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The Use Of Irony In Arthur Miller's The Crucible

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Daniel Han Tsuji AP Lit Period 5 March 6, 2015 Word Count: 300 The Crucible Micro-essay: Prompt #2 Prompt#2: Carefully read the passage from Act III in which Danforth explains his purpose, power, and education to Francis Nurse (page 94: “DANFORTH: No, old man, you have not hurt these people…I hope you will be one of those”). Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain the dramatic and verbal irony used. Through the use of Danforth’s criticism towards Francis and his portrayal of society, Arthur Miller conveys the corruption within the government by suggesting the hypocritical and the ironic aspects of the court. Danforth says, “No, old man, you have not hurt these people if they are of good conscience” (86). This portrayal of people is dramatic irony since they have been abused by the corruption …show more content…

Rather than looking at corruption of his own, Danforth blames upon people by taking advantage of the witch trial. During the trial, Danforth proclaims, “This is a sharp time, now, a precise time-we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world” (86). Danforth’s description of the town of Salem contains situational irony. Rather than judging based on the religion, Danforth uses his judgment to decide between “good” and “evil” based on his preference. Danforth is the manipulator who exercises his power towards residents in order to gain support and stability within the court. Finally, Danforth declares “The shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it. I hope you will be one of those” (86). Although Danforth has sins towards God through abusing his power towards people, he encourages turning back to God. Danforth’s demand towards the townspeople reveals verbal

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Judge Danforth was the person who decided what happened to the ¨guilty¨ people, which led to 24 killed, 19 hanged, 1 pressed, and 4 who died in prison. "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" ( Page 183). Danforth talks about how with his signature he killed many people and put many people in prison. He shows how he is responsible for many deaths in not just Salem but, other places too. Judge Danforth used his powers as a Judge to his advantage, he was the most corrupt in this story.

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Miller, through Judge Danforth was able to illustrate this individual corruption by his rigidity of purpose, one which we find difficult to sympathise with as he miss uses his power to punish the innocent, in order please the town’s majority. This Is clearly noted at the back end of Act III where he asks a series of short, sharp questions “you are a lecher”, “-do you deny it Mr Parris”, -you deny every scrap and title of this”, in hope the truth will come out. This is significant because he’s combining this illicit fear of the supernatural and political manipulation in order to get a well-regarded individual in John Proctor to confess to witchcraft. With him dealing with political absolutes “witchcraft is an invisible crime … who may possibly be witness to it?” leads to countless flawed and irrational judgements.

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Who Is To Blame? In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Judge Danforth was the cause of the Salem Witch Trials. He was about 60, He came to Salem to judge the witchcraft, he also from Boston, and he judge the witch trials with three other People. Miller demonstrated that it was Danforth’s Flaws of Stubbornness, Quick-tempered, and Pride that led him to be most responsible for the tragedy of the witch-hunt in Salem.

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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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This clouds his judgement to analyze evidence presented by the suspects of witchcraft. Danforth says,"We burn a hot fire here, it melts down all concealment", this quote shows that the the court only hears the truth and supposedly ignores the lies" (83). This is an inaccurate and an ironic statement. Even though, Danforth says that the court ignores all the lies to get to the truth, it is evident that this happens through the accusation of innocent girls. Danforth's power blinds him to the truth, and prevents him from seeing the effect that his actions have on the lives of innocent people

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