By the end of Act III of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the trial has become a total farce, with testimonies given under duress, refuted and then changed again until the prospect of a just resolution, already impossible, is rendered even more remote. Mary Warren’s attacks on John Proctor are putting the final nails in his coffin following Abigail’s machinations, prompting Parris to exclaim of Mary, “Cast the Devil out! Look him in the face! Trample him! We’ll save you, Mary, only stand fast against him and . . .”
As the proceedings continue to deteriorate into a chaotic atmosphere of panic and innuendo, Deputy Governor Danforth feeds the frenzy, while Reverend Hale, a rare voice of reason at this point, attempts to intervene:
Danforth, to Proctor: What are you? Proctor is beyond speech in his anger. You are combined with anti-Christ, are you not? I have seen your power; you will not deny it! What say you, Mister?
Hale: Excellency -
Danforth: I will have nothing from you, Mr. Hale! To Proctor: Will you confess yourself befouled with Hell, or do you keep that black allegiance yet? What say you?
Proctor, his mind wild, breathless: I say - I say - God is dead'
The shouting and accusations continue, with the fate of John Proctor, once the town’s most respected citizen, hanging in the balance – a balance tilting increasingly against him. It is then that Hale angrily shouts, “I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court!”
Reverend Hale’s decision is to divorce himself from the proceedings because he recognizes that the lies and manipulations that have been occurring preclude any kind of just resolution pertaining to charges of sorcery.
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