Judgement of Judge Danforth In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible tragedy strikes Salem through deception and antics of young girls. The petty dancing of these young girls spiraled out of control into a life altering political struggle between the prominent of the community and the “saints” who supposedly served God’s law. The fallout of these events can be attributed to many things, however, Judge Danforth’s misused authority, selective listening, and acceptance of erroneous evidence all contributed majorly in the disastrous fates of the innocent in Salem. Judge Danforth was regarded as one of the most powerful judges of 17th century Massachusetts. His authority was the unquestioned law and those who said otherwise would not be tolerated.
…show more content…
Danforth was among the most prominent to trust Abigail William’s words as God’s. However, when John Proctor came to the stand he was given much skepticism when he came to accuse Abigail Williams of not being the saintly girl Danforth thought of her as. At this accusation he pleads with Abigail for her to deny the accusations. This shows Danforth does not want to change his mind even when presented with evidence that disproves his belief. In addition to Danforth only believing evidence that supported his thoughts on the situation, he also condemned Giles Corey for contempt and in the process eliminating the evidence he brought to the stand. Both of these situations show how Judge Danforth’s selective listening contributed to the wrongful executions of many innocent people in …show more content…
The evidence that was most controversial was the spectral evidence Abigail and the other girls used to condemn their victims. This evidence that was brought to Judge Danforth’s court was unfounded nor proven yet Danforth believed it to be real. Even when confronted by John Proctor yelling during one of the girls’ acts about its fallibility, Danforth thought nothing of it and accepted it as factual evidence despite the lack of proof that the outbursts performed by the girls was caused by spirits being sent out. In addition to this outrageous evidence cited by the girls Danforth was fooled by more prominent people in the community such as Goody Putnam with her claims that her children were killed by Goody Nurse. Danforth does not delve any deeper into this evidence and just assumes it is in line with the evidence of the girls yet there was no proof that Goody Nurse had anything to do with her children’s death. All of this false and outrageous claims by various people in the community could have easily been dismissed or disproven, but Danforth believes them and bases people’s executions on them and seals the tragic fate of many innocent
Danforth was among the most prominent to trust Abigail William’s words as God’s. However, when John Proctor came to the stand he was given much skepticism when he came to accuse Abigail Williams of not being the saintly girl Danforth thought of her as. At this accusation he pleads with Abigail for her to deny the accusations. This shows Danforth does not want to change his mind even when presented with evidence that disproves his belief. In addition to Danforth only believing evidence that supported his thoughts on the situation, he also condemned Giles Corey for contempt and in the process eliminating the evidence he brought to the stand. Both of these situations show how Judge Danforth’s selective listening contributed to the wrongful executions of many innocent people in …show more content…
The evidence that was most controversial was the spectral evidence Abigail and the other girls used to condemn their victims. This evidence that was brought to Judge Danforth’s court was unfounded nor proven yet Danforth believed it to be real. Even when confronted by John Proctor yelling during one of the girls’ acts about its fallibility, Danforth thought nothing of it and accepted it as factual evidence despite the lack of proof that the outbursts performed by the girls was caused by spirits being sent out. In addition to this outrageous evidence cited by the girls Danforth was fooled by more prominent people in the community such as Goody Putnam with her claims that her children were killed by Goody Nurse. Danforth does not delve any deeper into this evidence and just assumes it is in line with the evidence of the girls yet there was no proof that Goody Nurse had anything to do with her children’s death. All of this false and outrageous claims by various people in the community could have easily been dismissed or disproven, but Danforth believes them and bases people’s executions on them and seals the tragic fate of many innocent