Martin Mathes
Elisabethstraße 72
45139 Essen
Matrikelnummer 1163218
The Crucible and The Adding Machine
Court Scenes in
Two American Dramas
of the 20th
Century
Seminar: American Drama of the 20th
Century
Dozent: Dr. Nate
Martin Mathes Court Scenes in Two American Dramas 21.07.02
2
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 3
The Adding Machine......................................................................................... 3
Elmer Rice ........................................................................................................ 3
The Crucible ..................................................................................................... 4
Arthur Miller..................................................................................................... 4
COURT SCENES ..................................................................................................... 5
FUNCTIONS OF COURT SCENES ...................................................................... 8
Technical Purposes........................................................................................... 8
The Switching of Position ................................................................................. 9
The additional possibilities of a court scene..................................................... 9
The position of the protagonist ......................................................................... 9
The position of the antagonist........................................................................... 9
THE LEGAL SYSTEM OF ANGLO-AMERICA ............................................. 11
THE PLACEMENT OF THE COURT SCENE IN THE ADDING MACHINE13
THE JUDGE IN "THE ADDING MACHINE" .............................................................. 14
THE ACCUSED IN THE ADDING MACHINE ............................................................ 15
THE AUDIENCE IN THE ADDING MACHINE ........................................................... 16
The "real" audience ........................................................................................ 16
A POSSIBLE INTERPRETATION .............................................................................. 17
THE PLACEMENT OF THE COURT SCENE IN THE CRUCIBLE............. 18
THE PLACE OF THE COURT SCENE ........................................................................ 19
THE JUDGES IN THE CRUCIBLE ............................................................................. 19
Judge Danforth ............................................................................................... 20
Judge Hathorn ................................................................................................ 20
THE ACCUSED IN THE CRUCIBLE .......................................................................... 21
John Proctor ................................................................................................... 21
THE AUDIENCE IN THE CRUCIBLE......................................................................... 22
A POSSIBLE INTERPRETATION .............................................................................. 24
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................... 25
THE PLAYS ........................................................................................................... 26
SOURCES ............................................................................................................... 27
INTRODUCTION
This paper attempts to examine the court scenes and their role in two
American dramas of the 20th
century. Court scenes are often used as central
pieces of dramas and whole dramas are even constructed around them.
The two dramas that are examined in this paper are part of very different
cultural periods of the 20th
century. Whereas Elmer Rice's drama is an
example of the Roaring Twenties' surrealistic movement, Arthur Miller's
drama from the time of the cold war is a realistic adaptation of authentic
history.
The Adding Machine
This is a surrealistic drama by Elmer Rice. The figures are mere types
and show only the most rudimentary traits. The setting of the drama is a
strange society and world, unknown and unfamiliar to us. It may be a future:
an unwanted and undesirable future, without a "normal" society. The
protagonist - "hero" or "main character" would definitely provoke the wrong
associations - Mr Zero is an account clerk in an office. He kills his boss in a
temper and is brought before the court. This court scene is used as a vehicle
for showing the audience the background of the society and culture in which
the drama takes place.
Elmer Rice
A playwright with a Jewish background. Rice was also deeply rooted in
the US American liberal traditions and WASP's view of the world. His
grandfather emigrated from Germany in 1848. Rice attended a Reform
Sunday school but later in his life he was neither active in the Christian nor
Jewish religion. His biographers state that although he had ties with the
socialist movement, he dreamed of a Utopian Americanism1. He was a
lawyer before he decided to concentrate on his career as a writer. Several of
his dramas - including his debut drama "On Trial" from 1914 - take place as
1 Belasco, D. Two from the Attic
least partly at court. As one of the leading authors of the twenties and
thirties he was also one of the initiators of the Federal Theatre Project.2
The Crucible
This realistic drama was written by Arthur Miller in the early 1950s and
is based on the real events of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. The figures
are modelled after the persons of the time. Some are slightly modified and
some are condensed, artificial figures created after real persons.
