The Nature of Authority in The Crucible

In 1952, Arthur Miller published a play entitled The Crucible. The play focuses on one small village in Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials. The trials are started by a group of girls who do not want to get in trouble for dancing and conjuring up spirits in the forest. The most important theme in the entire play is the nature of power and its costly results. There are three examples of this theme: The authority of the church over the lives of the villagers, the control Abigail has over the people who are accused of witchcraft and her friends in the trial, and the power of the judge over the trials.

The first example of the nature of authority is the church’s power over the villagers’ lives. Puritans were highly religious people. They had to live under a set of strict religious policies set forth by the church. The policies were so strict that gambling, drinking, gossiping, and dancing were seen as sins. Anyone that chose to partake in these sins was treated like an outcast, flogged, banished, or killed. The Puritan religion demanded that all members know their prayers and the commandments. Least they fall into sin. For example, when Reverend John Hale speaks to John Proctor about his ability to recite only nine of the ten commands correctly: “Theology, sir, is a fortress; no crack in a fortress may be accounted small.” (67). The church and the every day lives of its members are controlled by the preachers. The Puritans in the late 1600’s believed that the preachers were the purest men on the face of the earth. Unfortunately, that is not so. As evident in the novel, even preachers can become corrupted. Miller proves that this is so with his depiction of Reverend Parris’s lust for power and money. In the play, Parris is more concerned about his reputation, money, and power than he is with the justice for the accused victims. He is more upset about his niece and Mercy Lewis running off with his all of his money rather than being concerned and suspicious about their sudden disappearance. About the personality of his character, it is said:

“He was a widower with no interest in children, or talent with them. He regarded them as young adults, and until this strange crisis he, like the rest of Salem, never conceived that were anything but thankful for being permitted to walk straight, eyes slightly lowered, arms at the sides, and mouths shut until bidden to speak.” (4).

John Proctor proves Parris’s greed even more when he says: “Since we built the church there were pewter candlesticks upon the altar; Francis Nurse made them, y’know, and a sweeter hand never touched the metal. But Parris came, and for twenty week he preach nothin’ but golden candlesticks until he had them…” (65). Parris is so blinded by greed that John does not even want his third son to be baptized by Parris: “I like it not that Mr. Parris should lay his hand upon my baby. I see no light of God in that man. I’ll not conceal it.” (65).

The second example of the nature of authority is the power Abigail’s influence has over her friends. Throughout the play, Abigail is seen as the primary person manipulating the other girls and the trials. She even threatens to kill them if they told the truth:

“Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it; I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine, and I seen some reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!”(20).

Through threats such as that, her friends are compelled to do as she says. In order to save herself from being whipped for dancing in the forest, Abigail starts accusing people of using witchcraft, thus starting the witch trials. Their acting is so convincing, that Judge Hathorne and Deputy Governor Danforth believe them thus resulting in the deaths of those they accuse. When Mary betrays the others, it is Abigail who leads the others in retaliation by turning on her and accusing her of witchcraft. Abigail’s desire to be with John Proctor leads her to have his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, accused of witchcraft so that she can have him. Her influence over the community is so strong, that even when John confesses his affair with Abigail, the truth cannot save Elizabeth now. Abigail’s ability to be deceitful is evidenced when she lies about why Elizabeth Proctor fired her from working as her maid. Miller even proves this characteristic of her so when Abigail and John meet in the forest:

“Why, you taught me goodness, therefore you are good. It were a fire you walked me through, and all my ignorance was burned away. It were a fire, John, we lay in fire. And from that night no woman dare call me wicked any more but I knew my answer. I used to weep for my sins when the wind lifted up my skirts; and blushed for shame because some old Rebecca called me loose. And then you burned my ignorance away. As bare as some December tree I saw them all—walking like saints to church, running to feed the sick, and hypocrites in their hearts! And God gave me strength to call them liars, and God made men to listen to me, and by God I will scrub the world clean for the love of Him! Oh, John, I will make you such a wife when the world is white again!” (150).

This quote compared, when compared to the others throughout the play makes her sound innocent. It clearly proves she can lie and people would believe her.

The third example of the nature of authority is the power and control the judge’s have over the trials. Judge Hathorne and Governor Deputy Danforth are the men called in for the trials. Hathorne has Giles Corey arrested simply for interrupting the court and saying he has evidence that girls are lying.

Giles’ fate for this interruption leads to him being crushed by heavy stones due to not answering the indictment. Yet it s at this point in the play that Miller shows that all power is not absolute in showing that Hathorne is not all powerful in Giles remark: “You’re not a Boston judge yet, Hathorne. You’ll not call me a daft!” (85). Danforth as it is put is “portrayed as a hotheaded judge who has aspirations to eventually move to a court in Boston” and “shown with tendencies to use trickery and intimidation to get whatever information he wants out of the witnesses and defendants.” (Internet source). To back these comments up, he says: “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for these, weeps for corruption!” (144). Danforth even tries to persuade Elizabeth to get her husband to confess that he was a witch.

The most important theme in the Cr is the formidable nature of power. Arthur Miller with three examples: The church’s authority over the villagers’ lives, Abigail’s authority over the people who are accused of witch craft and her friends in the trial, and the judge’s authority over the trials he shows us that too much power is a destructive and deadly force in the lives of individuals and the community.

Works Cited

Miller, Arthur.  The Crucible New York: Penguin Books, 1952.