The Crucible Irony Quotes

We cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone, and I must tell you all that I shall not proceed unless you are prepared to believe me if I should find no bruise of Hell upon her.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 1. Hale reprimands Thomas Putnam for suggesting that Betty Parris being unable to bear to bear the Lord’s name is a sure sign of witchcraft. Hale uses a simile – "definite as stone" – to explain how precise the marks of the Devil are. This is ironic, because no physical signs of the Devil are found on anybody in Salem, either on the supposedly sick girls or on those accused of being witches.

I never sold myself! I’m a good girl! I’m a proper girl!

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 1. Abigail is pressed by Hale on what she is concealing and whether she sold herself to Lucifer. Denying at first that she took part in witchcraft and describing herself as "proper," Abigail proves to be a compulsive liar in the first act. Describing herself as "good girl" is an example of dramatic irony, since we know that she slept with a married man, which was not good or proper in Puritan society.

PROCTOR: But the proof, the proof!
MARY WARREN: I told you the proof. It’s hard proof, hard as rock, the judges said.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 2. John Proctor is rightfully doubtful of the "proof" against the beggar Sarah Good that she is guilty of witchcraft. But his servant Mary Warren sides with the court, which earlier that day condemned Osburn because Mary testified that she "mumbled" to her and she could not recite her ten commandments for the judges. Mary uses an ironic simile to compare the non-existent proof against Good to "hard as rock." This is an example of the unfair justice being meted out to the accused in the Salem witch trials.

PROCTOR: You will not go to court again, Mary Warren.
MARY WARREN: I must tell you, sir, I will be gone every day now. I am amazed you do not see what weighty work we do.
PROCTOR: What work you do! It’s strange work for a Christian girl to hang old women!

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 2. In this act we witness Mary Warren’s transformation from a shy and timid serving girl for the Proctors to an outspoken and assertive young woman of power. This follows her involvement in the witch trials. She boasts with pride of the "weighty work" she and the other girls are doing to help drive the Devil out of Salem. But the irony is, and Proctor sees it, the "work" she is doing is helping to hang vulnerable women like beggar Sarah Osburn.

You must see it, sir, it’s God’s work we do. So I’ll be gone every day for some time. I’m – I am an official of the court, they say.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 2. Newly empowered teenage servant Mary Warren challenges her master John Proctor, when he commands her not go to court again. With a sense of pride in her new powerful role as court witness, she boasts that she must attend court daily to do "God’s work." The irony is that that means hanging innocent people. Mary is part of a group of young girls, led by Abigail, who are falsely accusing people of being witches.

The Devil’s loose in Salem, Mr. Proctor; we must discover where he’s hiding!

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 2. Flaunting her new power as an "official of the court," Mary Warren makes her contribution to the growing hysteria about devil worship rampaging through Salem. Proud that she has joined the hunt for the Devil, she presents herself as being on the right side of the battle between good and evil. But the irony is that the real evil in Salem is in the form of the lies of Mary and the other attention-seeking girls, the greed of adults and a court that follows the maxim of "guilty until proven innocent."

This is a strange time, Mister. No man may longer doubt the powers of the dark are gathered in monstrous attack upon this village. There is too much evidence now to deny it.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 2. Reverend Hale feeds into the hysteria in Salem, saying that demonic powers are mounting a monstrous assault on the town. His response to the Proctors’ shock at the idea of the upstanding Rebecca Nurse being mentioned in the witchcraft investigations is his unconvincing comment, "this is a strange time." The irony is that Salem is under assault, not from the "powers of the dark" as Hale thinks, but from people’s fears, suspicions and paranoia.

I will fear nothing. Tell the children I have gone to visit someone sick.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 2. Elizabeth shows her strength and courage when faced with trials and hardships as she says this to John. She has been arrested for alleged witchcraft and is about to be taken to jail. She thinks of her children first, not wishing want them to worry about her. The irony here is that she claims not to be afraid, but the stage directions state Elizabeth is in "great fear" while speaking this.