The puritans of Salem are driven into a witch hunt frenzy by the
forbidden activities of some youngsters. Their performance of pagan rituals
triggers off a deadly competition in religious orthodoxy and purity of belief.
Arthur Miller
As Arthur Miller is a well known artist, there is no need to give much
information about his life here. For the purpose of this paper it is interesting
to point out his political activities.
Whereas Rice was one of the initiators of the Federal Theatre Project,
Miller joined the Federal Theatre Project near its end in 1938. During the
McCarthy era, Miller was one of the front men of the intellectuals against
the HUAC (House of Un-American Activities Committee).
2 Belasco, D. Two from the Attic
COURT SCENES
Judge, jury, public prosecutor, advocate, accused, accuser, witness, and
crowd, locked in an - often mortal - combat to find the truth or come to a
decision. A vast number of dramas and novels use these combats as a
turning point in a protagonist's life. A number of plays and novels do not
contain more than the depiction of a court procedure. Few other situations
give that many opportunities to show the characteristics, traits and
motivations of a protagonist, an antagonist and the crowd. Some of these
dramas are only slightly modified - often shortened and condensed -
depictions of real trials. The writers use these processes as models for a
drama because they want to stress that the depicted events are important
moments in the history of the world, mankind, the civilisation, society, or a
specific state. Some other scenes of processes are merely products of the
fantasy of the author, written to illustrate the human character, his motives,
his vanity or his nobility.
A playwright with contact to Christianity3,4
will surely be familiar with
two biblical court scenes that are closely connected. The first is the decision
on the fate of Jesus. Pilate, who hesitates to sentence Jesus to death, as he
sees no fault in his doings, finally decides on political instead of juridical
motives. The second is the answer to this human judgement. It is the divine
judgement described in the Revelation, where Jesus is the Judge who
decides whether one will exist in a state of eternal happiness or will be
condemned to eternal suffering. This decision is made based on the doings
of an individual and is depicted as just and yet merciful.
Most dramas which include a court scene focus on one of two crimes,
either a case of murder or - more subtly - the crime of nonconformity, be it
3 Although Rice and Miller are Jewish, both have grown up in a
Christian surrounding and have no strong ties to Jewish religious ideas.
4 The Old Testament has a large section of ritual and mundane laws
but only one real court scene, the decision of King Solomon.
the performance of the so called dark arts, pagan rites, heresy, or treason.
Some other historical processes that have been shaped into dramas or novels
are those of Jeanne d'Arc and Galileo.
Real cases of murder and serious crimes are usually only dramatized,
when the case is of such absurdity or cruelty or for any other reason of
public interest, that it has a chance of success - be it economic or artistic.
The everyday murder of a drive-by-shooting, the family homicide in a non
descript suburb may occur in a novel or drama. In such cases however, the
action of murder or the development towards the crime is dramatised, not
the court scene itself.
Dramas dealing with homicide are more often constructed and purely
fictional. Depending on his intention, the author, producer, or director has
the possibility of arranging the case in a way that a maximum of tension is
created. Not necessarily only tension in the sense of "Who murdered Dr
Black?"5 but often to confront the audience with a moral dilemma.
Akiro Kurosava's film "Rashomon"6 may be regarded as a prominent
example of the second genre. The film describes a crime of rape and murder
from different points of perception. The audience7 is confronted with the
task of finding out the truth, or deciding whether there is any truth at all,
while each of the involved persons - the victim (as a ghost), the woman, the
criminal and the witness - presents his or her individual story. Each of the
respective scenes forces the audience to switch the viewpoint and each
viewpoint presents another perception of the event. None of these match the
5 The task in the Cluedo game.
6 Screenplay by Akiro Kurosawa and Shinobu Hashimoto based on
the stories "Rashomon" and "In a Grove" by Ryunosuke Akutagawa.
