"The Crucible yields a number of scenes which are prime examples of Arthur Millers powerful talent as a dramatic writer" . Discuss this statement in respect of 2 or 3 key scenes in "The Crucible".

The crucible provides us with an example of a masterpiece of dramatic writing. In this play Arthur Miller gives us a stimulating example of the use of a variety of theatrical techniques. His most powerful scenes in "The Crucible" have common characteristics: very effective use of stage actions, long build-ups of suspense that come crashing down in thundering climaxes, intense displays of emotion and an abundance of dramatic irony. These are my three chosen scenes: p46-50:"Tituba........Devil!", p98-100:"She thinks.......Oh God" and p101-105:"You will.....Mr Hale!". Because of the importance of these scenes as key moments in the play Miller makes them dramatically superb so that the "No,sir" by Elizabeth that decides the outcome of dozens of lives and of her own and her husband’s, John Proctor is also the climax of the most effective build-up of suspense in the play. The effectivness of these scenes is also enhanced by powerful characters such as John Proctor and Danforth who display such intensity in their emotions and actions that the audience can not help but be moved. But most of all, these scenes show Miller’s theatrical qualities so that by the end of each of these scenes we not only understand his message but also find ourself convinced by his arguments .

The dramatic impact of a play is enhanced when the audience understands all the different aspects of the main characters. It helps them become more involved and at the same time gives the author the chance to display some dramatic irony. Miller uses stage actions to that end in the first chosen scene of "The Crucible". In this scene Tituba’s inner conflict and Hale’s resolution is clearly expressed through the stage actions. Tituba first denies having seen the Devil but under Hale’s harsh questions she "falls to her knees" and "weeps" and is pushed to admit to it, she breaks as is shown in the stage actions: "She is rocking on her knees, sobbing in terror". When she starts to weaken, much to the dismay of the audience and starts to ‘play Hale’s game’ the stage actions change accordingly to Tituba "suddenly bursting out" and in a "furry". We know Tituba to be a good person, eager to save herself yet hesitant to denounce any people that she might have seen with the Devil as she knows it would probably cause their death.

Hale comes across as a man proud to be a minister; he "rises with exaltation" when speaking to Tituba and takes pity on her as is shown by the stage actions when he takes her hand which causes Tituba to relax , yet at the same time he is very "resolute". We see Parris as the sort of person who will do anything to advance in society and clear his name after Hale says: "It is the best the Devil wants, and who is better than the minister?". The false screaming of the girls is also apparent through the stage actions so that we understand the hypocritical side of their personnality: "staring as though inspired..... She is enraptured, as though in pearly light". The "though" clearly shows that they are merely acting. We also understand Betty’s coma was acting because she calls out "hysterically and with great relief" which marks her "relief" at finally being able to blame her false condition on somebody else and stop pretending to be asleep because of her fear of punishment. The power of the last part of the scene is marked by the curtain begining to fall just before the end and by the shrills of the girls which are "rising to a great glee" as the curtain falls.

Miller’s talent as a dramatic writer is clearly shown by the tremendous tension felt in this scene. Here, it is Abigail that starts the real build-up of tension that does not shatter at the end of the scene to the horror of the audience who can imagine what will follow. It starts when Abigail "enraptured" shouts: "I want the light...Devil" which completly breaks the previous slowness of Tituba’s confession and brings on the hysterical cries of, "I saw.......with the Devil" which becomes faster as all the girls join in and the scene ends "on their ecstatic cries". Miller, expertly makes Tituba’s confession slow and brocken up by her poor English, and suddenly he quickens the pace into the hysteria that follows. This change of pace from an already tense situation to one so tense that the audience can already feel a sense of doom shows his dramatic talent.The audience feels like shouting at Hale the ‘obvious’, that the girls are frauds and Tituba’s confession not valid, the audience can already sense that this is the beginnig of a gruesome affair that was started by Hale’s naivety. Thus, in this scene there is an amazing contrast between what the audience knows to be true and what appearences seem in the play to the characters. The fact that the audience at this point in the play is not only engrossed by the story but also wishes to take an active part in it shows the power of the tension in this scene and Miller’s skilll in creating a fantastic sense of outrage among the audience.

The stage actions in the second chosen scene of "The Crucible" not only help us understand the characters and the situation better but also enhance the suspense build-up thus making this scene much more dramatically powerful . The tension of the moment is clearly expressed through the stage actions when Danforth is "blanched in terror" because previously there had been little or no mention of Danforth’s emotions and suddenly this horror clearly marks the importance of what Proctor just said and later on when "Danforth seems unsteady" and "Danforth cannot speak" clearly marks the overall importance of this passage. The real character of Abigail can also be sensed through the stage actions, she appears mean and witch-like: "she comes up short, fire in her eyes". The suspense build-up in the second part of the passage is also made more effective by the stage actions:" Elizabeth, not knowing what to say, sensing a situation wetting her lips to stall for time" and "In a crisis of indecision she cannot speak".This waiting, expressed through the stage actions slowly builds up the suspense for the audience until she mutters: "No, sir".

