Judge Danforth Analysis

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Good morning Ms Chan and friends. Today I will be presenting the topic on the significance of Danforth. Before I start, I would like to give a brief intro on this character. So who is Deputy Governor Danforth? He is a Deputy Governor who is also one of the most powerful men in Massachusetts. He is described to be a grave man in his sixties who views his position as the judged as an important one, and in the case of witchcraft in Salem, his main objective is to rid the town of all evil. Judge Danforth is a character that believes in theocracy and is convinced that the legal system will bring about truth and justice in every situation and makes every effort to be fair and has a clear idea of what he is expected to do but his logic is actually…show more content…
In the Crucible, the significance of Danforth is to be portrayed as a powerful authority figure who has little tendency toward mercy. Authority is the ability or have the power to command others, make decisions, and enforce obedience. He approaches the witchcraft trials with a strict adherence to rules and laws. When he first enters the play in Act 3 where the court is in session offstage, questioning Martha Corey with Judge Hathorne, Danforth came across as quite an impressive characters and the audience could only hear his commanding voice. His very first line or rather his voice was directed to Giles Corey who suddenly shouts that he has evidence that Thomas Putnam is using the trials to get more land. Danforth demanded Giles Corey in the court that he will keep his sit. From this quote, it had already suggest his figure of authority in the court and the fact that Danforth referring to Giles as “You” could also suggest that he is speaking with a very commanding tone of voice to exert his authority over the people. This further emphasis that Judge Danforth is highly respected by people in the court who has decades of experience. In addition, the imperative and exclamation mark may also suggest that he likes to keep order, which could suggest his controlling nature. Therefore, his very first line had already suggested his figure of authority in the…show more content…
It had cause Reverend Hale to compromise his beliefs, asking the prisoners to save their lives by lying. Danforth's pride and authority are the catalyst for the climax and resolution of the play. It then leads to the tragedy in Salem because his ill-judgement and desire for power leads to the deaths of the accused citizens who in reality are innocent. Therefore, Salem’s justice system appears to be highly corrupt because its morals are all twisted; it is more concerned with keeping up the appearance that they have been right all along rather than face the truth and stop killing people. Nonetheless, this leads to the exacerbating of social divisions and leading to the breakdown of the community. Judge Danforth is too proud to admit that the court has misjudged several innocent people. Hale tells Danforth that the girls are lying to the court meaning that the ruling of witchcraft against the accused is wrong. So to protect his pride he denies the girls are lying and chooses to believe them. Instead of listening to Hale and stopping the hangings Danforth proceeds with the hangings and says, “Hang them high over town! Who weeps for these, weeps for corruption!” Danforth lets Proctor hang even though he has been told and it has been proven that the girls have ulterior motives for declaring others witches. Danforth shows his pride by sticking to his decision and not changing it even though it was clearly wrong. In
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