Arthur Miller wrote the play Essay

What Miller does do to excellent effect is keep the pace of the plot speeding along and twisting in different directions all the time, at one time the focal point is on Danforth and his control of the court, then at another it is Abigail and the girls feigning that Mary Warren’s spirit has possessed them. Throughout this extract he keeps the dramatic effect by having many different plot lines run into each other at this point; Proctor’s attempt to save Elizabeth, Mary Warren’s declaration that the girls are putting on a show and Abigail Williams’ and the girls dramatic role-play claiming Mary Warren is sending her spirit out on them. All of these plot lines are intertwined in the court room scene and are exposed in John Proctor’s announcement that he is guilty of lechery. Some of the central themes and concerns in The Crucible are evident in this extract intolerance, being a society run strictly by a theocracy means that Salem is run by strict laws and religion. Any wavering outside these rules or religious thoughts is unacceptable. Danforth is intolerant when listening to Proctor and Giles Corey’s attempted reasoning and proposals. Salem at this time was intolerant of any un-natural endeavours, just as America in the 1950’s was intolerant of any un-American activities or communists. Acts of search and arrest became known as McCarthyism, led by Senator John McCarthy. Hanging those who were accused was seen as restoring purity to the theocracy in Salem. Another recurring theme in The Crucible is that of personal reputation. In this extract Proctor seeks to keep his name from being tarnished by giving testament against Abigail claiming that she is delivering her accusations through jealousy of his wife Elizabeth, and by announcing that he has committed adultery through his affair with Abigail. Reverend Parris acts only on what he thinks is best for his reputation throughout the whole play, particularly in this extract when he lies about seeing the girls naked dancing in the woods, â€Å"I do not deny they danced, but I never saw any of them naked†. Parris lies in order to keep his reputation, for if it were released that he had found his daughter and many other girls dancing naked in the woods and ‘compacting with the devil’ then he would be driven from his office as the reverend of Salem. Judges Danforth and Hathorne are both unwilling to accept that Proctor is innocent and do not want to admit to being deceived by a bunch of girls claiming witchcraft and are therefore forced to charge John Proctor to keep their own reputations, making the interrogation partial towards the young girls and unfair on Proctor. The other central theme of the play is the role that hysteria can play in societies. The lies by Abigail all the way through the play and particularly in this extract easily manipulate the judges and the residents of Salem to turn against the accused which ultimately leads to their executions. Miller has linked this hysterical theme to the McCarthyism period in which he lived in the 1950’s, the hysteria led by Senator Joseph McCarthy and his hunt for communists and communist sympathisers in post WWII America and during the Cold War. Miller seems to have based his character Judge Danforth on the individual Senator Joseph McCarthy: both are over-seeing the hysteria of the communities and are leading the search for the accused and presiding over their trials.