Suspense is one of the most effective tools in captivating an audience, here, Miller uses it with great skill thus showing his talent as a dramatic writer . In the second part of this chosen scene, the build-up of the suspense from when Elizabeth enters the room to when she says, "No, sir", is one of the most nerve-racking passages in "The Crucible". We, the audience know that Elizabeth have "never lied" and, indeed, "cannot lie" but her attempts not to answer Danforth make the suspense build up to a shattering climax especially from when Danforth asks: "Your husband..." to when she answers: "No". Elizabeth does not know whether to answer Yes or No because both Proctor and Abigail have their heads turned towards the wall and she knows that if she gives the wrong answer everything will be lost. Here Miller plays again with what we know and the character doesn’t thus displaying dramatic irony and here we know the right answer and wait impatiently to see whether Elizabeth will or will not tell the truth which we know will decide upon the outcome of the play. When the hope of seeing everything end and Danforth realizing the girls are frauds, something we have known since the very begining collapses,the anger we feel following her answer is followed by a sense of doom as we realize what will probably become of her and her husband. The depth of feeling experienced by the audience is expressive of the dramatic quality of the passage.

The third chosen scene marks one of the most tension-filled moments of the play which ends with Proctor being arrested. The stage actions help us see what the characters cannot and again help us understand their reactions. Because we know that what the girls are seeing is make-belief, we react more violently to their actions thus proving both the scene’s and Milller’s quality. The stage actions help us see that the bird is make-belief when the girls point everywhere and bend down "as though in fear the bird will swoop down momentarily". Here again the "though" is expressice of their hypocracy. We understand why the juges believe the girls and their amazing acting after we hear Abigail’s "weird, wild, chilling cry". The increasing hysteria and frustration of Proctor and Mary can also be sensed through the stage actions as Mary grows from being horrified to hysterical. In page 104, Mary acts "hysterically" 3 times and Miller helps us understand the irony of the situation when "Abigail out of her infinite charity, reaches out and draws the sobbing Mary to her".

In the third chosen scene one can already feel the tension and hysteria yet Miller makes them even stronger as he expertly puts all the pressure on Mary thus putting all of the audience’s hopes of seeing the play end well on one weak person who is subject to pressure from all sides. The way Miller makes the girls force Mary into insanity is truely remarkable. The girls point and scream at the bird which is very nerve-racking for Mary and the way Danforth seems to believe them makes it even harder for her to keep to what she said earlier on. Here, it is Danforth’s lack of discrimination that causes Mary to go insane, he believes the girls acting and tells her to stop sending out her evil spirit. The way the girls, next, and very childishly yet very effectively repeat everything Mary says pushes her even closer to madness and even makes Danforth "grow hysterical". Here, the suspense builds-up similarly to the second chosen scene and the audience waits impatiently to see whether Mary will crack under pressure which she eventually does. The pressure on Mary increases the tension and suspense thus also the dramatic quality of the passage. However the key element in this scene is Mary’s weakness and vulnerability which both the audience and the characters can sense. She tries to assume the role of a strong character like Proctor but fails. The suspense as to whether she will hold as the girls exploit her weakness is overwhelming and expresses the central theme of the play succinctly.

As mentioned above, an audience’s involvment is proof of the dramatic quality of a passage. Miller, in "The Crucible" enhances the involvment of the audience by creating very opposite characters. Thus, most of the people are either likeable or non-likeable which makes the choice of sides that much easier for the audience who will without doubt sympathise with Proctor and be revolted by Abigail.

Proctor can easily be described as the The Crucible’s hero, Miller makes him the most likeable character thus in the second chosen scene we instantly like Proctor and from this scene alone we know that Proctor is a proud and honourable man. His speech from the beginning to "see it now" is very powerful and marks the painful guilt he feels for his crime of lechery and his willingness to make "a bell of his honour" to save Elizabeth and all his friends. The fact that in his anger he does not swear but speaks of God and sinning is the sign of a good man: "God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat" as opposed to Abigail who has "fire in her eyes" and screams: "What look do you give me?". And after Elizabeth lies he isn’t angry with his wife because he knows it’s all his fault, he just says: "Elizabeth, I have confessed it". The proof of the effect of his genuine agony and frustration during his first speech is that Danforth himself seems to believe him, he is "blanched, in horror". This almost forces us to like Proctor.

Throughout all the three chosen scenes Aby is the enemy, the centre of the audience’s hatred and the leader of the other girls. Miller makes it clear to us from the beginning that she’s lying and in case we forget he reminds with the stage actions; "as though inspired","as though in a pearly light". She is the leader and is the one that starts the "I saw.......with the Devil". When we discover Proctor "has known her" and she is a "harlot" our esteem of her decreases even further. Here again her stage actions make her seem evil, witch-like: "She comes up short, fire in her eyes". When Elizabeth says: "No, sir", we feel at once that Abigail is going to counter-attack which she does "with a weird chilling cry". The fact that she is cunning makes us dislike her even more. When she accepts Mary "out of her infinite charity", the audience almost wants to strike her, this violent anger is proof of Miller’s talent in controlling the audience’s emotions.

