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Who Is Judge Danforth's Reputation In The Crucible

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Perhaps murder was the only way to see the truth in Salem, or perhaps it didn’t prove anything until it was too late. Perhaps the townsfolk were too unintelligent to see the truth, or perhaps they let their pride and reputations get in the way of the truth. People let themselves get controlled by their reputation, which explains Danforth and Abigail perfectly. Judge Danforth and Abigail Williams have an extremely high statues in their town, Salum, in The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. However, they achieve, distribute, and maintain it in similarly ways, but yet still seem so different.

Abigail Williams is a Reverend's daughter and Judge Danforth is as he claims. Their reputations are all they truly have, and both induce fear to maintain it. In the beginning of the play Abigail confesses to dancing naked, and to being out, yet not to witchcraft, and blames it on Tituba. She then tells Mary about what happened, and threatens her life to keep her secret. Danforth, in the beginning of Act III, makes sure Proctor, Hales, and Giles know what his reputation is allowing him to do. He threatens them, …show more content…

Where Danforth cares for others, and wants them all to confess yet refuses to let them live in truth, but he can’t give up his reputation. In Act I, Abigail confesses to being with the Devil and then begins to list off names of women in the village who are witches to prove to the others that she has seen the Devil and whom he conspires with. She also confesses to John Proctor of how she loves him, which is a result of their secret love affair, yet leaves him to die at the end of the play by leaving town. Danforth tries to convince Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Good, and John Proctor to confess to save their lives, but refuse, saying they want their name to be saved. Danforth knows how his word would help the court,but he demands for legal proof, to save his

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Judge Danforth held the highest position of authority. He was the only person who ultimately had the power to stop the craziness, but he chose not to; therefore, even though others were partially responsible, Danforth was most at fault. He liked being in power. In Act 3 he even bragged, “And did you know that four hundred are in jails… upon my signature?... And seventy-two condemned to hang by that signature?”

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508 Words | 3 Pages

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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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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533 Words | 3 Pages

Reverend Hale and Judge Danforth are two authoritative figures in The Crucible whose roles in society are to lead the community in the ways and likeness of God so that the people of Salem can, basically, be good Puritans. Despite their similar intentions, there are also blaring differences which distinctly separate the two and their beliefs. To start, both Hale and Danforth work chiefly to serve God and lead his people on Earth to live holy and just lives. When the question of the Devil and witchcraft arise within Salem, both men come to investigate and cleanse the town of evil. While Judge Danforth considers himself “a minister of the Lord” and does “not take a life without there be proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience

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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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979 Words | 4 Pages

Many citizens desire their judicature to be unbiased, thorough, and fair when deciding the outcomes of trials in court. In the exceedingly famous work, The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays a story in which many people are accused, punished, and even sentenced to death in court for witchcraft and having relationships with the devil. Most of these accused people were known to be undoubtedly innocent to readers, but the judge of the court, Thomas Danforth, was ruthless in sending them to their punishment and death. Many innocent people such as Rebecca Nurse, John Proctor, Giles Corey were killed because of false accusations. Although Thomas Danforth was a very experienced judge in court, he did not fulfill his job as a judge effectively:

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The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment.

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(I.465-472). Seeing Abigail cry, it suggests that Abigail’s affair with John Proctor has influenced her behavior in jealousy and lust as she strives for nothing more than her love for John Proctor. By only being heartbroken, Abigail is not to be fully blamed for the hysteria within the town as her actions are only based on desperate attempts to win John Proctor over, and no intentional harm whatsoever. However, on the other hand, Abigail cannot be excused with outside forces making her the way she is due to the fact that she has clearly had a choice in most of her decisions and actions throughout the witchcraft crisis. When Mary Warren, another girl involved in the forest incident, enters the court, she explains to Danforth, the judge, that the girls are lying and are only pretending to see spirits.

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For example, Abigail Williams had an affair with John Proctor who was married to Elizabeth Proctor at the time and got discovered. However, Abigail Williams still “loved” John Proctor and was rejected. Later, she accuses Elizabeth Proctor for witchcraft, an action she uses as her revenge. These acts of cruelty ultimately affect all the victims and their families in this play as their consequence is to be hung. The vulnerability and sense of helplessness are all revealed in the victims as they are facing their

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626 Words | 3 Pages

Who's to Blame For the Salem Witch Trails? In Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and John Proctor are responsible for the witch trials. Not only is Abigail one of the characters responsible for the witch trails, but she is the one who instigated the witchcraft fervor within Salem. John is one of the characters responsible for the trails because he has an affair with Abigail.

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1451 Words | 6 Pages

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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363 Words | 2 Pages

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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818 Words | 4 Pages

Abigail 's heartless attitude is shown in act two when she frames and accuses Elizabeth Proctor for witchcraft. She desired and longed for this revenge on poor Proctors innocent wife, aiming for her through out the play. Later on in Act Three she seems to lose her last attachment of society by destroying John Proctor, who she claims to love with all her heart. When John attempts and threatens to expose Abigail’s wrong doings, she skillfully manages to turn the whole problem around on him, sending him off

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429 Words | 2 Pages

John Proctor also claims in court that “she only pretended to faint” to try to convince that she is being attacked by witches and devils. Abigail Williams evil actions caused lots of people to suffer. Abigail Williams, a static character does not change by the end of the play because she continues to protect her reputation instead of telling the truth. Throughout the play Abigail choose to continue to lie about the witchcraft instead of telling the truth. She is a static charatcer because she had many chances to stop the trails, and tell the truth.

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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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