Arthur Miller's The Crucible

Arthur Miller's The Crucible

The Deputy Governor Danforth is an interesting character in Arthur

Miller's play "The Crucible". His character is complex and his role in

the play is open to interpretation. It is clear that Danforth is not

only misguided but deliberately ignores any evidence that casts doubt

on the stories of Abigail Williams and the other girls. Danforth is a

religious, respected man who is two positions down from the King. This

means that he should be respected, and is by many. Yet, his judgements

are contradicted by other characters, such as Reverend Hale, who

believes that Danforth is unfair.

Danforth is mentioned for the first time in the play in Act Two by

Elizabeth Proctor. She says of how important he is. The following

quote displays this, "Aye, it is a proper court they have now. They've

sent four judges out of Boston, she says, weighty magistrates of the

General Court, and at the head sits

the Deputy Governor of the Province." This is said by Elizabeth

Proctor to John Proctor. John's reaction being, "(astonished) Why,

she's mad." These small extracts show how people feel about having

such an important person leading the trials.

In the opening of Act Three we learn that Danforth has sentenced

seventy-two people to hang, just as it was said that he would in Act

Two by Elizabeth Proctor. And nearly four hundred people have been

sentenced to jail. Already we can see that Danforth does not falter.

He gets on with what he is supposed to do with no hesitation. Also at

the beginning of this Act, Miller makes it clear that Danforth is very

conscious of his own reputation and authority; he asks Francis Nurse.

"Do you know that near to four hundred are in jail… upon my signature…

and seventy-two condemned to hang?" By putting this at the start of

the Act, Miller may be trying to get the idea that Danforth is proud

of his reputation, and may use it to prove that he is right and

whoever is opposing him is wrong.