Act three of the crucible Essay

This leaves Mary Warren accused, with no way out, as Abigail expands on this statement to make it seem more realistic. Abigail has achieved what she wanted, she has gotten the attention away from herself using her accusations. The tension builds as we don’t know what Abigail is going to do next and we know that she is capable of destroying peoples lives. The Puritan society meant that everything revolved around God, the girls, knowing this, found that the strongest way to act was to accuse people of being against God. It would make them look in a better light as they are doing Gods work by ferreting the evil out of the village. Danforth, Hale and Hathorne believe that God is using the girls to help the village. This constant reference to the Bible and repetition of the puritan beliefs adds to the tension as it shows that they will not doubt the â€Å"messengers of God†. There is also a moment of humour were Proctor forgets one of the commandments, when he is trying to prove his wife’s innocence. Throughout the whole ordeal Proctor stands as the voice of reason, speaking the truth but not being heard over the tumult of lies. He voices sensible faults to Abigail’s accusations. When Abigail sees a yellow bird, Proctor says that he can’t see it and asks Hale the same thing even though he is being quieted by Danforth as he is trying to get the words out. He asks Hale because he thinks that Hale is starting to lose faith in the reliability of the court and calls to him for back up and support. He frantically tries to tell Danforth that the girls are just pretending in order to help Mary Warren, other wise he would feel guilty for Mary’s fate because he brought her there and told her to face up to Abigail and to tell the truth, â€Å"They’re pretending, Mr. Danforth! . . . They’re gulling you Mister! † This again adds to the tension as everyone is shouting over each other and the anger builds. As soon as everyone has been calmed down, once more they begin to yell their accusations over each other. The tension is built in peaks and troughs to keep the audience on edge. It is first built at the beginning when the characters first come on stage. It is lulled by Hale who asks for calm, and as they discuss the proceedings rationally, it is raised once more upon the entrance of Proctor as Parris claims he is there to overthrow the court. Another raise in tension is when Proctors wife is accused of keeping poppets in the house. Proctor cannot, despite the confession of Mary Warren, convince Danforth that it did not belong to Elizabeth. Abigail becomes worried that Danforth is starting to believe Proctor and so to strengthen the girls’ story she pretends she can feel a cold wind which is freezing her. The other girls pick up the act quickly and can also feel the wind. Proctor knows that they are only acting but cannot convince anyone else, as the girls’ have done it so much they start to believe it themselves. Act three – â€Å"Abigail : I – I know not. A wind, a cold wind, has come. (her eyes fall on Mary) Mary : (terrified, pleading) Abby! Mercy : (shivering) Your Honour, I freeze! Proctor : Their pretending! Hathorne : She is cold, Your Honour, touch her! † Abigail makes several attacks like this on Mary, when her and the other girls copy everything that Mary says and the one which finally cracks her, the yellow bird story. All these fantasies which Abigail makes up adds to the tension as we do not know what will happen to Mary if she does not confess. When Mary accuses Proctor she thinks she is doing what Abigail wants her to do but it ruins Abigail’s plan to get rid of Proctors wife so she could be with him instead. This is the end of the climax where Proctor is so angry at the injustice of the events and terrified of what with happen to him that in a moment of outrage that seals his arrest and ultimate hanging when he shouts out, â€Å"I say – I say – God is dead! † In the video the fury of the towns people is shown as they, in a Theocracy, feel very strongly about blasphemy. Proctor has seen the truth as he says that both Danforth and himself are doomed to hell as they have both sinned, â€Å"Proctor : God damns our kind especially, and we will burn , we will burn together! . . . You are pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore! † Hale has had enough and says he had nothing to do with the court proceedings and the overall verdict and storms out of the court. This is the final climax that Millar was building to the end were Proctor is so angry at Abigail and the court that he doesn’t care any more. When he says, â€Å"I say – I say – God is dead! † He is basically signing his own death warrant as the tolerance for blasphemy in his society was non-existent. Proctor knew this and knew this would anger everyone but he also knew that he couldn’t win. The end of the scene ends in chaos, as Hale storms out, The court falls apart, symbolising the less than perfect world of the Theocracy and their entire beliefs, which do not work when people have the freedom to lie and cause such thing as murder to happen legally and with the authorisation of the courts. I think that the point Arthur Miller is trying to make is that people will only believe what they want to believe. Also, there is not a straight line drawn through right and wrong, how crime and punishment are often influenced by thoughts, feelings and individual ideals. I think he is also trying to say that good doesn’t always conquer over evil no matter how superior their principals, intensions or morals are. Stephanie Moore English – Crucible essay Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Miller section.