7 Similar to the court scene in The Adding Machine, no real judge is
shown, the trial is shown as seen from the judges position.
others. As a consequence, the audience cannot ignore any of the positions.
This is a seldom-used form of total segregation of the different positions.
In a conventional drama - stage or movie - all positions are presented in
one scene, simultaneously and overlapping. A playwright usually has the
problem of giving the audience a chance to identify with every person and
position while, at the same time, getting his meaning across.
It should not be overlooked that a courtroom trial itself bears a strong
resemblance to a conventional drama. There is, for instance, a stage of
actors, each with a known position and function. There are even texts
learned by heart from each side. And there is the audience seated at the back
of the courtroom watching as the drama of reality unfolds before them8.
A court is a place where a society performs a test of its own. The tested
are the accused, and at the same time the society, whether the laws are just
and the values are agreed by the majority. The decision as to whether an
action should be considered right or wrong, criminal or legal, is made not
only by the judgement - be it by a professional judge or a jury, the written
and unwritten laws - but also by the people attending the court.
8 Courtroom serials – real, with real cases or with made up cases – are
highly favored by TV viewers.
FUNCTIONS OF COURT SCENES
Technical Purposes
Court scenes may be used in many ways. One is the providing of
information that would be hard or even impossible to depict on stage and, as
they are presented in a court, this information seem to be more reliable than
a mere narration or mention. The general experience of the audience is used
to achieve this. In several famous dramas and even films9 the crime in
question is never shown. The fact that the trial takes places is taken as proof
that the event in question really took place.
In addition, the classic idea to give a drama a specific time scheme can
often be better realised through a dramatised court scene than a multi-placed
plot. A court scene can condense all the facets of an epic story into a small
room. Multiple stages can be virtually created through the evidences of the
witnesses. Multiple interactions of the protagonist and the other figures can
be presented through the parenthetical appearance of figures and their
actions in evidences.
Die irreversible Linearität des Textablaufs im plurimedialen
dramatischen Text, die sich aus der kollektiven Rezeption ergibt,
macht die Transparenz der Informationsvergabe zu einem wichtigen
dramaturgischen Problem.
Pfister, M., Das Drama, p. 63
9 Films, in general, offer more possibilities to show the crime that is
the subject of the trial.
The Switching of Position
A conventional drama requires or forces the audience to identify with
one of the figures. The identification is fixed throughout the scene and any
deviation of the focus is considered a side story or a subordinated event. So
any attempt to show a figure's motives from another figure's point of view is
futile, as the audience, once set to concentrate on one character, may
consider this a diversion.
A "normal" scene in a drama invites and expects the audience to follow
the main character. The audience expects to see this character's fate
evolving through the respective scenes of the drama. As they identify with
this one figure, the audience is unable to question or evaluate the
motivations and ethics of the figure, as they are only given the artificial
form of a character and are not able to see his inner motives.
The additional possibilities of a court scene
Switching between the position of the protagonist or main figure, the
antagonist, and the - sometimes implied - audience of the trial and the real
audience gives the opportunity to view the motives and ethics of the main
character from another point of view. In addition, the real audience can be
made a part of the drama by fulfilling the role of the - implied - trial
audience of the court.
The position of the protagonist
The main figure gets the chance to state his inner motivations, to justify
his doings and confess his doubts. All these inner activities may be
important for the plot of the drama, as certain actions may seem totally
uncharacteristic if the motivations are not given.
The position of the antagonist
Often an author is confronted with the problem of creating a convincing
antagonist. The antagonist has to be a "character" and must have enough
parts in the drama to become more than a flat type. An antagonist must be
nearly as charismatic or enigmatic as the protagonist. A court scene is the
ideal vehicle for this purpose. The formalisms of a trial, a play within the
play, a stage on stage, all give more than enough room for a convincing
antagonist. The protagonist can be on stage, even as the direct opposite of
the antagonist and yet has to follow the restrictions of the trial.
