​Eleanore Knox

As silly as Monty Python’s Witch scene from the Holy Grail is, Three River Theatre’s presentation of The Crucible reminds me that the first casualty in a witch hunt is objectivity and logic.

 

From the Holy Grail …

Sir Vladimir: So, why do witches burn?

Peasant: Cuz they're made of... wood?

Sir Vladimir: Does wood sink in water?

Peasant: No. It floats!

Sir Vladimir: What also floats in water?

King: A Duck!

Sir Vladimir: Exactly! So, logically...

Peasant: If she weighs the same as a duck... she's made of wood!

Sir Vladimir: And therefore,

Peasant: A witch!

 

Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953 based on the 1692 witch trials in Salem, but his motivation for writing the play was the 1950s communism witch hunt in America.

 

The Crucible illustrates the primary ingredient of any witch hunt, fear, with Salem’s Reverend Samuel Parris preaching damnation and hell in order to strike fear into his congregation.  The Reverend Parris also has a fixation on material possessions and a grandiose building that to him is the Church.

 

Miller’s central character is an adulterer, John Proctor, who speaks against Parris’ obsession with hellfire and damnation, and the trappings of organised religion.  Proctor’s affair was with Parris’ 18 year old niece, Abigail Williams, but despite succumbing to this temptation and his revolt for Parris’ church, I see Proctor as the rational and true Christian conscience of Salem.

 

In many cases the fear necessary to drive a witch hunt results from deception or dishonesty, and in the case of The Crucible the fear is driven by Abigail Williams, with motivations of malice and self-preservation.

 

Douglas Linder asks, Why did this travesty of justice occur? Why did it occur in Salem? Nothing about this tragedy was inevitable. Only an unfortunate combination of an ongoing frontier war, economic conditions, congregational strife, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies can account for the spiraling accusations, trials, and executions that occurred in the spring and summer of 1692.

 

Sounds familiar!

 

Regardless of whether it is 1692, the 1950s, or 2009, we as a society are still keen on our witch hunts, whether it be political scandals, terrorism threats, or environmental issues.  As surprising as it might sound, I think the Church has come a long way in the past 300 years and is less likely to fuel witch hunts, but society unfortunately has not changed in this respect.

 

I had a sense of John Proctor in The Crucible being a Christ-like figure, ultimately he was executed for refusing to publicly confess to being a witch, and given the opportunity for “redemption” by falsely confessing, Proctor chose to sacrifice himself to stop the perpetuation of the witchcraft accusations.

 

To me the scariest aspect of the production was Eleanore Knox’s portrayal of Abigail, so convincing was Eleanore’s portrayal that it is easy to see how we are deceived by the drivers of witch hunts.

 

As I see it, it is up to all of us to be John Proctor, despite our sins we have a responsibility to maintain objectivity and logic in any witch hunt, and to ensure that honesty and justice prevail.

 

Andrew