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Hubris In The Crucible Analysis

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In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, authority causes hubris within characters which allows them to persuade the witch trials negatively. Abigail Williams, the niece of Reverend Parris, gains authority through her multiple accusations during the trials. Later she uses her power to stretch the witch trials onward by threatening the judges to believe her or go against God. Abigail has caused an uproar in the town which leaves people in fear and torn between what to believe. Judge Danforth, on the other hand, uses his authority in a slightly different way to influence the trials. Danforth believes highly in the law and doing what is right. He does not show mercy for he feels that would be weakness upon his name. This mindset allowed Danforth …show more content…

However Abigail may hold a great deal of authority during the trials, she is not the only character who held authority and used in a bad way. Judge Danforth is another great example of authority leading to hubris in a characters personality. Danforth’s moral are good, however he still tends to make unlawful decisions based off of what the type character he wishes to build. For instance, Reverend Hale requested that Judge Danforth held off on John Proctors hanging because he felt that he was innocent and wanted more time to prove this. Danforth understands Hale’s reasoning, but persist that “there will be no postponement(). This is because Danforth feels that if he is lenient with his decisions, it looks as though he is weak and being unfair to the rest who did not get postponed. Since Danforth has authority over the rest of the court, John Proctor is later executed due to Danforth signature. Additionally, he uses the number of cases he has had in court and the amount he has put in jail as a number to hold over peoples heads. The number Danforth claims is a point of trying to scare those who may being lying and show that Danforth is merciless. He tells the open court, “And do you know that near to four hundred are in the jails from Marblehead to Lynn, and upon my signature?”(81). Danforth wants the court to understand that he put these people in jail in an attempt to stop those who have been using supernatural powers to corrupt children and others. What he does not see

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