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What Is The Hypocrisy In The Crucible

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The play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller demonstrates the implications of a society in complete chaos over an irrational fear of witchcraft in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Fear plays an immense role in the way people make their decisions, such as when the characters of Danforth and Mary Warren resort to hypocrisy when no other options remain. Danforth and Mary Warren both embody hypocrisy, as seen when Mary says she cannot lie anymore and then lies when she becomes scared for her life, and Danforth when saying lying will send a person to Hell, but then forcing people to choose between lying and death. Mary Warren exemplifies hypocrisy extraordinarily well in the scene when she and Proctor travel to the courthouse so she can confess that the girls have pretended everything and they never actually saw spirits. Upon arriving in the court Mary Warren says, “I cannot lie no more. I am with God, I …show more content…

Danforth expresses his opinions on lying when Mary Warren enter his court to confess herself and he begins the conversation by saying, “How were you instructed in your life? Do you not know that God damns all liars?” (Miller 101). Through this statement he clearly demonstrates his belief that lying will send a person to Hell. As the story progresses, Danforth and many other officials begin to realize that the entire situation in Salem progressed to far and honest people will continue to die unless they can convince people to lie in order to save themselves. Danforth explains his inability to free the accused people because, “twelve are already hanged for the same crime. It is not just,” (Miller 129). In saying this he admits that a person can only avoid a hanging by confessing to witchcraft even if their statement contains no truth. Combining this notion with the one he declared earlier displays the hypocritical nature of Danforth when put in this hysterical

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In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the setting is Salem, Massachusetts during the late 1600s where the town’s pious Puritan beliefs directly influence their government. A 17-year-old girl named Abigail Williams had an affair with John Proctor, a wealthy, married man. Abigail is told by John to move on but instead, Abigail starts accusing the townspeople of witchcraft, including John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth. As this hysteria begins to rise, other people such as Thomas Putnam, a rich landowner, start to also allege Salem villagers. In this play, the author illustrates the central idea that people should not allow jealousy to control their actions.

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“Mary Warren, very faintly: No, sir. Hathorne, with a gleam of victory: And yet, when people accused of witchery confronted you in court, you would faint, saying their spirits came out of their bodies and choked you - Mary Warren: That were pretense, sir. Danforth: I cannot hear you. Mary Warren:

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Hale acknowledges human’s mortality more so than Danforth who believes his word is the final say. Furthermore, Judge Danforth appears to only be concerned with having those who were jailed, confess to being witches whether they were or not. All those who do not confess to conspiring with the devil in his eyes are evil and those “who weep for [them, therefore] weep for corruption” (134). In contrast, Hale is desperate to save the innocent from their inevitable doom because he believes “life is God’s most precious gift” and “no principle [] may justify taking it” (122). He even encourages Elizabeth Proctor to “prevail upon [her] husband to confess” because “God damns a liar less than he that throws his life away for pride” (122).

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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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She turns the court against Mary Warren by telling the court that she sees spirits and claims that Mary summoned the

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Hypocrisy is the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense. In the book the Crucible there are many hypocrites some dishonest some just following any one to be guilty, but one of the many character is Judge Danforth he mocks Marry when he ask "How were you instructed in your life? Do you not know that God damns all liars?"(3-84), since Danforth is in power for being the judge he thinks that everyone else is ignorant and not being equal as him.

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Now this man faces a new dilemma and wrestles with his conscience debating whether to save himself from the gallows with a confession to witchcraft, which he did not commit. Hale and the judges pressure him into confessing to a lie, even though he comes close to doing do. He cannot bring himself to

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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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Many ask for his mercy towards the accused and he denies it to them to keep his reputation, “... Postponement now speaks floundering on my part...” (Miller 667). This shows that Danforth could have ended the hysteria in Salem by admitting that he does not believe that any of the accused are guilty and claiming the accused not

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Arthur Miller’s portrayal of a town in the midst of a downfall “The Crucible”, tells the story of how mob mentality and hysteria can significantly influence not only individuals but the whole town. This mob mentality leads to unthoughtful acts and false accusations. Two characters who demonstrate how mob mentality can lead to the demise of Salem are Abigail and Mary Warren. As Abigail begins to be accused she is pressured to deter from the truth. While Mary Warren gets pressured by Proctor to reveal the truth about Abigail, but the overwhelming pressure from the mob makes her turn from the truth.

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In the eyes of Danforth people are not innocent until proven guilty; they are innocent until accused guilty. In the eyes of Danforth facts and details mean nothing to him. He comes to conclusions that any rational man cannot come to. He has doomed people to death who were innocent just because they did not want to confess to something that they did not do. This is because Danforth’s rule throughout these trials were that if someone was accused of witchcraft, even if they were innocent they had to confess or they were sentenced to death.

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