The audience is forced to switch viewpoints in a court scene, as the
identification with the antagonist is broken. Facts from the protagonist's life
and behaviour can be given as truth or at least as possible truth that may
stand in contrast to the character created so far in the mind of the audience.
Often the protagonist is the accused and every figure on stage is either a
supporter of the accuser or a defender of the protagonist. Every layer of the
figure's character can be examined from an outside point of view.
So there are more possibilities to create characters that resemble real
persons. The thoughts of a character, often difficult to display on stage, can
be given easily in a courtroom scene. A long monologue to describe motives
can be transformed into the dialogue of an cross examination.
THE LEGAL SYSTEM OF ANGLO-AMERICA
The legal system of the United States of America is strongly influenced
by the English roots of the colonies. As a result, a case is judged with
respect to previous decisions made in similar cases. The laws, given by a
parliament or other legislative bodies, are considered guidelines10
.
Of additional importance, is the history of the colonies that finally
became the United States of America.
[The colonies were] of different political constructions under the
English throne. Some were royal provinces ruled directly by a royal
governor appointed by the king. Others were proprietary provinces
with political control vested by royal grant in a proprietor or a group
of proprietors. Still others were corporate colonies under royal
charters which generally gave them more freedom from crown than
either of the other forms.
Farnsworth, A., An Introduction to the Legal System of the United
States, p 1
So the political power that created laws and installed judges and the
underlying juridical knowledge varied. During the forming process of the
United States of America the independent and local based jurisdiction was
more highly favoured than the "royal" law and justice system. So even today
local laws are strongly relied upon.
The problem of a low population density and great distances between the
towns in the British colonies and not enough men with a juristical training11
leads to a jurisdiction in which elected - or in some other way chosen -
10 Blumenwitz, D., Einführung in das anglo-amerikanische Recht
11 A lot of the first British settlers of the colonies had juristic
experience in the form of having been given the choice to hang or be
shipped to the colonies.
judges decide. Therefore the judges in the colonies adhered to their own
personal interpretation of the laws. Travelling judges were also common and
their judgement was relied upon.
A technical system [of laws] can, of course, be administered only with
the aid of trained lawyers. And these were generally not found in the
colonies during the 17th
century, and even far down into the 18th
we
shall find that the legal administration was in the hand of laymen in
many of the provinces.
Reinsch, P. S. English Common Law in the Early American Colonies.
p. 7
Another special feature of the Anglo-American justice system is its
heavy reliance on jury decision. As a result, common sense is more greatly
relied upon than written laws and rules. The common man - or woman - is
the finder of the truth. The judge fulfils rather the function of a moderator
between attorney, lawyer, the accused, the witnesses, and the jury.
THE PLACEMENT OF THE COURT SCENE IN THE ADDING MACHINE
The drama begins with a monologue by Mrs Zero, describing the sad and
unpromising life of the Zeros. Mr Zero's workplace - an office filled with
account books, paper, pencils and numbers everywhere - and his work –
adding numbers - are presented in Scene Two. It is at the end of this scene
that Mr Zero is fired and the murder of his boss is insinuated. This crime is
the case that is brought before court in Scene Four. But before the court
scene, scene Three depicts the homely idyll of the Zeros, who have a dinner
with their friends Mr and Mrs One to Six. In this scene some background
information on the society of this Distopia is given. Scene Five shows Mr
Zero in his death cell and his execution. Scene Six is an interludium in the
void, where Mr Zero makes the acquaintance of the social dropout Shrdlu,
who has murdered his mother, and Scene Seven is a happy reunion with his
work-mate Daisy in the void. The end, given in Scene Eight, is the
damnation of Zero; he is damned to re-live his fate.
The Judge in "The Adding Machine"
There is no judge present on stage in this drama. There are two wardens
who escort and guard Mr Zero, but none of the well known figures of a
court shows up. So one might see the jury as representatives of the society
and consequently, judge of this crime. In addition, one might see the real
audience forced into the position of the judge, as they have to evaluate the
cause and correlate the events on stage with their own moral and ethics.
