Mukundwa

Topic 1 – Stage Directions

The words used for my character descriptions serve as literary devices whose purpose is to overshadow upcoming events in my play. The description of the characters' behavior as well as persona in Act 1 are microcosms of the overall and future environment of Salem, each character trait pointing to the mood of an approaching event. Parris's mood, and Susana and Mercy's character description highlight the three stages of the play, whereas Abigail and the group of girls (Mercy, Susana and Mary) are the transitional elements, or catalysts that create the shift between themes. The play begins with stage directions stating that Parris is praying in a state of perplexity. The first of three phases the Salem community experience is embodied in Parris' mental state in Act 1. The stage directions that state “a sense of confusion hangs about him” introduces us to the first phase: confusion. Salem in 1692 was very unsettled. There was also a lot of dispute over land boundaries and grazing rites which lead to land being revoked and a risen suspicion and bitter towards ones neighbor. Also, in an environment of religious extremism governmental interference with individual liberties was common practice. In addition, there was also an air of witchcraft, “combining with the anti-Christ” and suspicion of “transactions with the devil” which many where accused of. These where the components which brought about confusion in the town. The second phase in the play is shown symbolically through Susana, who I characterize as nervous. In-between the confusion and the edginess of the town, the illness of Betty and Ruth as well as Abigails anger at her rejection by Proctor act as the transitional elements between the two themes. A mix of mass hysteria and Abigails dejection lead the four girls to name people they have seen “compacting with the Devil”. This is when the interrogations begin and people are taken to jail on false count of witchery. As news spreads and the trend of name-calling heightens people become nervous and unsettled, knowing that a false move or statement said to the wrong person could earn them a place in jail. The third and final mood of events is mercilessness, embodied ironically in Mercy who I characterize as merciless. This ruthlessness and lack of compassion is felt mainly by the jury, whose sense is clouded by many things: their general abhorrence of Proctor, the assumed innocence of young girls and their focus on securing their social positions. The transition from edginess to mercilessness is created through the further pretense and false accusations of Proctor and Goody Proctor by the girls, all fueled by Abigail, the ring leader, “a wild thing saying wild things”, seeking revenge.

Topic 2 - Catalyst In Salem "land lust" and confusion over deeds has bred resentment and personal vendettas against people in the community. This serves as the primary catalyst of the Salem witch trials as the accusations were prompted by "long-held hatreds of neighbors". Francis and Rebecca Nurse are God-fearing, respected members of the community while Proctor is skeptical, sharp-tongued and fairly unpopular amongst those with power. One of the only similarities between Proctor and Rebecca is that they have both had to defend their land countless times against people wanting to unjustly claim it. Thomas Putnam, "a man quick to accuse", believes that part of Proctors land is rightfully his and resentful towards the Nurses because they own three hundred acres of land. Putnam is begrudging towards the Nurses because they were supporting a faction of people who prevented Putnam’s political ally from coming into power and lost a land war to another faction of well off landowners, the Nurses amongst them. Putnam goes so far as to instruct his daughter to collapse and convulse in court, accusing Rebecca of witchery. Also, Mrs. Putnam, Thomas’s ‘twisted’, woeful wife, blames Mrs. Nurse for murdering her children by supernatural means as she was the midwife to several of her still-births. We can therefore see that these witch claims have no base but enmity, that "suspicions and the envy of the miserable burst out in general revenge". It is most obvious when Goody Proctor is declared a witch. When Abigail, a teenage girl, has her sexual advances rejected by John Proctor, she damns his wife for witchery to get back at him. In court, despite clear evidence given by Proctor and Mary Warren herself, people are blinded by their resentment of Proctor. There has always been illness in Salem which the medical knowledge at the time could not comprehend. However, no previous medical cases deemed as witchery ever escalated to a degree where people were murdered on suspicion and outlandish claims. The widespread blame coupled with the fact that the accused were either generally unpopular or disfavored amongst the powerful and influential, proved that the foundations of the witch trials was personal vendetta. Furthermore, this reinforces the fact that the catalyst of The Crucible was retribution, be it financial, like in Proctors case, or emotional, like Abigails’.

Topic 3 You are the director of the play. Choose an extract of between 1 and 2 pages from anywhere in the play and write a short paragraph explaining how you would direct this extract to convey an underlying sense of tension and hysteria.

