Explore the Ways in Which the Characters Are Presented in Extract of 'the Crucible'

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This extract from ‘The Crucible’ is from act four and features a tense conversation between Hathorne, Danforth and Parris. Parris has just admitted to the two judges that Abigail has gone vanished. This is a shock to the audience but due to dramatic irony -the fact that we know that Abigail has had an affair with Proctor- the characters are probably more shocked. Throughout this whole extract, there are many revelations of the characters. Just before this extract is a scene in the Salem jail in which the themes of hypocrisy play a big part. This is because Herrick is drunk and says to Tituba he hopes she has ‘a happy voyage’. This is absurd because Tituba and Sarah Good are about to be hung. In the Puritan society that they lived in this in seen as a sin. Also, the mood is quite light but has hints of black humour as Tituba and Sarah Good are playing up to Herrick. Tituba says that a ‘bellowing cow is him’ meaning the devil. This is a big contrast compared to the end of act three when the tension is at a peek. Hale leaves the court and ‘denounces’ the proceedings. This is a huge shock to the audience as Hale was the one to rally the proceedings together. Likewise, Proctor is taken to jail as Mary Warren lies to the court telling them that he ‘wake her every night’. In this extract, we get to see the true characters of Parris, Hathorne and Danforth. Parris proves that he does not care about anyone but himself as he is just worried about them ‘blaming’ him for Abigail’s disappearance. But on the other hand he has no power over Hathorne. This is because his mode of address is formal and by calling him ‘excellency’ shows his fear. The politeness theory can also be applied to him as his manner is almost apologetic. This is reflected in the stage directions when he is ‘pleading’ to Danforth’. Parris’s pauses when he says, ‘whether it not be wise to’ displays his
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