How do they react to un-social behaviour? What is un-social behaviour?
What do they see as a suitable verdict?
In an American court, the decision of the case is often handed to the jury.
In most cases the judge functions as a sort of anchorman or supervisor of
formalities rather than one who decides in the case. So a judge may be
unnecessary in a society as uniform and formal as the one presented in this
drama.
The jury that consists of his co-citizens – one might hesitate to call them
friends - does function in the very way in which they have been presented so
far; they are perfect citizens of the uniform society. They proclaim the guilt
of Mr Zero unison, no wonder, as he himself has confessed his crime.
So, Mr Zero functions as his own judge, as he knows beforehand that he
is guilty and that, as a nearly perfect member of the formal society, he
cannot, must not, and does not question the society's code of conduct.
The Accused in The Adding Machine
Nearly the whole Fourth Scene is a monologue of Mr Zero. He is shown
as a desolate individual. His co-citizens, Mr and Mrs One to Six, form the
jury and represent the society ruled by numerical and social precision12
.
During the trial he addresses the jury, summarises the events of the trial and
tries to justify his deed. So the audience is given all the events and
information of the trial in a relatively short scene13
. Zero states that he is
aware of the offence he has committed but that it was not his fault alone and
that he was driven into the deed by the behaviour of his boss and by his
rage, after being fired.
In his speech he refers to the - not shown - attorneys and their behaviour,
but the few facts that he gives only refer to their incomprehensible
argumentation. As far as Mr Zero is concerned they are of no use to him.
Them lawyers! They give me a good stiff pain, that's what they give
me. Half the time I don't know what the hell they are talking about.
Rice, E. The Adding Machine, p. 21
His behaviour and his line of argument make clear that he is aware of the
decision of the jury beforehand. He even seems to know the punishment he
has to expect. He says that he was once member of a jury himself. He even
used the harsh justice system himself to get rid of an annoying neighbour.
Who had the habit of walking around in her flat - in plain view of the Zeros
- in her underwear. As Mrs Zero accused her husband of watching her, he
used the swift and plain justice system. He denounced her to the police, she
was arrested - for un-social behaviour - and so the peace of the home was
re-established.
12 The Red Khmer regime in Cambodia and the Communist regime in
the Peoples Republic of China - in the Culture Revolution phase - may
resemble to this Distopia
13 See M. Pfister, Das Drama, p. 67ff
His address to the jury reveals a lot about the suppressed emotions of a
society based entirely on numbers and in which all kinds of relations and
social behaviour are ruled and measured by pure logic. Emotions are only
part of leisure time activities and are regarded as a tolerable deviation as
long as they do not interfere with real life. In Scene One Mrs Zero talks
about the movies that the citizens watch; anything of shallow burlesque and
comedy, one might imagine. In contrast, the display of real life emotions is
considered nearly criminal in itself and therefore Mr Zero's claim of being
driven to the murder by his temper will in no way lessen his guilt.
The Audience in The Adding Machine
The "real" audience
As there is no audience present on stage, the drama's audience
automatically has to fill this vacant position. As audience, the spectators
become part of the drama and are expected to behave like a real-life court
audience. They are required to make up their own mind concerning the case
and decide whether or not the trial is just.
In this drama, the audience fulfils other functions as well. On stage there
are only the protagonist, Mr Zero and the jury. All other positions are
omitted and are therefore to be filled by the audience.
A Possible Interpretation
The court scene functions as a vehicle for some background information
on the civilisation in which the drama is set. The values of society are given.
It is a society of absolute control. Personal identity is reduced to a number
that seems to be both: name and indicator of social position. Similar to the
anonymous society without individuality, this court scene depicts an
anonymous court; the numbered jury even strengthens this impression, cast
upon a single individual.
