The Crucible Act III

Act III opens in the Salem church, which has been converted into a courthouse. Immediately, this reminded me of McCarthyism when Congress was turned into a courtroom with HUAC and other Communist suspicion groups. In the courtroom, Martha Corey is being questioned under allegations that she is practicing witchcraft. Giles, Martha's husband, is pleading with the court that he has evidence of Martha not being a witch. John Proctor claims that Mary would like to speak to Danforth because she has some truthful pieces of information that would be helpful in the trials. Unfortunately for Proctor, Mary does not speak with enough conviction on her claim that all of the actions from the girls were pretense. Proctor simply claims that he is trying to save his wife, not overthrow the court. Elizabeth Proctor also claims that she is pregnant, but no one can find any evidence to back it up. When Mary is questioned, the act takes a bizarre turn. She claims that she had never seen the devil, and Abigail holds the assertion that she has. Angrily, Proctor confesses how he committed adultery with Abigail in order to prove the point that she is no child. Again, Mary denies that she ever saw the devil. However, Abigail and the girls all begin to shiver from a "wind" and claim it is Mary who is making them struggle. In a conversation with Danforth, Abigail begins to question his own integrity. She says, "Think you to be so mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits?" (100). This really struck me because it made Abigail look very similar to Joseph McCarthy, as she questions the purity of everyone, even a Governor Deputy. Frustrated, Proctor pulls Abigail to the ground and calls her a whore. After the altercation, Elizabeth is brought out. She claims that Proctor was fancying Abigail when she worked for them, but denied that he cheated. She was only trying to save him, but it ended up being much worse. Abigail begins to scream in the courthouse and claims that she sees a yellow bird in the beams. After prolonged chaos, Mary begins to join them in their panic. She then claims that Proctor works for the devil and that she will never hurt Abigail again. This reminded me of when people would do and say anything to save themselves in the time of McCarthyism. Proctor then confesses that God is, in fact, dead. This act had a ton of content with me, and all of it resonated with me in terms of the bizarre nature of McCarthyism. In a trial especially, I think it is much easier to pull connections between the two.