The other characters aren’t as plainly good or bad, however Miller still shows us which side to take thus in the second chosen scene ,Danforth is the foe, he believes the girls and even after receiving proof that they are lying, because he is a proudman who does not readily admit that he is wrong, does nothing. Yet, he is also disliked as the fool who always believes the girls acting and acts hysterically when they see the bird. In the first chosen scene, Parris, is the immoral and greedy preacher,he tries to prove that Tituba is guilty thus moving the blame away from him and his friends although even from the beginning he knows the truth. Hale is both good and evil, he tries to do his job rightly yet at the same time he pushes Tituba to falsely confessing herself. We laugh at his naivety when he says: "Glory to God! It is brocken, they are free!" and blame him for starting the whole affair. However, in the second and third chosen scene our view of him changes as Miller puts him with Proctor on the ‘good side’, he tries to tell Danforth that he believes Proctor and when he (Proctor) is arrested he shouts "I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court" and "slams the door to the outside behind him". The audience likes him because he believes Proctor, the play’s hero which is further proof of Proctor’s likeability. Hale is also with Proctor the only one to admit to being wrong, thus he admits he was wrong in believing there were witches in Salem and says to Danforth: "I beg you, stop before another is condemmned!". Hale is also weak, he knows he was wrong yet cannot bring himself to say so publicly. His faith in the Church prevents him from accusing Danforth and his way of finding a compromise which willl make him feel better without disregarding all he has believed in during the past 20 years of his life is to leave the court but at the same time encourage the accused to confess.

In "The Crucible", Miller explores the various flaws in human nature and ultimately shows us what he thinks is or was wrong in society. He draws a parallel between society back then and Mccarthyism in his time and shows how their problemes were related. He manages to convince us, the audience thus demonstrating his theatrical qualities.

He shows us in the first chosen scene how humans often lack courage whether it is to admit to something one did wrong or to say the truth in front of peril thus Tituba prefers to confess to something she did not do than maybe hang. He also shows us how perfectly good people can become murderous when facing punishment thus the girls, because of their shame and their fear of punishment,give Hale names of people in the village who they know will eventually hang, it is their lack of courage which starts the whole affair.

Self-interest is another area Mliller explores in "The Crucible", he shows how some people will do anything if it will help them advance in society or chose to ignore anything that might harm their carreer or pride. In the second chosen scene Danforth choses to ignore the facts presented to him because he knows that if it is found that he unjustly signed the death order of dozens of innocent men and women his reputation would be on line. Danforth’s evident self-interest is presented in contrast to Proctor who made "a bell of his honour" to save his friends. In the first chosen scene, Parris, after he finds out that it is in his interest for the girls to see witches because that way he can rid himself of his enemies, move the guilt away from Betty and establish himself as the village leader decides not to tell the others that he saw Aby dancing naked and conjuring spirits to kill Sarah Proctor even when Proctor’s life is at stake.

However, it is the medieval Church which suffers the most critique in "The Crucible", Miller shows us the problemes of the medieval Church through Parris and Hale and points at the similarities between its problemes and the problems of the U.S goverment during Mcarthyism. In "The Crucible", the two representatives of the Church are Parris, a greedy preacher who dreams of elevating himself in society and Hale, a man so entrenched in his ideas and pride that he ignores reality. He makes these men a reflection of the medieval Church, an institution which never tried to explore the motives behind acts beyond it’s own ideas and ideals. Therefore they skimmed the surface of human nature to find what they wanted to find and looked for nothing more. They were also greedy, self-interested and lacked an open mind thus Hale does not consider the point of view that Tituba is cofessing herself to save herself from being hanged and that the girls are so ashamed of what they’ve done that they put the blame on other people which seems to be typical of the human nature that Miller is portraying in this play.

He pushes his critique even further in the second chosen scene, to the justice system which he sees as narrow minded as the medieval Church. He shows how the justice system refuses to seek deeper motives than witch-craft thus instead of trying to prove that there are no witches in Salem it does all in its power to find witches similarly to the courts during the Mccarthy period. Miller also portrayes the justice system as naive, not understanding that the girls when asked if they’re "pretending" will never answer "yes" because they are too deep in their story already and at the same time probably love the power given to them, the power to kill, which shows another flaw in human nature, the thirst for power.

"The Crucible" is considered by many Miller’s masterpiece, it both displays his dramatic and theatrical qualities in such a way as to make it disturbing and socially relevant. In it one can find his views on society as a whole and on current events such as Mccarthyism which similarily to the medieval Church and justice system searched for individuals who by their ideals and ideas they felt threatened the supremacy of their system. Miller made "The Crucible" the starting point for the audience to reflect on their own society and culture. But at the same time Miller polished his deep philosophical work with superb stage directions, likeable characters and nerve-racking suspense.

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