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Danforth's Reputation In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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Danforth and Hathorne continuously denied believing that Abigail and the other girls were lying. He knew that his reputation would be ruined if it was true since he signed the agreements to hang the innocent people that were being accused of witchcraft. In this case, it was a false claim, resulting in countless deaths. He tried to secure his reputation and social status by denying the truth about Abigail and the other girls being frauds. His reputation was only able to be saved if Abigail and the other girls were actually telling the truth; thus, Danforth dismissed the possibility that the accusers were putting on a pretense. Reputation is extremely important for oneself since it influences the way people view a specific person. According to …show more content…

By doing so, we can see that he doesn’t want to admit to the claim about Abigail and the other girls being frauds by making others confess. Proctor is a well-known, respectable figure. If Proctor refuses to confess, the people of Salem would surely be influenced into believing that witchcraft was a pretense. In hopes of preventing this from happening, Danforth stated, “Goody Proctor, you are not summoned here for disputation. Be there no wifely tenderness within you? He will die with the sunrise. Your husband. Do you understand? What say you? Will you contend with him? Are you stone? I tell you true, woman, had I no other proof of your unnatural life, your dry eyes now would be sufficient evidence that you delivered up your soul to Hell! A very ape will weep at such calamity! Have the Devil dried up all tear of pity in you?” (Miller 122). Other than Elizabeth, no one can influence Proctor’s decision on whether or not to confess. Hence, Danforth was determined in making Elizabeth persuade Proctor into confessing, which encourages more people to believe that witchcraft actually occurred. Proctor’s testimony would also motivate more people into confessing. Danforth along with the other authorities would be considered as poor judges in solving these witchcraft cases since many people had died innocently. They had been taking Abigail’s sides all along; thus, the authorities were actually helping the people responsible for the whole incident. Similarly, in the book, Othello, Othello had been manipulated into believing that Desdemona had cheated on him. Being manipulated, Othello doubted that Desdemona was telling the truth. No matter how much Desdemona explained, Othello just believed that they were excuses. According to Othello, "Presently/ Therefore confess thee freely of thy sin,/ For to deny each article with oath/ Cannot remove nor choke the strong

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However, by recruiting many other young women, Abigail is able to spread a rumor condemning the high status members of the community, thus gaining power. An example of her vengeance is when she claimed that Elizabeth Proctor used witchcraft to attack her. After that claim, Elizabeth was arrested despite her innocence. Due to the superstition of the community, Abigail's wild claims cannot be ignored for fear that they could be true. The witch trials also empowered the District Commissioner, Danforth, who had tried to stop the spread of “witchcraft” in another town but failed.

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Another viewpoint, maybe that Judge Danforth was just trying to get the Salem witch trials to blow by quicker, but if this was true, he would´ve accepted John Proctor´s evidence showing that the girls were just playing tricks them. This would make the witch hysteria go away much quicker. Instead, he benefits himself by letting the Salem witch trials live longer. If Danforth was a good Judge he would not have acted so adamant and did his job as a judge to interpret the

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In our society, many people rely on the power of law and justice in order to protect themselves. Some powerful men abuse and misuse their power which brings many unfairnesses and tragedies. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Judge Danforth is a deputy governor of the state, and he is also the judge for the witchcraft trail. Judge Danforth represents the authority and supremacy in the entire play. Throughout the play, Danforth’s tyrannous and stubborn personality caused many wrong decisions that he made in the court.

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Likewise, when Elizabeth is brought before Danforth to verify Proctor’s confession, she lies to protect her husband, whom she refers to as a “goodly man,” from suspicion (Miller, 113). The affair may have caused Elizabeth to doubt Proctor but both parties still care deeply for each other and try to protect each other from harm. Even in his last moments, Proctor’s last words- “Show honor now, show a stony heart and sink them with it!”- were directed toward Elizabeth and were full of love and care (Miller, 144). Proctor may have sinned but his regret over his affair with Abigail and the trouble he had brought upon his wife justifies his

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533 Words | 3 Pages

The people who preside over the trials are corrupt. People who were accused of witchcraft are wrongfully indicted, and those transgressions must be justified. Danforth is the governor of Massachusetts who thinks of himself as a fair man. Thomas Putnam who has grudges against the people of Salem, and Abigail is a shameless liar who leads the accusations against the people of Salem. What the people of Salem have seen as demonic possessions of the girls is nothing more than an act of deception.

