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The Crucible Judge Danforth Character Analysis Essay

501 Words3 Pages

Thirdly, throughout the play Judge Danforth is gullible to Abigail’s manipulations and lies. One of the instance where Danforth’s gullibility towards Abigail is shown is when Abigail blatantly accuses Reverend Hale’s wife to be in alliance with Lucifer (The Crucible) to which he replies that “it is not possible for a minister’s wife to be associated with the devil” (the crucible). Here Abigail is proven wrong by Judge Danforth because he is certain that a minister’s family can never be approached by the devil as per the commandments. Despite this, he chooses to believe that Abigail has probably mistaken to identify the woman associated with Lucifer. This shows that he totally believes in Abigail and that, all her previous accusations are valid. At this point in the play, …show more content…

Instead of interrogating Abigail, he is silenced by her which most likely shows that he has accepted her demand of not being judged. At this point, there is a flip in power dynamics at the witchcraft trials, Abigail has overpowered Danforth in courtroom. Judge Danforth an honorable Judge of the supreme court has easily been dominated by a seventeen-year-old Abigail, proving that he is gullible to her lies. Lastly, right after the Andover witchcraft trial revolt, Abigail runs away and also steals Reverend Parris’s money (The crucible). The sheer act of fleeing away shows a sign of guilt and fear of punishment along with her act of stealing Reverend Parris’s money clearly speaks a lot about the criminal character of Abigail Williams. Thereby raising alarming questions about her trustworthiness. Despite this, Judge Danforth still continues the hangings which shows that he stills trusts Abigail’s words and accusations. The extend to which Abigail has manipulated Judge Danforth is shown here. Danforth’s unconditional reliability in Abigail motivated the people in Salem to accused each other to save their own

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555 Words | 3 Pages

When a trial is going on the court needs to have solid evidence before accusing anyone of being guilty or not guilty. The Salem Witch trials was a historical event that took place in Salem, Massachusetts, where a group of girls were accused of witchcraft, and later they all testified to the activity of witchcraft, and for this they were not punished for their wrong doings; however, everyone else that was accused and did not testify were punished for telling the truth about not being involved in witchcraft. The ultimate responsibility for the deaths of the innocent Puritans is borne by Danforth because he makes decisions without having solid proof, he believes the other girls over Mary Warren , and he has all the power to decide who gets to die or survive. One reason why Danforth is responsible for the death of the innocent Salemites is because he makes decisions without having solid proof. During the whole trials Danforth does not believe anyone who does not testify to witchcraft because he believes the girls that accused the innocent puritans.

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447 Words | 2 Pages

Judge Danforth’s unwavering egotism culminates in the unfortunate deaths of Salem townsfolk. Arthur Miller’s classic play The Crucible demonstrates how the actions of one person can affect many others. Judge Danforth cares more about his own reputation than what is right. Often times people try to think of what is right instead of saving their own face, Judge Danforth is an exception to this stereotype. The Salem Witch Trials were a horrible time where many people lost their lives due to an unjust court system.

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1198 Words | 5 Pages

During court, Mary said she heard “the other girls screaming” and that Danforth “seemed to believe them” so she followed suit (Miller 107). Abigail and her friends saw the court believing their act, so they continued with their theatrics. This same display of emotion from Proctor also works at convincing Danforth Abigail’s words are not to be trusted, and her accusations against his wife have no

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698 Words | 3 Pages

The man who ran the show in the courtroom was Judge Danforth. As the judge of the court of a theocratic government, Danforth was religious. The idea of witchcraft being practiced in his own town was terrifying to him. Due to this, Danforth wanted any witch in Salem to be dealt with. Judge Danforth would believe Abigail or any other girl of the group that they had seen the devil in the defendant.

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925 Words | 4 Pages

“Character Analysis over The Crucible” Arthur Miller is a commonly-known playwright, most famous for his 1953 play, The Crucible. The basis for The Crucible came from the witch trials which occurred in Salem, Massachusetts during the puritan era. Miller even uses some of the same characters in his dramatized play that were a part of the original witch trials in Salem. However, Miller made a few alterations to the historical members of the Salem society in order to suit his dramatic purpose in The Crucible, particularly Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Reverend Samuel Parris.

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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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1288 Words | 6 Pages

Abigail can be possibly motivated to “see” the devil for personal gains because in the court, Abigail Williams accuses John Proctors wife, Elizabeth Proctor. The only reason why Abigail indicts her is because she is madly in love with John Proctor and sees John’s wife as an obstacle to getting John for herself. Thus, the trials present the perfect opportunity for Abigail to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor

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Judge Danforth keeps the trials and hangings in session in Salem even after Parris, Hale, and Abigail have given up or moved on. This can be attributed to the fact that Judge Danforth believes greatly in the court system and believes that Puritan law is truly God’s will, so much that he would “hang ten thousand who dare to rise against the law” (The Crucible 1158). It can also be assumed that to Danforth, admitting these trials to be a fraud would mean admitting that he had innocent people jailed and

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520 Words | 3 Pages

The power that Abigail Williams has on the town of Salem, may be fatal. Abigail’s attempt to “defend” herself, comes across as a threat to many of the townspeople. By the third act in the play, Abigail has gotten powerful enough that she can threaten the Deputy Governor of the entire province without negative consequences. “Abigail, in an open threat: Let you beware, Mr. Danforth. Think you to be so mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits?

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365 Words | 2 Pages

Act 4 Reader’s Response When I began reading act four of The Crucible, I hadn’t developed strong feelings, positive or negative, about any characters. There were certain people I didn’t necessarily like throughout the first three acts, but there was never a point when I became extremely frustrated with any of them. In this act, that wasn’t the case. Deputy Governor Danforth proved to me as act four progressed that he wasn’t concerned for the people of Salem, he was concerned about not allowing himself, the government or his God look weak. I discovered how his reputation became more important to him than standing up to the hysteria and saving innocent lives.

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719 Words | 3 Pages

This is included in his sermon so that his audience will be frightened into taking their faith more seriously. Miller writes Abigail as preying upon Danforth’s willingness to believe her every word. When Abigail is written as

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1451 Words | 6 Pages

Do you understand my meaning?”. This is showing the the judge had complete trust in them and when John had pointed out that the things that the women were doing were kinda suspicious he questions it and realizes that the girls are faking all of it. Sadly he does nothing, still knowing what all the women are doing is suspicious he doesn 't stop the hangings and imprisonments. Judge Danforth may have not started the Hysteria started in the town but he fed into it by believing Abigail and not stopping her from lying when he found out she was lying to the court and the people in the town of Salem. You could say that Judge did not know that Abigail was lieing out of nativity and all his actions were lead by his dense nature because of his faith, blinding him from what was in front of him because he needed something to justify the reason for killing and imprisoning these women.

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439 Words | 2 Pages

1.) The historical roots of social ecology theory concluded with the Chicago School is that in Chicago they Saw an increasing number of population within the small time frame and they started to see more crime happening, so they were relating that to the social product of urbanism. To find that information it was done by the Chicago scientists who gathered both statistical and qualitative data. 2.) Social ecology theory holds both a conflict and a consensus theory.

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707 Words | 3 Pages

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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741 Words | 3 Pages

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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