Between p.20 to 23 there is an exchange between Proctor and Abigail. The multifaceted conversation sheds light on their torrid past as well as Proctors guilt and desire. In Parris’ room Abigail’s aggressive exchange with Betty, Mercy and Mary is cut short by Proctors entrance. I would have Mary and Mercy exit as they do originally. Then I would have Proctor remain at the door, leaning casually against the doorframe. Abigail, not breaking eye contact with Proctor, says, “I almost forgot how strong you are Proctor” the beginnings of a smile appearing. Not breaking eye contact, either, Proctor would ask, “What is this mischief here?” This comment would be delivered with a tone that would make it ambiguous, though still conveying some sort of teasing nature. When Abigail replies she is now sporting a very genuine smile, her face open. At this, Proctor averts his gaze to Betty. This is his first mood change towards Abigail and conveys his want for flirtation but nothing serious and committed with her. He is kneeling next to Betty and does not look back at Abigail until she mentions the dancing in the woods. He gets up and calls her “wicked yet” with a neutral yet slightly playful tone. Abigail takes this as an invitation and as Proctor stands and turns towards the door Abigail starts towards him. He stops, sensing her closeness. His halt conveys his state of being torn between desire and what is right. She is an inch away now and prompt him to ‘give her a word’, delivering this line breathily into his neck. He pauses and then slightly shakes his head, and not looking at her tells her “that’s done with”. Lustfully, and again warmly against his neck she says “you come five mile to see a silly girl fly?”. And as she begins to say "I know you better" Proctor strides to the window behind her, still making no eye contact. Looking outside, distressed, he says he is only here to see what mischief her uncle is up to. He performs this action to get as far away from her as possible in order to compose himself and think of a measured way to reject her, in order to mask his desire. He then turns his head half way to her, and tells her to “put it out of mind”. She is now at Betty’s side, not to comfort her but to get closer to him. She delivers the line “John, I am waiting for you every night” in a quiet, pleading way, which portrays her honest yearning for him. He replies sternly “Abby, I never give you any hope to wait for me” and with his reply, she is stung. “I have something better than hope, I think!”. When she delivers this line she is tight lipped and wild-eyed and for several lines she is inching toward him until she says, “a wild thing may say wild things” and, her indignation giving her strength, pushes him around to face her. In the next line about her being able to sense his intense want for her, she, in a hushed voice, pronounces every word, holding a fistful of his coat aggressively yet desperately, too. John begins to blink and breathe lightly as he falters under her feral gaze. Guiltily, he whispers, “I may have looked”, and taking advantage of his weakness, she draws in, releasing his coat but moving her hands soothingly across his chest. The dialogue goes on like this until Proctor collects himself. Proceeding to remove her hands, saying “Child”. At this Abigail flares up and tears her hands from his. He replies and his unsettledness by her strong reaction is exposed by his furrowed brow. When he replies that “we never touched” his caution can be noted in the precision of his words. Abigail is now upset and desperate which makes her veneer of finesse and confidence disappear. Her frustration at failing to sway him is seen when she picks unwise words to say to him, calling his wife a “cold sniveling woman”. At this Proctor grabs Abigail by her face and shakes her roughly. It would have been even more aggressive if he had grabbed her shoulders or wrists but the fact that he grabs her face symbolizes his desire to be close to her and touch her. This shows that although she infuriates him at times he still wants her, perhaps that makes his desire for her stronger. A silence falls and the sexual tension between them is tangible. A moaning Betty interrupts them. At this his hands leave her face and all tension between them dissipates as the focus is averted.

Topic 4

Choose one theme and discuss how it is developed throughout the play using clear and appropriate examples. In The Crucible, blame shifting is the norm in Salem during the witch trials’ beginning and apex, and since it is a pervasive action performed by nearly every character, it can be categorized as a theme. With talk of witchcraft and the presence of the devil, Salem was an unstable place to live in during the 1690s: there was a constant fear of being called a witch by a begrudged neighbor or rival. Once accused of witchery the person would have to name others that “compact with the devil”. The blame is passed around tenaciously without pause until it lands on a man who is quite suspect when it comes to religious conscientiousness. The blame largely rests on Proctor, who also tries to blame Abigail, albeit truthfully, but to no avail. At first, at the very inception of the witch trials, Parris suspects Abigail, who falsely denies all accusations. In Parris’ room where Betty lays, surrounded by Abigail and Mercy, Mary Warren enters and indirectly blames Abigail for Betty’s state, saying “I never done none of it, Abby, I only looked!”. Then Betty stirs and quite hysterically accuses Abigail, saying “You drank blood, Abby, you never told Parris that!”. Abigail has a strong reaction to this and ‘smashes her across the face’ because she knows she herself is guilty, guiltier than Mary and Mercy because she encouraged it all. When Hale questions her she finds herself in a corner: suspected by Parris, found-out by Betty and having lost the support of Mary, Abigail knows that it is a matter of time before she is charged and hanged for witchery. she says, “I never called the Devil, Titiba did…. She asked me to drink blood but I refused”. The blame shifts to Tituba who in turn accuses Sarah Good and Goody Osbourne. This triggers a sudden accusatory chorus from Abigail and Betty who begin listing names rapidly. There is a hope held by all in Salem that by condemning another you could save yourself. This is very obvious towards the end of the play during the peak of the witch trials when Mary confesses to Hale that she and the other girls where making up stories of witches and falsely accusing people. As she sees the tables turn, as the girls pretend to be bewitched and Hale starts to suspect Proctor Mary quickly joins them. Furthermore, she accuses Proctor, saying “he come to me every night scratching at my neck telling me to sign the Devils book with my blood”. At this Mary is free of any judicial damnation as it has been transferred onto Proctor can’t compete with the girls’ antics. The consequences of refusing to take part in name calling is seen with Giles Corey, who is charged with contempt for refusing to give the name of his informant. For this he hangs. Blame shifting in The Crucible can be seen as a universal microcosm of all serious situations where a lot is at stake. As humans we tend to accuse others to save ourselves, but Miller shows the consequence of these actions when applied to dire situations.

