’s accusations. Danforth declares, “But witchcraft is ipso facto, on its face and by its nature, an invisible crime, is it not?

As head of the court, Danforth holds immense power. When he was first introduced into the play, one of his most memorable lines was, “You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between” (Miller 98). This quote means that agreeing with the court means that you’re in agreement with God. And when you are not in line with the ideas of the court, you are against God’s ideas and might be excommunicated from the community. And he reinforces it throughout the play when those accused of witchcraft are to be hanged.

A ‘crucible’ is an object in which substances are combined and then subjected to high temperatures. Arthur Miller uses this theme to guide “The Crucible” from the exposition, when Puritan girls danced in the woods, to Proctor’s death by the hangman’s noose. Hale and Danforth are closely intertwined in their beliefs and views at the beginning of the play, but, as tensions and temperatures rise, they begin to separate; ultimately ending with contrary beliefs. In the opening scenes, Hale and Danforth are present in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 to cast out demons and witches. When the final curtain falls at the end of Act Four, Hale recognizes that the Salem Witch Trials were a result of repressed emotions and conflicts, and the desire to express them under the pretext of witchcraft. Danforth cannot and will not recognize this fact. Thus, Miller develops the characters of Hale and Danforth into foils for each other by the end of the novel; the growing tension is made evident through dialogue, character development, and through the theme of pride.

The Crucible is written as a play by Arthur Miller, the play is about the Salem Witch Trials. It all started with a group of young girls that were dancing around a fire at the middle of the night which is considered a sin and they chose to lie about it. After this event the leader of the group who is Abigail started to accuse many villagers of being a witch and john proctor wanted to ended it so he can save his wife from being in jail so he forces mary warren. One of the major reasons why she started to accuse people is because she wanted to be with john proctor in order to that she has to get rid of elizabeth of being a witch.in the the end many innocent people got hanged. Is to inform people of being wrongly accused.

During The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, Deputy Governor Danforth was full of pride and vanity; he considered himself all-knowing and was very conceited toward anyone who may have had any doubt. Throughout The Crucible, Deputy Governor Danforth showed signs of pride/vanity. He was frequently seen in the courtroom. Before anyone spoke or asked him a question, they had to address him with the appropriate title such as “Your Honor or Your Excellency.” Danforth dismissed people he had no wish to talk to and quieted anyone who talked; if someone said anything that upset him, the trial may have ended the wrong way.

Firstly, throughout the play Judge Danforth acts with pride and arrogance. At the commencement of act III Judge Danforth voices his view on the ongoing phase of the witchcraft trials by stating that “Do you take it upon yourself to determine what this court shall believe and what it shall set aside?” (Miller 85). Here Danforth

He again shows clear alliance to the idea that witchcraft is present by subtly helping the group of accusers prove their innocence over Mary’s. “It does not escape me that this deposition may be devised to blind us; it may well be that Mary Warren has been conquered by Satan, who sends her here to distract our sacred purpose. If so, her neck will break for it.” Judge Danforth clearly gave the girls an argument they would then use to overcome Mary’s accusations, and continue their murderous path of cleansing the village. Lastly, Danforth assists carrying on the witch trials by making it extremely difficult to share evidence that would’ve obviously debunk the trials. When Danforth is told that Abigail, the leader of the prosecutors, is doing what she is doing out of jealousy and anger, he instructs his court to gather Elizabeth Proctor so he can confirm from another party that this information is, indeed, true. “Look at

The Crucible is a play written by Arther Miller. This play is based on the witch trials that took place in Salem. This is a tragic story that explores the influences of greed. In this play, greed causes tragedy because greed makes people dishonest, greed let people be ruthless, and greed causes betraying. First, greed makes people dishonest, because Abigail tell the lie, Parris lies to the court, and Danforth lies to himself. In addition, greed let people ruthless because innocent people are imprisoned, family is destroyed, and people lack of remorse. Finally, greed causes betraying because Abigail betrays Marry who is her friend, Marry betrays John, and Abigail betrays Parris.

By all means he doesn't want people to have doubt on him and himself that he sentence the innocence to death. Moreover, he never lets anything slide from him and tae job as a judge very seriously. For instance, it stated in the novel “Be quiet!... Be quiet!!” (Miller 120) In this quote this display a repetition and that words are being ignored or listened. Which means, that his caring his reputation very deeply by seeing the extra exclamation mark . “Who is this?” (Miller pg 92) In this quote it tells that Danforth does not know people in Salem and insecure about his place as a judge. During this discussion in the court, he feel that abnormal tensions and that someone can or will challenge his

Since Danforth only condemns based on how much devilish act comes from someone and not based on hard evidence, he is not serving justice. When confronted with the problem of why he trusts the accusers and not the accused, he simply says that a witch would not admit to it, so he “must rely upon her victims.” A guilty person would want to lie and say that they didn’t do anything wrong, but that doesn’t mean the accuser wouldn’t lie either. Danforth fails to see this, even when Proctor points out that “common vengeance writes the law.” There is motivation to lie and bring people to death because of common grudges, but this can’t be

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.

Explanation 1: Danforth comes into the trials with the mindset that the victims are telling the whole truth. He even said that witchcraft is an invisible crime and the only witnesses are the witch and her victim; “Therefore, [he] must rely upon her victims- and they do testify” (Miller 100). By thinking this way, Danforth diminishes any chance at anyone denying that what the children are saying is true. The persecution of innocent women is inevitable because Danforth holds all of the power and he is choosing to put his trust in people who are deceitful and selfish.