Pride In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

In The Crucible, Arthur Miller leaves readers wondering if fear and pride can have a fatal partnership. He uses the opposing forces, the court and the accused, to display how the pride of the judges cost many of the accused their lives. Throughout The Crucible, readers are shown that the pride of the court feeds into the fear of witchcraft all throughout Salem. For instance, Hale, who is a well-educated man, thinks he is above being at fault. As a result, he wrongfully sends many citizens off to their deaths. In a similar manner, Danforth refuses to accept that his judgements are false, and this ends in the death of many key figures of Salem’s community, such as Rebecca Nurse. Lastly, Proctor also shows the deadly consequences of pride. He

At the beginning of act three, Danforth feels personally threatened when Francis tries to explain his wife’s innocence. “And do you know that near to four hundred are in the jails from Marblehead to Lynn, and upon my signature? … And seventy-two condemned to hang by that signature?” (act three, lines 109-114). Danforth feels as though because he has condemned so many, there is no way he could be wrong in pursuing Rebecca, Francis’ wife. This is a indisputable display of how pompous Danforth is as a person, and how he isn’t afraid of harming others in order to get what he wants. In addition, Danforth never realizes the sins of the court throughout act 4. He is consumed with the need of being right, and gets frantic in trying to produce a confession from Proctor. Danforth doesn’t want to face the fact that he is wrong in condemning him, and needs to confirmation that the pursuit is not a wasted effort. When Proctor tears his confession, Danforth is nothing short of outraged, and immediately sends Proctor to be hung. Danforth let’s his hubris override his mind, and acts on nothing but a frenzy, ending innocent

In act two, we see the cold wall Proctor’s pride built between him and Elizabeth. He is too proud to admit his affair with Abigail aloud, afraid that just whispering the words will destroy his name. He lets it damage the thin link of trust between him and his wife. The miscommunication between the pair creates much heavier problems, and snowballs into Proctor’s eventual demise. In act three, it is Proctor’s pride in his wife, rather than himself, that gets him sent to be hung. He idolized his wife’s honesty, claiming that Elizabeth could never lie. When she is prosecuted and pressed on the issue of Proctor’s involvement with Abigail, she lies to the court that Proctor was never in an affair. Her small lie brands him as a sinner trying to topple the court. Proctor’s faith in her ability was ultimately what sends him to the gallows. The final nail in the coffin, though, was in act four. Some time passes while Proctor rots in the jail, tortured and bloody; the soul is broken in his body. Danforth asks Proctor to confess his sins, and when he does, Danforth demands he sign them. Proctor feels as if he’s being pushed too far, and firmly denies the paper his signature. “How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (act four, line 729-730). He has built a well reputable name, and is too proud to let the court drag it