Topic 5

How relevant do you feel this play is to contemporary society. Feel free to mention symbolism or themes.

The Crucible is very relevant in contemporary society as mass hysteria and reputation still play major roles in our judiciary systems, leading to the miscarriage of justice. There are many parallels to be drawn between this play and cases of wrongful corporal execution, namely with the case of Cameron Willingham. The similarities between the cases of Proctor and Willingham are that both men were wrongfully accused, despite insufficient evidence against them they were still prosecuted and their cases received a lot of emotional response due to mass hysteria and anger. In Texas 1991 Cameron Willingham, an unemployed technician woke up to find his house on fire and could not save his three two-year old daughters because the fire had blocked off their room. The two investigators assigned to this case claimed to be expert arsonists but under later inquiry were found to be quite amateur. Therefore, in both Proctor and Willingham’s case the evidence was weak and insufficiently supported. In The Crucible people often misconstrued coincidental events together and then drew outlandish conclusions, like the fact that Proctor avoided church meant that he had an aversion to God and therefore “worked for the devil”. With Cameron Willingham, his unemployment and bad economic state ‘made it obvious’ that he killed his children to relieve his monetary burdens. This was not true as his wife worked and even stated that their children where spoiled rotten, but the statement was ignored, just like the fact that Proctor built the church (and therefore did not detest God) was conveniently forgotten. Proctor could not recite the full ‘10 Commandments’, which made him more likely to deal with the devil, and Willingham had a skull-and-snake tattoo which made him a certified sociopath. Proctor had a strong opinion about the church and was quite vocal about it, but people took it that he had a disregard for religion, which was not the case. Willingham had hit his wife before, but this was blown up by the investigators and the media who said he had kicked her stomach repeatedly when she was pregnant in order to trigger a miscarriage. Even though this was proven wrong by his wife’s statement, just like the allegations against Proctor where proven wrong when he stated that “he prays in his house”, the widespread mass hysteria blinded all, from the common folk to the judges, from the truth. When Willinghams case became public there was a very strong public response. Generally when there is even the faintest possibility of a child having been mistreated people get very upset and radical in their responses. In the Crucible many refused to believe Proctors innocence because he was accused of hurting four young girls, supposedly innocent because of their age. Many in the community loathed Willingham because he didn’t save his daughters, moreover, because he escaped the fire nearly unscathed when they burned to death. Such feelings escalated and the actual court case became a blur of evidence and emotion, as investigators began labeling him a ‘guilty monster’. This is also seen in the play when Parris tries to sidetrack Danforth with claims about Proctor and when Danforth himself tries to save face rather than do what’s just. Through looking at ‘wrongfully accused’ cases we can see how The Crucible is still applicable. By noting how evidence may, ironically, play a small part while reputation and community response tend to be the crucial factor in some court cases, we see how relevant and truthful //The Crucible// still holds in the 21st century. Well done Mukundwa - some interesting points here and a clear understanding of the salient points underpinning the play. I would suggest you reread your paragraphs because you tend to over explain and you need to make sure that your writing is succinct. What is fascinating is that you have such a sophistication of thought and understanding of increasingly complex ideas. Your diction is excellent but make sure that it doesn't overload your paragraphs. Perhaps more attention to proofreading. K&U - 5 Lit Features - 4 Interpretation - 5 14\15