The Crucible

In this act I will be examining the dramatic importance of Act 3.

Act 3 takes place in court. In acts 1 and 2 the puritan New England town of Salem, Massachusetts had been turned upside down by the accusations made by a group of young girls who consistently claim that certain people in the village had been involved in witchcraft. However unknown to some of the villagers this is merely a ploy to conceal their guilt as it was them who were conjuring spirits in the woods.

I think it is a key scene as it shows many of the dramatic devices and the decisions made affect so many peoples fate.

Set during the Salem witch trials at the end of the 17th century, the crucible is written as a critique of the extremes and evils of McCarthyism. The play offers an insight of a society consumed by paranoia, in which the problem of doing good in the face of evil becomes a matter of life and death. The Puritans were Protestant dissenters of the state-run Church of England, who fled to America to avoid religious persecution.

This act takes place in a courtroom, this sets the act dramatically because the courtroom is the focal point of all decisions. Courtrooms in general represent the battle between good and bad but in this play the courtroom has been tainted by lies and corruption. The courtroom can also be deemed as a place of theatrical display as the judges and those on trial represents actors and the onlookers in the court resemble an audience. The courtroom is an enclosed space to be in as there is no way to abscond.

Act 3 commences with the intense questioning of Martha Corey by Judge Hanthorne. Martha repeatedly objects to the accusations, insisting that she is

"innocent to a witch" and "knows not what a witch is."

"How do you know then that you are not a witch." This reply from Judge Hanthorne was irrational and questions the credibility of the court. Judge Hanthorne also threatens to have Giles Corey arrested on the basis of disturbing the court, this was ridiculous as Giles was there to present evidence but as the evidence was against the girls Judge Hanthorne did not want it to be presented as it may taint the image of the court being the pinicol of honesty

Giles makes a grand entrance in act 3 by storming into the court in the middle of the argument between harthorne and Martha roaring "I have evidence for the court!"

This is a very dramatic effect that would immediately bring a sense of excitement to the audience and accelerate the pace.

.We clearly see that Giles is enraged and determined and fully focused on getting his wife back because we can see it in his 'roaring' and the aggression that's inside him and also because of the use of the exclamation mark 'They'll be hangin' my wife!' So it would of shocked the audience when he suddenly broke down into tears and started pleading with Judge Danforte, this shows very strong emotions and would automatically make the audience feel sympathy for him and a sense of injustice. Francis realises Giles outburst has only caused more conflict between them and the judge and makes a more suttle entrance behaving more respectful explaining the stuation calmly and politely " We are desperate sir we come three days and cannot be heard"

The entrance of Proctor shocks the audience as he has Mary Warren by the arm who the audience had believe to be sick and the room would be full of suspense to wether Mary Warren holds to the key to the proof that the girls are frauds.

To establish his position Danforth always spoke with a strong voice of authority during the case in the court. This is clearly exhibited by the following lines spoken by him while he was addressing Francis; "Peace. Judge Hathorne. Do you know who I am, Mr Nurse?".

By the lines "And do you know that near to four hundred are in the jails from Marblehead to Lynn, and upon my signature?", he was trying to create psychological fear onto the people he was dealing with. These lines also exhibit another side of his character of arrogance and power consciousness. He felt that he could do anything using his power.

If anyone says anything is his eyes potentially threatening to both the power of the court and integrity of the law, he questions them at once.

This is obvious in the lines he says to Mary, " I will tell you this - you are either lying now, or you were lying in the court, and in either case you have committed perjury and you will go to jail for it. You cannot lightly say you lied, Mary. Do you know that?".

I think that the audience mostly feel sympathy for Mary Warren because she is so easily intimidated by others such as Abigail and Danforth. We can see this clearly when Danforth persistently asked "has he threatened you?"

which he asked so many times deliberately to weaken her. The audience realise that Danforth did not persist to ask Abigail or the other girls in the same aggressive tone and so would fell a sense of injustice. The audience will also feel empathy, as Mary is doing the right thing in no longer participating in Abigail's scheming and yet she is making things worse for herself. This is displayed when Abigail and the girls turned against her pretending that Mary had set a spirit onto them. Such emotional bullying caused Mary's confidence to disintegrate until she could no longer take it and realised she "has no power" and felt she had no other choice but to claim that John Proctor had been involved in withcraft

Abigail's actions raised the drama, as she causes so much corruption and yet manages to get away with everything, while others are persecuted for doing nothing.

This is mainly due to her manipulative behaviour as first witnessed in act 1. Claiming that Tituba had sent her spirit causing Abigial to "find herslf..........................................................................................

By using her sexuality Abigail knew that the men of the play would get an instant image of her which would soften their suspicion.

When Proctor tries to explain to the court that