Accused of witchcraft Essay Example for Free

Accused of witchcraft EssayParris Why not? Now there are no spirits attacking her, for none in this room is accused of witchcraft. So permit her turn herself coolness now, let her think she is attacked now, let her faint. (He turns to bloody shame Warren.) FaintAct 3, Page 85This is when the court first has the idea of getting Mary to prove the other girls are frauds by getting her to pretend to faint. She will not because she is afraid of what the girls will do to her. Or cannot, for fear of the courtThis is one of the highest points of tension in the unharmed play because everything and everyone is focused on Mary, relying on her in one way or another to either tell the truth or to stay. But there is so much wedge on Mary that she cant say anything.The pressure builds and builds until Mary cracks then Abigail launches a perfectly timed attack. Just when people are confused almost whom to be cunningve Abigail turns on Mary and makes them believe her.The girls turning o n Mary is a dramatically effective part in act three. This is because when the girls turn on Mary you feel sorry for her due to the fact she is torn between telling the truth to the court or joining the girls again to pr horizontalt them from accuse her.Mary Warren, do you witch her? I say to you, do you send your spirit out?Danforth, Act 3, Page 87When Danforth asks her this hesitation Mary snaps and pushes herself aside from Proctor.Mary Warren, Act 3, page 88This is when Marys delicate relationship with Proctor breaks down and she will no longer cover for him and put herself at peril from being accused by the rest of the girls.Abigail (Looking about the air, clasping her arms about her as though cold) I I know not. A wind, a cold wind, has come. (Her eyes fall on Mary Warren.)Mary (Terrified, pleading) AbbyMercy (Shivering) Your Honour, I freezeProctor Theyre pretendingHathorne (Touching Abigails hand) She is cold Your Honour, touch herMercy (Through chattered teeth ) Mary, Do you send this shadow on me?Act 3, Page 87This is when the girls first sustain to turn on Mary, she is a very fragile person and when they start to turn on her she doesnt know what to do. She was used to pointing the finger of accusation not having it pointed at her and on her own she cant cope. So she betrays the truth and goes back to the safeguard of the girls and being the accuser not the accused.Mary finally breaks down and accuses Proctor of witchcraft. Fearful for her own life, Mary realizes that the only way to save herself is to accuse Proctor of coercing her into attempting to trim down the court. In this case the accusation contains some truth Proctor did force Mary Warren into testifying, yet in this case the purpose is to promote confessedly justice or else than to dispute it.Elizabeth lying to protect Proctor is a dramatically effective part in act three because there is a lot of tension when Elizabeth is brought into the court.Miller uses dramatic irony w hen Elizabeth doesnt know that Proctor has confessed to lechery and that they are testing her to see if Proctor was telling the truth. Elizabeth doesnt know that it is Abigail that is being act and so she lies to protect her husband but in fact by lying she is in the eyes of the court proving that her husband is a liar. Miller uses the thwarting of Proctor as his wife is lying but there is no way he can tell her that by trying to protect him she is really getting him into more troubleLook at me, to your own knowledge, has John Proctor ever committed the crime of lechery (In a crisis of indecision she cannot speak.) termination my question Is your husband a lecherDanforth, Act 3, page 91You can see by this, that Danforth doesnt give Elizabeth much choice and practically puts the words into her mouth. By saying is your husband a lecher he leaves her no choice but to say no. What kind of woman would call her husband a lecher in front of a court?(There is a knock. He calls to the do or.) Hold (To Abigail.) Turn your back. Turn your back. (To Proctor.) Do likewise. (Both turn their backs- Abigail with indignant slowness) Now let neither of you turn to face goody proctor. No one in this room is to speak one word, or raise a gesture aye or nay. (He turns towards the door, calls.) EnterDanforth, Act 3, Page 90The Audience feel frustrated because all that Elizabeth has to do is tell the truth and Abigails ruthless revenge will be stopped and the truth will be brought to light but there is no way Elizabeth could know this so she does what she thinks is the skilful thing and tries to protect her husband. In this scene Miller uses dramatic irony very effectively.Danforth makes the trial look fair but in fact gives Elizabeth no choicebut to lie.Danforth Answer my question Is your husband a lecherElizabeth (Faintly) No, sir.Danforth Remove her, Marshal.Proctor Elizabeth, tell the truthDanforth She has spoken. Remove herProctor (crying out) Elizabeth, I nominate c onfessed itAct 3, Page 91This point is the dramatic climax of the whole scene because it is the point where Elizabeth finally finds out what she has done, and she is distraught. Hale tries to lawsuit with Danforth when he says, Excellency it is a natural lie to tell this shows that Hale is the voice of reason but for most of the time he is not listened to, like Proctor who spoken sense throughout twain are shut out in their ways.To save her husband from accusations of witchcraft, Elizabeth must condemn him for lechery. Miller establishes that Elizabeth is an honest woman who never lies, yet at the aftermath in which her honesty is most critical she chooses the noble yet practical lie that she believes will defend her husband. As Hale notes, it is a natural lie for Elizabeth Proctor to tell, yet an incredibly ill timed one Elizabeth Proctor chooses dishonesty at the precise moment that her integrity matters the most.Act 3 of The crucible is so effective because Arthur Miller use s a wide variety of emotions for his characters and a good variety of action. One minute the scene can be rather quiet with just simple conversation and the next minute it can be very chaotic with characters hurling accusations and abuse at each other. The reason this play is so effective is because Miller uses moments of calm as well as moments of extreme action, if it was just action, action, action all the time the audience would produce immune to it and the really important parts wouldnt stick in your mind as much.Act 3 is relevant to the play as a whole because it is the Act where a lot of important things happen and it is the most dramatic, with a lot of tension and anger between different characters. It is what the first two acts have been building up to and you could say it is the climax of the whole play.When Arthur Miller wrote the play, The Crucible in 1953 the contemporary audience could relate to the play due to the media coverage that was occurring at the time.This er a was concerned with the political movement of communism the McCarthy trials. The contemporary audience saw Millers play as relevant because of the effects of mass hysteria- the destruction of the companionship in Salem. Miller felt that the play had relevance although he didnt write it for that.The reason why the crucible is still so widely liked even though the witch trials are long gone is because it demonstrates the terrible effects of mass hysteria and what it can do to normally rational people.The story reminds its readers of an abominable blemish on human history. It reminds us that man is not perfect, and that we can make mistakes. However, even with these mistakes, we can cleanse ourselves and purify ourselves by making right what is wrong.