Practice SAC

The most significant divisions in any community are not caused by moral conflict but by animosities, insecurity and greed

Statement of Explanation:

I have chosen to write a creative piece in the form of an additional scene to Arthur Millar's play The Crucible. This scene is a conversation between Elizabeth Proctor and Reverend John Hale, and takes place some months after the death of John Proctor and the end of the hysteria that gripped Salem in 1614. My piece explores the prompt by challenging the statement that 'the most significant divisions in any community are not caused by moral conflict but by animosities, insecurity and greed'. Hale's statements to Elizabeth reveal the extent of his own inner conflict and guilt in his role in the execution of the innocent. While he recognizes the impact of animosities, insecurity and greed, he stresses the conflict was due to a clash between what is right and what is evil. Elizabeth's responses reinforce the concept of what is morally right in her defense of her husband. My purpose is to consider the broad ideas of the prompt (moral conflict, animosity, insecurity and greed) in relation to the text, specifically referring to characters whom I think embodied the 'moral conflict' of the play. I drew on the text, in particular Act 4, for the views and the conflict of the characters I have explored. I have used the language of the time and refer to the evils in Salem as the 'true witches' to further link my piece to the original text. My intended audience is people who are interested in or studying The Crucible.

ACT FIVE

The Proctor's common room.

The room is dark and cold. The fireplace is set, but remains unlit. ELIZABETH is sitting at the table, staring at the wall where JOHN PROCTOR's gun leans idly. Cobwebs are gathering around the base of it. In ELIZABETH's arms, a baby cries softly. She bends her head and looks at it, her face blank, and brings it to her breast. The child suckles softly.

There is a quiet knocking on the door and ELIZABETH starts. She gets to her feet, the baby clutched to her chest.

ELIZABETH: Who's there? [She backs away as if in fear. The baby begins to cry again; a sniffling that quickly builds to a wail]

[The door is slowly pushed open. It is MR HALE. He is even more haggard than at their last meeting- his clothes ragged with travel, his face drawn and exhausted, his eyes dark with sorrow]

HALE: Goodwife Proctor, forgive me, I did not intend to alarm you.

ELIZABETH: [staring- she cannot believe it is him] Mr. Hale. I- I did not expect you this evening.

HALE: Aye, or any evening. I have been gone some months from Salem.

ELIZABETH: And few thought you to return.

HALE: [eyes flickering to the child at her chest] How is your child?

ELIZABETH: She is well.

HALE: And the others? The boys?

ELIZABETH: They miss their father.

HALE: [nodding, as though his sadness has come down to rest heavily on his shoulders] Aye. That you should be left to raise them alone-

ELIZABETH: [moving to the table. She gestures Hale to take a seat opposite her] Please.

HALE: [hesitates, but his weariness prevents his standing much longer] Thank you.

ELIZABETH: [with an air of getting to the real business of things. She speaks more plainly than before] Why do you return to Salem? The trials are over; those who would not confess have hung.

HALE: I know it.

ELIZABETH: Then what do you hope to achieve?

HALE: [evading, looking around the cold, sparse room] How do you manage alone, Goody Proctor?

ELIZABETH: Rebecca's Samuel helps me with the babe and the boys. Francis Nurse visits me often. Giles Corey's sons give me anything they can spare from their farm. We get by, Mr. Hale.

HALE: As you must.

ELIZABETH: Those who are left, who have- lost someone. We help each other.

HALE: [looking at her seriously. His voice barely more than a whisper] But you shouldn't have to.

ELIZABETH: [turning her face away- she refuses to show the true extent of her suffering] It is the way things are, sir. The way Salem has been, in the months since you left.

HALE: [leaning forwards now- he is desperate for her to understand] I left out of shame, Woman. I am ashamed of my part in the events that happened here. I convicted good people of witchcraft. I sentenced Rebecca Nurse to hang. [He is disgusted with himself and cannot go on]

ELIZABETH: [her tone is scathing] You left once. And you returned. Returned to counsel the condemned to confess. To lie.

HALE: [very quietly, unable to meet her gaze] And still I do not know if in doing so I helped or hindered them. [He brings his eyes up to hers- they are burning with regret] I murdered those people, Goody Proctor. I murdered them as surely as if I had tied the noose around their necks myself. [He is losing control of himself now- tears escape as he puts his head in his arms on the table. All the misery that has haunted him in the days following the trials and deaths is heaped upon him, and is drowning under it]

ELIZABETH: [softening] You worked to save them. You did what you thought was right.

HALE: [shaking his head in disgust] No, no. No. I did what I thought was right in coming to Salem. I wished to bring God's faith, to spread the goodness of his holy word to all you peoples. And instead- instead I killed them. [He is becoming agitated now, his voice growing in volume] I let myself be guided- be manipulated!- by those who were seeking only their own gain. I acted for God; they acted for reward. Land! Property! Status! Greed, Goodwife Proctor. Greed and hatred. Those were the true witches in Salem. [He collapses again on to the table, head buried in his arms]

ELIZABETH: [speaking softly, more to herself than to HALE] Aye, the true witches in Salem. They burned this village like the fires in Hell. And we who are left- for us there is nothing but regret and sadness.

HALE: [raising his head] I trust you have heard the news of Reverend Parris?

ELIZABETH: [breaking out of her reverie- she looks at Hale with measured disdain] I hear little news here. I have stopped attending church. Indeed I hear few will go to Reverend Parris' sermons anymore.

HALE: He is left- gone without a trace.

ELIZABETH: [thoughtful once more] And so another instrument of evil has gone. [to HALE] Judge Hathorne has also left Salem.

HALE: And Danforth?

ELIZABETH: I know not where he goes, but he does. After they- hung Rebecca, and the others still refused to confess. [She sees how the very mention of Rebecca pains Hale] She died a saint, Mr. Hale. She is with God now.

HALE: [hesitatingly] And your husband?

ELIZABETH: [the words lifting her up out of her intense misery, for a moment she shines with the light of true conviction] I meant what I told you the day my husband died, Mr. Hale. My husband died a good man. Let God judge him how he will, but in the eyes of myself, and of the friends he refused to betray- John has his place in Heaven.

HALE: [looking at her in something close to awe] I shall inconvenience you no longer. I wish to visit Francis Nurse tonight. To offer- my condolences.

ELIZABETH: Fair travel to you, Mr. Hale.

[He stands, awkwardly running his hand over his face. ELIZABETH stands also, and watches as he walks to the door, opens it, and steps out into the cold night air. The door closes behind him. ELIZABETH sits as before, staring at the empty fireplace. She looks down at her daughter, now sleeping peacefully]

ELIZABETH: [very quietly] It were partly due to me that your father died. [her expression is pained] My own… self doubt, it lead him to lechery. To find heat in a house so cold. [She looks again at the fireplace.] Lack of trust, lack of faith- another of the witches in Salem.

[She stands suddenly, walks to the fireplace, takes a match, and strikes it. The tiny flame lights up her face- she suddenly looks more alive.]

He has his place in Heaven now. [She throws the match into the fireplace. It alights, setting the room aglow.] And we- we have survived.

THE CURTAIN FALLS