The play ends with the damnation of Mr Zero to eternal suffering - to
relive his fate again and again - and the audience has to bear and judge this
decision as well. Is it just to condemn a man to such a cruel fate? Is it fair to
set Mr Zero back in the same track, even though one knows, he will end as a
murder again? The court scene is a clear adaptation of the Judgement in the
Revelation, in which the Almighty decides on each individual’s fate. The
drama ends in dramatic irony as Mr Zero is reset to fulfil his fate again; the
audience knows his future to come whereas the figure does not. So the
audience is given a glimpse of the ultimate knowledge - no one can evade
his fate and nothing can make one see his fate until the moment of
catastrophe.
The court is beyond any lie, so Mr Zero has no other possibility than to
tell the truth. This again resembles the Revelation, where Christ is seated as
Judge over all deeds and knows the secret sins that each one has committed.
As God is all knowing, one cannot expect to conceal any sin or deed from
Him.
THE PLACEMENT OF THE COURT SCENE IN THE CRUCIBLE
This scene is the centrepiece of the drama. In this classically constructed
play, it represents the turning point of the protagonists’ fates. With all
figures are set in their path, the audience knows that the protagonists will
meet their tragic fate in the end but will nevertheless triumph over the
antagonists, at least in a moral victory.
Act One is the framing of the tragedy in which the atmosphere of the
Salem colony is set. Puritanism and bigotry rule the community. The
innocent pleasure of dancing is so revolting that one of dancers involved
faints with fear and falls into a sort of catatonic state. The girls' dance in the
woods is presented as their way of rebellion against the straitjacket of
religious orthodoxy. The citizens of Salem are presented and developed, and
background information is given on them14, 15
- information which makes up
more than half of the actual text. Unsettled grievances and annoyances are
nourished by the citizens’ search for a crystallising point and finding it in
the pagan ritual.
Proctor is shown and described as a stubborn but somehow just man,
searching for the eternal truth, but not accepting a truth, which does not fit
his beliefs.
The girls are depicted as being mostly innocent but also of a certain
mischievous nature. Their "rituals" are innocent – by today's moral
standards - but they definitely act against the moral and ethic code of their
own society. Their intention is to evade the constraints of their strict society.
14 It seems unlikely that the drama can be understood without having
access to at least some of this information. Miller seems to assume that this
is common knowledge in the USA. Therefore any performance of the drama
abroad will have the problem of providing this information without boring
the audience.
15 See Pfister, M., Das Drama, p. 70ff
So they commit a crime even worse than a sin: nothing is more damnable in
any orthodox (theocratic, communist, or even democratic16
) society than
sins that undermine the moral basis of the orthodoxy.
The Place of the Court Scene
The court scene actually takes place in an antechamber of the courtroom.
All characters are appearing here, either from within the court or from the
outside. This is an adaptation of the trial against Jesus.
Pilate then went out unto them, and said, "What accusation bring ye
against this man?"
The Bible, St John, Chapter 18, 29
The actual courtroom is not shown; the crowd gathered there is not seen
and can only be hinted at by the real audience.
The Judges in The Crucible
In The Crucible, the author has set two judges against the accused. They
are of different temperament and have a very different interpretation of the
law, or rather they disagree on which law should in fact be used to judge the
case: the law of men, the law of common sense, or the law of God.
The ideas of the Massachusetts colonists on the matter of law appear
very clearly from a resolve of the general court of the year 1636. The
government is there entreated to make a draft of laws "agreeable to the
word of God" to be the fundamental laws of the commonwealth.
Reinsch, P. S. English Common Law in the Early American Colonies.
p. 11
16 Socrates was sentenced to death by the democrats of Athens in 339
B.C.
In his note on the historical accuracy of this play, Miller writes that he
has reduced the numerous judges concerned with the case to these two,
Danforth and Hathorne, as symbolic figures.17
Judge Danforth
Danforth is aware of the grievance of the trial. He is neither a soft nor an
all too "understanding" judge. He himself says that he is used to set hard
judgments.
