Arthur Millers The Crucible :: Arthur Miller Crucible Essays

Arthur Miller's The Crucible Before anyone says anything, drama is presented to the reader in a visual way. We see the first trial being held in non-other that the village Church; A place of holy gathering for the whole village. The Church being used, as a courtroom would usually seem absurd, this shows the audience that this is no ordinary trial, and what is going to happen is very important. Martha Corey is being accused of witchcraft. The mere fact that she is being accused of such a crime is dramatic, but then her husband Giles Corey bursts in interrupting telling of the accusations being false and accumulating of greed and jealousy. The audience is shocked by this and wander how the judge will react to such an outrage. The audience now realises that the people conducting the witch-hunt are out of control, and the village is turning into a rotten society. The trial is built on society rules and not on fair justice. They should be able to trust the courts decisions, but as of now it looks like they cannot. The reader is shocked when they hear the amount that judge Danforth has condemned. It puts him in the line of power in their eyes, and the village's. Giles and Danforth are constantly interrupting one another, Danforth has a strong ego, but Giles has a strong will to present his case and make it heard to the judge. Although Giles is desperate to argue his case, he shows his inadequacies to the reader. His desperation to argue his case comes to an end when Danforth has him removed from the court. Danforth's power becomes visually more evident, and it seems nothing can surpass him. This makes the reader's thoughts trail onto wandering if he will listen to anyone at all, and also if there is anyone that can indeed order him around. After the drama the reader knows that this should alter the courts view on the matter, but they expect it wont because of Danforth's arrogance to listen to anyone but himself. This adds even more to the powerful person that is Danforth, he is becoming ever more higher in power as we progress through the trial. Proctor accuses the girls of pretending, this creates drama for the reader as we see a morally powerful figure like proctor standing up for what he sees is right. It makes the reader more confident about the truth being unfolded. Hale is excited of Proctor's claims, and begins to see Proctors view point and shares it also. Now Hale is beginning to believe the girls are pretending also, the reader gets a