Arthur Miller creates the tension Essay

I have chosen to write my essay on a section in Act VI, starting on page 105 from where Elizabeth Proctor enters, ending just before John Proctor enters at the bottom of page 106. This scene in ‘ The Crucible ‘, is a heated dialogue between Deputy-Governor Danforth, Reverend Hale, Reverend Parris, Judge Hathorne and Goodwife Elizabeth Proctor whom the four men are desperately trying to persuade to save her husband, John Proctor’s life. I chose this scene because it makes clear how Arthur Miller uses all the means available to a dramatist to make a section tense. He creates the extreme tension between the characters and makes the mood obvious to the reader using; language devices, the interrogation of characters, pauses, disagreement between characters, stage directions to create images for us to visualise the action, and our previous knowledge of events and relationships between these characters in particular. The scene is set inside a cell in Salem jail. Earlier in Act IV, Miller used stage directions to show us how uncomfortable he wished for the room to look. Also as the season is Autumn, Miller described the weather as bitterly cold and told us that â€Å"the place is in darkness but for the moonlight seeping through the bars.†These conditions add to the tension in the scene as characters are much more likely to be irritable and short-tempered if they are cold, especially as it is night time and a prison in darkness would seem very sinister. People often expect bad happenings at night, such as the dancing in the woods at the beginning of the play, which was a forbidden event in the Puritan society and had terrible after-effects. Also Abigail when threatening the other girls said,†I have seen some reddish work done at night.† We are therefore already expecting the unexpected due to this imagery and theme of darkness, used by Miller to create tension with the setting. The tension has already been built up to this section by the background knowledge that we have from other scenes in the play. Danforth, Hale, Parris and Hathorne are proposing to gain Goody Proctor’s help in saving her husband from hanging the next morning. We have seen John and Elizabeth alone together and the limited information that we have about their relationship leaves the reader with a questioning mind on how she will react to: John being condemned, and to them wanting her to persuade him into a false confession. Miller has given us contrasting pieces of evidence as to whether she cares enough about him to be willing to talk to him: in Act II we see tension between the couple during their dinner when they were falsely polite and formal to each other, and seemed to have unloving relationship with a lack of trust. However, in Act III Elizabeth lies in an attempt to protect John. Elizabeth’s hatred for lying is another reason that could lead the reader to doubt if she will agree to speaking with John, especially as she is a religious person and one of the Ten Commandments is ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness’ – In doing what they wish, Elizabeth would have to persuade another person to lie. Miller has put this scene at this point in the play so it can follow on from the sections that give the reader the knowledge of Elizabeth’s inner tensions are and how they could affect her descisions; we know that Elizabeth is aware of her husband’s principles, but also that her conflicting emotions will tell her to attempt at saving his life. This doubt of what Elizabeth will do will make the audience increasingly tense, as they know her descision over whether to help is crucial: If she agrees to speak with him, John could be saved. However, if she will not speak with him, John will hang the next morning, as there is no-body else who could possibly make him listen and reconsider. The section that I chose starts with Parris saying,†Hush,† on hearing footsteps. This leaves the room in a tense silence, during which the audience will be focused on anticipating what Elizabeth will look like and how she will react to their news of John. Miller uses stage directions to help us visualise Elizabeth’s appearance- â€Å"Her clothes are dirty; her face is pale and gaunt.† Miller also uses this to imply how they may feel uncomfortable in each others company, by showing us the very different positions they are in. We can see the tension due to this when Danforth begins to speak,†(very politely)†, as this is obviously false. She is silent when he adresses her and the tension increases again when Danforth says,†I hope you are hearty?†. This could be seen as ironic and sarcastic from how Miller previously presented her to be visibly unwell. However, from what we already know of Danforth’s character, the reader is more likely to assume that he merely said the wrong thing due to not knowing how to handle the delicate situation- this makes the scene even more tense as the most authotitive person doesn’t seem to know what to say. His words could also be interpreted as a deliberate use of informal/coloquial language which can be effective for means of persuasion- Miller could have been making it look as though Danforth was speaking in a controversial way, and trying to make Elizabeth regard him as a friend. However, pleasantness from Danforth could just result in making Elizabeth more tense, and suspicious of what they want from her. The silence from Elizabeth could result in making Danforth even more tense, especially if he was already uneasy, due to the fact that he may feel that him being involved is unfair because, as he said himself, â€Å"twelve are already hanged for the same crime.† Miller uses silence many other times within this small section to build up tension as we wait for a reaction from a character. Pauses are also used by Miller when a character doesn’t know what to say or is being extremely careful in their response.