Danforth: And do you know that near to four hundred are in the jails
from Marblehead to Lynn, and upon my signature?
Francis: I.
Danforth: And seventy-two condemned to hang by that signature?
Miller, A. The Crucible, Act 3
He is in search of the absolute truth. He wants to be certain that he knows
the truth and has made his decision in accordance with this truth, supported
by evidence and witnesses’ reports.
Again this is an adaptation from the Bible. Danforth may be identified
with Pilate, who tries to find out whether Jesus is guilty or not and he sees
himself as the person responsible for making an appropriate decision.
Sentencing him to the appropriate punishment or for setting him free.
Then Pilate entered into the judgement hall again, and called Jesus,
and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
The Bible, St John, chapter 18, 33
Judge Hathorn
Judge Hathorn represents a true bigot. Nothing and no one is without sin
before his judgment. He is totally absorbed by the idea that he is the tool of
17 Miller, A. Arthur Miller's Collected Plays, p. 224
heavenly justice. Damnation without mercy instead of fair judgment seems
to be his intention. There is no place for doubts in his heart. He has to cut
out the root of sin to fulfill his holy mission. Like all fanatics, he has no
mercy and is not willing to reflect on his deeds. Such hesitation would only
delay the sinner's "rightful punishment".
The Accused in the Crucible
The trigger of the village going on a witch hunt are some young girls
dancing in the woods. The person accused of having initiated this is the
slave Tituba. She is the one who taught or rather showed them some minor
rituals from her Caribbean origin. The girls are surprised by Reverend
Parris. His daughter, who is among the girls, is so frightened that she falls in
a catatonic state. Despite his efforts to calm down villagers, Parris cannot
stop the rumors of dark rituals and performance of witchcraft. From that
beginning, a devilish merry-go-round of accusations and suspicions evolves.
Old dudgeons and grudges and an overwhelming longing for redemption
through confession leads everyone to accuse his fellow-citizens. As one is
released, or at least not executed, after "naming names", there is a constant
flow of accused persons who march in and out of the courtroom.
John Proctor
Proctor is a leading character on the side of the accused in this drama. He
is not one of the first to be accused but he is drawn into the vicious circle by
his good intention. He enters the scene as a defender of his wife. He has
forced Mary Warren to confess that the "possessing by spirits" and
"bewitching" was a fraud, initiated by her and the other girls without any
real reason18
.
18 At the time of the Salem Witch Hunt, it was common knowledge
and undoubted fact that magic existed and was directly connected to
worship of the devil.
Proctor: She never saw no spirits, sir.
Miller, A. The Crucible, p. 288
He slowly changes into one of the main accused, not only for witchcraft,
but also for undermining the court and the whole society. He becomes part
of the small group that refuses to "name names" and therefore is regarded as
not willing to help purge the society.
Danforth: There lurks nowhere in your heart, nor hidden in your spirit,
any desire to undermine this court?
Miller, A. The Crucible, p. 290
Then he is accused, under the heavy hand of the law, of the worst crime
orthodoxy can imagine: nonconformity. His crimes start with "non regular
attendance to church" and "Plowing on Sunday"19
but become more severe
at the end: he has committed a major crime – adultery; he had an affair with
Abigail. His fate becomes even more tragic as he tries to use his adulterous
practice as evidence of earnestness of the love that he and his wife have for
each other.20
The Audience in the Crucible
In his article "Journey to The Crucible" Miller writes about his
investigation into the town records of the trials.
And then . . . dialogue! Prosecutor Hathorne is examining Rebecca
Nurse. The court is full of people weeping for the young girls who sit
before them strangling because Rebecca's spirit is out tormenting
them.
Miller, A. Journey to The Crucible, p. 27ff
19 see The Bible, St. Matthew, chapter 12
20 Miller, A. The Crucible, p. 304 ff
Thus Miller had documents describing the scene in some detail. He had
the actual protocol of the trial. He knew what the reaction of the audience
was; he had "access" to the real audience.
