Sunday, April 8, 2012

Exactly why (originally) is Rev. Hale in Salem in "The Crucible"?

Reverend Hale is specifically summoned as an expert in detecting the presence of witchcraft.  He is asked to come to Salem by Reverend Parris to examine his daughter Betty, after she falls into an unknown illness.

Reverend Parris hopes that Reverend Hale will confirm that Betty's illness has nothing to do with the supernatural.

In Act I, Scene I, Reverend Parris says referring to Betty's condition:

"There be no unnatural cause here.  Tell him I have sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly, and Mr. Hale will surely confirm that.  Let him look to medicine and put out all thought of unnatural causes here.  There be none." (Miller)

No comments:

Post a Comment

In Act III, scene 2, why may the establishment of Claudius's guilt be considered the crisis of the revenge plot?

The crisis of a drama usually proceeds and leads to the climax.  In Shakespeare's Hamlet , the proof that Claudius is guilty...