The role of reverend john hale in the play the crucible by arthur miller

Tituba The Parris family slave, Tituba was brought by Parris from Barbados when he moved to Salem and has served him since. Danforth, Hathorne, and a relieved Parris ask John to testify to the guilt of the other hold-outs and the executed. After Elizabeth suspected Abigail of having an illicit relationship with John Proctor, Williams was fired and disgraced.

He then orders that all ninety-one persons named in the deposition be arrested for questioning. Abigail still harbors feelings for John and believes he does as well, but John says he does not.

Abigail decides to play along with Tituba in order to prevent others from discovering her affair with Proctor, whose wife she had tried to curse out of jealousy. His job is to diagnose witchcraft if it is present, and then provide a necessary cure through conversion or by removing the "infected" inhabitants from Salem.

Using her knowledge of herbs and magic, she has been secretly helping Abigail and her friends make love potions, and even conducts a seance on behalf of Ann Putnam. Unfortunately, Hale is also vulnerable. John brings Mary into the room to tell the truth; Mary asserts that she made the doll and stuck the needle into it, and that Abigail saw her do so.

The men argue until Proctor renounces his confession entirely, ripping up the signed document. John, in despair and having given up all hope, declares that " God is dead ", and is arrested. Furious, Reverend Hale denounces the proceedings and quits the court. This knowledge is a heavy burden, but it changes Hale for the better.

As they press him further John eventually signs, but refuses to hand the paper over, stating he does not want his family and especially his three sons to be stigmatized by the public confession.


He mentions that Rebecca Nurse was also named, but admits that he doubts her a witch due to her extreme piousness, though he emphasizes that anything is possible. Danforth replies that given the "invisible nature" of witchcraft, the word of the accused and their advocates cannot be trusted.

As they argue, Betty bolts upright and begins screaming. Hales comes to Salem in response to a need. He catches a glimpse of true faith through those he has condemned, particularly Rebecca Nurse and Elizabeth Proctor. Many villagers have been charged with witchcraft; most have confessed and been given lengthy prison terms and their property seized by the government; twelve have been hanged; seven more are to be hanged at sunrise for refusing to confess, including John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey.

His zeal for discovering witchcraft allows others, particularly Abigail, to manipulate him. As his belief in witchcraft falters, so does his faith in the law. Danforth then informs an unaware John that Elizabeth is pregnant, and promises to spare her from execution until the child is born, hoping to persuade John to withdraw his case.


Although Hale recognizes the evil of the witch trials, his response is not defiance but surrender. In real life, Parris left Salem inthe year his wife, Elizabeth, died. It is revealed that Abigail once worked as a servant for the Proctors, and that she and John had an affair, for which she was fired.


Towards the end of the play, he is betrayed by his niece Abigail and begins receiving death threats from angry relatives of the condemned. Parris, who has lost everything to Abigail, reports that he has received death threats. Parris runs back into the bedroom and various villagers arrive: Knowing in his heart that it is the wrong thing for him to do, John agrees to falsely confess to engaging in witchcraft, deciding that he has no desire or right to be a martyr.

John Proctora local farmer and husband of Elizabeth, enters. She implores John to go to court and tell the judges that Abigail and the rest of the girls are pretending. John becomes greatly angered, tearing the arrest warrant to shreds and threatening Herrick and Cheever with a musket until Elizabeth calms him down and surrenders herself.

The audience should not condemn Hale. Synopsis Act One The opening narration explains the context of Salem and the Puritan colonists of Massachusettswhich the narrator depicts as an isolated theocratic society in constant conflict with Native Americans.

Although Hale remains determined not to declare witchcraft unless he can prove it, the expectations of the people of Salem sweep him up, and, as a result, he takes their evidence at face value, rather than investigating it himself.Start studying "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller - Study Guide.

Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. What effect does this accusation have on Reverend Hale's questioning of Abigail? To get out of trouble. What role does Abigail play in the proceedings? The Dynamic Reverend Hale in The Crucible by Arthur Miller Essay Words 10 Pages John Hale is the minister of Beverly, which has been summoned to Salem to discover and.

Reverend John Hale is the idealistic witch hunter in 'The Crucible.' Explore the character and how he grew during the course of Arthur Miller's famous play.

Reverend John Hale Reverend Samuel Parris John Proctor Elizabeth Proctor Thomas Danforth thus anticipating the theme of The Crucible by Arthur Miller; Wahn premiered in Germany in No character is in the play who did not take a similar role in Salem, ".

The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Home / Literature / The Crucible Words like these show that Hale has become a completely different man than the one we met at the beginning of the play. The tortured reverend is a great example of the kind of rich, morally ambiguous character for which Miller is famous.

Reverend John Hale Timeline.

BACK; NEXT. Reverend Hale John Hale, the intellectual, naïve witch-hunter, enters the play in Act I when Parris summons him to examine his daughter, Betty.

The Crucible


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