As in "The Adding Machine" there is no real audience present, but it is
hinted at in several stage directions.
Through the partitioning wall at the right we hear a prosecutor's
voice, Judge Hathorne's, asking a question; then a woman's voice
Martha Corey's, replying. 21
[. . .]
Voices of townspeople rise in excitement.
[. . .]
A roaring goes up from the people.
Miller, A. The Crucible, p. 285 ff
The theatre audience sees a scene behind the scene of the well known
trial. The audience is provided with information that the real audience did
not have. So one might say, the audience gets a glimpse of the case behind
the case.
21 The following dialog might be a direct adaptation from the court
records
A Possible Interpretation
Miller writes in his article "Brewed in The Crucible", that he wrote and
composed The Crucible with the intention of reaching a new level in the
dramatisation of life. He states that a single character can no longer be used
in a play to visualise the complexity of the modern man22
.
So he uses this historical event, documented in some town records, a
genuine part of the Anglo-American Myth and Mythology23
, as a vehicle to
bring this new formal format to life. He uses several protagonists and
several antagonists. As the play ensues, the focus moves away from Parris,
struggling for the sake of his daughter and the investigation into dark rituals,
to the question as to whether the preservation of the society's laws and
morals should be regarded more highly than the life of Proctor, who refuses
to subject to these laws and morals.
There is a multiplicity of characters to identify with and to evaluate.
Whereas the classic drama sets the actions of the hero on stage and all
others are surrounding figures, The Crucible gives at least two separate
characters, Procter and Hathorne, their own motivations and development
throughout the drama. As real tragic figures, both are well aware of their
fate and the impossibility of avoiding the final catastrophe. Moreover, both
see their tragic fate as victory. The audience has to decide who is right.
22 Miller, A. Journey to The Crucible,
23 Some novels by W. Holbein and at least a dozen films of different
quality draw their plot from the Salem Witch Trials.
CONCLUSION
Considering the facts presented, I have come to the conclusion that court
dramas or dramas with court scenes as central or important elements are a
distinctive subclass of the drama in general. This "species" offers the
playwright a wide variety of dramatic means and is a unique vehicle to force
the audience to do more than just watch the stage.
The theater audience is automatically forced to become part of the real
audience or even, when there is no real audience on stage, to adopt its role.
The audience thus becomes part of the play and has to act according to the
rules of presented case. This leads to a deeper connection between the
audience and the drama; instead of being mere spectators the viewers
actually become part of the play.
Each drama with a juristic case forces the spectators to make up their
minds on the moral and social values presented in comparison to their own.
So court dramas are always critical towards society, not necessary negative,
but definitely evaluating.
THE PLAYS
Miller, A., "The Crucible" in: Miller, A. Arthur Miller's Collected
Plays, 10th
ed. New York: The Viking Press Inc., 1957, 1971
Rice E., "The Adding Machine" in: Rice, E. Three Plays, New York:
Hill and Wang, 1965
SOURCES
Belasco, D., "Two from the Attic", The Jewish Week, 07/27/2001
Blumenwitz, D., Einführung in das anglo-amerikanische Recht, 3.ed.
München: C. H. Beck, 1987
Farnsworth, A., An Introduction to the Legal System of the United
States of America, 2nd
ed. London et al.: Oceana, 1983
Miller, A., “Brewed in The Crucible", The New York Times,
02/08/1953
Miller, A., “Journey to The Crucible” in: The Theatre Essays of
Arthur Miller, ed. and introduced by Robert A. Martin. - 2. ed.
London: Methuen, 1994
Pfister; M., Das Drama, 9th
ed. München: W. Fink, 1997
Reinsch, P. S., English Common Law in the Early American Colonies,
Reprint from the 1899 original, New York: Da Capo Press 1970
The Holy Bible (K. J. V.). Oxford, Oxford University Press, ca. 1990