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The Crucible Judge Danforth Character Analysis Essay

501 Words3 Pages

Thirdly, throughout the play Judge Danforth is gullible to Abigail’s manipulations and lies. One of the instance where Danforth’s gullibility towards Abigail is shown is when Abigail blatantly accuses Reverend Hale’s wife to be in alliance with Lucifer (The Crucible) to which he replies that “it is not possible for a minister’s wife to be associated with the devil” (the crucible). Here Abigail is proven wrong by Judge Danforth because he is certain that a minister’s family can never be approached by the devil as per the commandments. Despite this, he chooses to believe that Abigail has probably mistaken to identify the woman associated with Lucifer. This shows that he totally believes in Abigail and that, all her previous accusations are valid. At this point in the play, …show more content…

Instead of interrogating Abigail, he is silenced by her which most likely shows that he has accepted her demand of not being judged. At this point, there is a flip in power dynamics at the witchcraft trials, Abigail has overpowered Danforth in courtroom. Judge Danforth an honorable Judge of the supreme court has easily been dominated by a seventeen-year-old Abigail, proving that he is gullible to her lies. Lastly, right after the Andover witchcraft trial revolt, Abigail runs away and also steals Reverend Parris’s money (The crucible). The sheer act of fleeing away shows a sign of guilt and fear of punishment along with her act of stealing Reverend Parris’s money clearly speaks a lot about the criminal character of Abigail Williams. Thereby raising alarming questions about her trustworthiness. Despite this, Judge Danforth still continues the hangings which shows that he stills trusts Abigail’s words and accusations. The extend to which Abigail has manipulated Judge Danforth is shown here. Danforth’s unconditional reliability in Abigail motivated the people in Salem to accused each other to save their own

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