Hathorne and Parris Essay

In my opinion the main twist of the play was in the court scene where Proctor confesses his affair with Abigail, who doesn’t deny it and doesn’t confess to it either. Elizabeth is brought in as a witness, she could save all the living people accused of witchcraft by telling the court the truth, by removing Abigail’s power. However, her choice to lie or confess her husband’s adultery to the court is not based on her values and her morals. She is unaware of the importance of her decision and she doesn’t know that John has already confessed his crime. Danforth-â€Å"What of Abigail Williams? † Elizabeth-â€Å"I came to think he fancied her. And so one night I lost my wits, I think, and put her out on the highroad. † Danforth-â€Å"Your husband-did he indeed turn from you? † Elizabeth-(in agony): My husband-is a goodly man, sir. † Danforth-â€Å"Then he did not turn from you. † Elizabeth-(starting to glance at Proctor): He- Danforth-(reaches out and holds her face, then): â€Å"Look at me! To your own knowledge, has John Proctor ever committed the crime of lechery! (in a crisis of indecision she cannot speak) Answer my question! Is your husband a lecher! Elizabeth-(faintly): No, sir. This scene is packed with suspense, will Elizabeth tell the truth? Dramatic irony also plays a key part in this scene, we know that John has already confessed to his lechery, but Elizabeth doesn’t. She thinks that she is saving his name, when ironically she is labelling him as a liar. She chooses to lie in the church, ignoring her religious values. She puts her husband and family first, which shows us that she is on the private side of the private life vs. the church conflict which runs throughout the play. The confess or not to confess conflict is also shown here, Elizabeth is one of the many characters forced to make this decision, along with Proctor, the girls, Mary Warren and Abigail. The punctuation in Danforth’s speech intensifies his anger, it creates more tension and puts even more pressure on Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s sentences are mostly short, show her lack of confidence and weakness. This makes us sympathise with Elizabeth even more and involves us with her even more, just in time to intensify the hanging of her husband. ‘The Crucible’ is a play of conflicts, these conflicts make the storyline more exciting by creating suspense and tension for climaxes, create sub-plots which add to the confusion and it allows room for twists, such as when John confesses his adultery but Liz unconsciously says he’s lying. This keeps us glued to the play. The structure itself can be symbolised by a crucible getting hotter and hotter and allowing the impurities to be extracted. It puts tremendous pressure on our main characters causing more conflicts, which in turn causes, excitement, creating yet another climax. Conclusion I thoroughly enjoyed this play as it was exciting and highly emotional so I could get involved in the play and with the characters. I found myself in a position where I was unbelievably biased towards John Proctor without even realising how I’d been persuaded by Miller to side with him. This is cleverly done so you feel you have made your own choice, so you don’t feel manipulated. I found the ending of the play almost unbearable as through the story I had attached myself to John and it was upsetting to see him victimised by the pride of Danforth, Hathorne and Parris. Pride and religion are what decide the fate of the play, the threat of reality crashes down harshly on the dream of a Utopia, confusing readers and characters alike.