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He hopes to save Elizabeth by confessing his lechery and to expose Abigail. He thinks Danforth and Hathorne will believe him because he has a high reputation in the community. They do not believe him because his wife did not validate his words. 6. How is Elizabeth’s testimony used against Proctor?

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(Miller 77). Proctor shows that just because Abigail is the accuser, doesn’t mean she is innocent and that she is lying so she can gain revenge. Once again, the court ignores all of the reasonable answers that Proctor provides and agrees with Abigail’s theory of witchcraft. After further disagreement with the court, Proctor finally decides to confess his affair with Abigail to prove that she isn’t as innocent as she seems. This action sacrifices Proctor’s good name; which is sacred in the Puritan society.

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598 Words | 3 Pages

At this instance, he is indirectly fueling Abigail and the girls to accuse whomever they want to. Judge Danforth’s irrationality bubbles out in this situation, as according to his judiciary system any person accused of witchcraft have no chance of being a defendant due to the absence of a witness. This shows incompetence and irrationality of legal judgments on the part of an experienced Judge such as Danforth. Lastly, Danforth’s poor judgment is also revealed in the instance of the play wherein John proctor sacrifices his name and tell the truth that he and Abigail had committed the crime of Lechery. In order to confirm this Judge Danforth calls Elizabeth Proctor to testify in court, in which she lies, as a result Danforth says “She spoke nothing of lechery, and this man has lied” (Miller 114).

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Proctor realized the truth behind everything and decided it was time to come forward and tell Danforth, “She thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore's vengeance, and you must see it now” (Miller ). John tries to reveal who Abigail really is but it does not help the lives of those who are to be hanged.

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Reputation is the beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something. Reputation can directly correlate with pride, which is a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one 's own achievements. Reputations are very important to the characters in The Crucible and if they want to preserve their reputation, through pride, they do whatever is necessary to keep it. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the characters John Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Judge Danforth all show dramatic actions to preserve their reputations, each of these characters either hurt themselves or others by being prideful and dishonest for the sake of their good name. There are several ways that Abigail Williams shows her objective of preserving her reputation in the book.

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Fear that spread among a group of people in Salem during the Salem Witch Trials, that event in history is a prime example of Mass Hysteria. In Salem the reason why so many women were killed was because of Mass Hysteria. It caused many people, in Salem during this event to think fast, rash and jump to conclusions. “The Crucible”, a short play dedicated to these events in Salem shows us how hysteria was such a leading cause of why the Witch Trials had even occurred. Reverend Hale, Abigail Williams and Judge Danforth.

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Power is something that allows the one with it to control and oppress others. In the play The Crucible by author Arthur Miller, use characters from the play to show power. However the character with the most power is Judge Danforth. The reason Judge Danforth is the most powerful out of all the characters in The Crucible is because, Judge Danforth has the power of speaking, the power of speaking is where Judge Danforth decides who is able to speak or who is able to be heard, where Judge Danforth says “Turn your back.

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He believes strongly in his ability to judge the character of the informants. This comes into play when others question his judgement of Abigail and the girls from the woods. Danforth has a great deal of authority over the verdict of the accused, he has the power to judge them as not guilty. Danforth being the primary judge means he could have admitted to his foolishness and told the community that the accused people were not witches, and it would have made the townspeople believe that there was no witch problem in Salem at all. Danforth is too concerned with his reputation to admit that his judgement, at first, was clouded.

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Abigail and a group of girls went to court and blame 200 people. Abigail went to court, and told them that Elizabeth Proctor was practicing witchcraft, and got her arrested. When John Proctor went to court, the girls pretended that he was the devil. Giles tries to explain to the court how Abigail is pure evil, and trying to get revenge: “Aye, how she is solemn and goes to hang people!” (3.1.875).

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Danforth: Judge, Jury, and Executioner Judge Danforth’s position in the crucible is the Judge assigned to the proceedings of the Salem witch trials. Instead of treating this immense responsibility with the respect and restraint that is needed, Danforth abused his power by betraying the people of Salem and the Law. He did not listen to the people of Salem defending themselves before inevitably being sent to death; and he cared more about his reputation and the law than he did about peoples’ lives. Danforth was a ruthless power over the people of Salem he demanded respect for himself and the court; and nothing was more important than that.

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