The Crucible Danforth Character Traits

This goes for Judge Danforth, too. He worries more about his reputation as a judge that he is willing to hang innocent people in the community. For example, when John Proctor confesses his affair with Abigail and how she hopes to take Elizabeth’s place, Danforth purposely chooses not to believe Proctor. He, even, says, “She [Elizabeth] spoke nothing of lechery, and this man has lied,” (Miller 114) without holding further investigation of the confession! Danforth believes Abigail and the girls because he does not want to publically admit he was deceived by them, for it will harm his reputation. And, even when knowing the truth, Danforth cannot pardon the prisoners because “twelve are already executed; the names of these seven are given out,

Does The Crucible play connect to McCarthyism based on history repeating itself? It is widely known that Arthur Miller's characters in The Crucible are based on the era of McCarthyism where Senator McCarthy accuses innocent Americans of being communists. Through indirect and direct characterization, Reverend Hale in The Crucible begins to emerge as a pacifist for Salem when Judge Danforth's judgements spiral out of proportion. As Danforth protects his reputation and abuses power, Hale tries to make peace and have a voice of reason in the madness of Salem. Similarly, Senator McCarthy rises to power, protects his reputation, and makes Americans believe he is the only voice that can help fearful citizens in the nation.

Deputy Governor, Danforth is ignorant to the fact that he believes he is the voice of God. He believes the people of Salem should not fear the court because the court is guided by God, so therefore there will be no corruption or unfair ruling. This thoughts is a lie and shows how much of an ego Danforth has.

In our society, many people rely on the power of law and justice in order to protect themselves. Some powerful men abuse and misuse their power which brings many unfairnesses and tragedies. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Judge Danforth is a deputy governor of the state, and he is also the judge for the witchcraft trail. Judge Danforth represents the authority and supremacy in the entire play. Throughout the play, Danforth’s tyrannous and stubborn personality caused many wrong decisions that he made in the court. As the voice of authority of Salem, Judge Danforth leads to the tragedy of their social disturbance by breakdown Salem’s solidarity.

Society as a whole seeks to satisfy themselves. This may be at the expense of their peers or individuals they are associated with. Arthur Miller brilliantly displays this dark side of humanity’s side in his play The Crucible. This play is based on the Salem witch trials in the early 1690s. During the Salem witch trials over two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and twenty were executed. Miller best depicts the evils in people through the main prosecutor in the the play Abigail Williams. Abigail is undeniably the most destructive and corrupt individual in The Crucible. Through her vengefulness, threatening her peers, carelessness at others’ expense, and complete disregard for human life, she ensues a tumultuous event to Salem.

Arthur Miller is a commonly-known playwright, most famous for his 1953 play, The Crucible. The basis for The Crucible came from the witch trials which occurred in Salem, Massachusetts during the puritan era. Miller even uses some of the same characters in his dramatized play that were a part of the original witch trials in Salem. However, Miller made a few alterations to the historical members of the Salem society in order to suit his dramatic purpose in The Crucible, particularly Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Reverend Samuel Parris.

Playwright Arthur Miller uses deliberate characterization and controlled conflict to highlight societal problems in his play The Crucible. His use of relationships between characters, as well as the interactions that these relationships instigate, in his telling of the Salem Witch Trials is helpful in his ability to convey his overarching idea. The ideas of human failings like hate or greed, blind religious faith or the corruption that occurs in giving power to the formerly powerless, are revealed in Miller’s use of characterization and conflict in The Crucible.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment. By examining the characters of the play, I believe that the three major characters who should be blamed the most for the witch trials are Abigail Williams,

In The Crucible, John Proctor the protagonist, becomes a victim of the witch trials when his wife Elizabeth, is accused of witchcraft. In order to free his wife, Proctor must convince Judge Danforth of his wife’s innocence. Judge Danforth does not sign condemnations lightly and takes meticulous inspection of his cases to determine the guilty party. He is also a highly religious man who takes matters between God and men seriously. It is because of Danforth’s dedication to the law and God that Proctor utilizes ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade him. Ultimately, Proctor uses ethos, logos, and pathos to convince Danforth to free his wife, but is unsuccessful.

Power is something that allows the one with it to control and oppress others. In the play The Crucible by author Arthur Miller, use characters from the play to show power. However the character with the most power is Judge Danforth.

Judge Danforth used his powers as a Judge to his advantage, he was the most corrupt in this story. Another viewpoint, maybe that Judge Danforth was just trying to get the Salem witch trials to blow by quicker, but if this was true, he would´ve accepted John Proctor´s evidence showing that the girls were just playing tricks them. This would make the witch hysteria go away much quicker. Instead, he benefits himself by letting the Salem witch trials live longer. If Danforth was a good Judge he would not have acted so adamant and did his job as a judge to interpret the

For example, Danforth frequently spoke of the importance of fairness and justice, however when he found out that Abigail’s testimony was false, he refused to stop those that had been found guilty through Abigail’s testimony from being hanged. This is shown on page 100 in Act 4 of The Crucible where Danforth says, “Mr. Hale, as God have not empowered me like Joshua to stop this sun from rising, so I cannot withhold from them the perfection of their punishment.” It is assumed that the court will uphold morality and justice, yet Danforth’s character shows the inversion of the normal moral order in the

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play which contains a multitude of complex characters . In the play, the characters’ motivations and inner processes are explored. Because of the historical setting, the characters live in a society of judgement and extreme religious devotion. This is a factor that places any of the characters’ choices and morals in a public balance to be judged by others. Abigail Williams is the main character of the play and acts with an utter selfishness and obsession.

The crucible, based during the Salem, Massachusetts witch trials of 1692. A constant theme through out the play is your personal reputation, maintaining a good name. Judge Danforth a well respected man in the society that has the supreme rule over the court. He is known for making the right decisions and never going against them. Innocent and guilty people have been put to death underneath his Judgement, to him this demonstrates his superiority and power. Along with the final say in the putting to death of people during the Salem witch trials. Miller portray’s Danforth’s characterization as stubborn, highly religious, and arrogant in order to to provide a clearer understanding.

When I began reading act four of The Crucible, I hadn’t developed strong feelings, positive or negative, about any characters. There were certain people I didn’t necessarily like throughout the first three acts, but there was never a point when I became extremely frustrated with any of them. In this act, that wasn’t the case. Deputy Governor Danforth proved to me as act four progressed that he wasn’t concerned for the people of Salem, he was concerned about not allowing himself, the government or his God look weak. I discovered how his reputation became more important to him than standing up to the hysteria and saving innocent lives.