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