Proctor, I cannot think God be provoked so grandly by such a petty cause. The jails are packed – our greatest judges sit in Salem now – and hangin’ promised. Man, we must look to cause proportionate. Were there murder done, perhaps, and never brought to light? Abomination? Some secret blasphemy that stinks to Heaven? Think on cause, man, and let you help me to discover it. For there’s your way, believe it, there is your only way, when such confusion strikes upon the world. Let you counsel among yourselves; think on your village and what may have drawn from heaven such thundering wrath upon you all. I shall pray God open up our eyes.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 2. Hale is in the Proctor home when he delivers this speech to John just after his wife Elizabeth is taken to jail. Displaying blind faith in Salem’s corrupt court system, he naively describes those in charge of the trials as "our greatest judges." But far from being great upholders of justice, they have shown themselves as biased, unfair and unquestioningly believing the wild tales of a group of attention-seeking girls. There is further irony when Hale suggests that some secret sin must have brought on Salem’s troubles, such as murder or blasphemy, and they need to discover it. Hale is not aware, but the audience is, that Proctor is himself hiding a secret sin, that of adultery.

FRANCIS: We have proof of it, sir. They are all deceiving you.
HATHORNE: This is contempt, sir, contempt!

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 3. Francis Nurse attempts to convince the court that the girls claiming possession by witches are frauds. He and John Proctor make a bid to present "proof," a deposition by Mary Warren supporting this. But a biased and vindictive Hathorne, who is more prosecutor than impartial judge, tries to silence Francis. He charges contempt, a tactic he uses in court to deny evidence favorable to the accused people. This shows the intolerance of the Salem judges towards any citizen challenging their corrupt court. We have also here an example of dramatic irony, since the audience knows that Francis is speaking the truth.

We burn a hot fire here; it melts down all concealment.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 3. Danforth warning to John Proctor relates to the title of the play. A crucible is a container in which metals may be melted. Danforth is using it here as a metaphor for burning away any lies and deceit in order to reveal the truth. This line is dramatic irony, because the audience knows that the court, far from getting to the truth, condemns the innocent. We also have an example of foreshadowing here, because Danforth actually does burn away Proctor’s concealment of his affair with Abigail.

I tell you straight, Mister – I have seen marvels in this court. I have seen people choked before my eyes by spirits; I have seen them stuck by pins and slashed by daggers. I have until this moment not the slightest reason to suspect that the children may be deceiving me. Do you understand my meaning?

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 3. Danforth shows his bias as a judge when he declares his belief in the children and their stories about people being in league with the Devil. He is speaking to Proctor, who has come to court to present evidence as to the innocence and good character of his wife and other accused women. Danforth’s guilty until proven innocent approach to law leaves little opportunity for people to convince him otherwise and find true justice. We also see an example of dramatic irony, since the audience knows that Abigail and the girls are lying to the court and the "marvels" they have presented are false.

But if she say she is pregnant, then she must be! That woman will never lie, Mr. Danforth.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 3. Here John Proctor responds to Judge Danforth’s skepticism about Elizabeth’s claim that she is pregnant. This would earn her a reprieve from hanging at least until her baby is born. John assures Danforth that his wife never lies. His words turn out to be ironic, because Elizabeth will lie to the court about John’s cheating with Abigail in order to protect his reputation.

PARRIS: This is a clear attack upon the court!
HALE: Is every defense an attack upon the court? Can no one – ?
PARRIS: All innocent and Christian people are happy for the courts in Salem!

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 3. Puritan intolerance is on full view in the witch trials courtroom, where any defense or appeal to reason on behalf of the accused is labeled an "attack upon the court." Ninety-one people have signed a petition that the accused Rebecca Nurse, Elizabeth Proctor and Martha Corey are not witches. But Parris insists that all 91 should be hauled into court and questioned. When Hale speaks up as the voice of reason, Parris make the highly ironic comment that all innocent people are happy with the courts in Salem. The audience knows that the women charged with witchcraft are innocent and have been accused as the result of the wicked and personal motives of other people. Parris’s attempt to stop evidence for the defense being presented has echoes in the way Senator Joe McCarthy saw resistance to his crusade against left-wing individuals as being un-American.

FRANCIS NURSE: I have brought trouble on these people. I have – .
DANFORTH: No, old man, you have not hurt these people if they are of good conscience.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 3. Francis Nurse laments that he has brought trouble on the 91 petitioners who stated that his wife Rebecca, Elizabeth Proctor and Martha Corey are innocent of witchcraft. The 91 are being arrested so they can questioned by the court. Judge Danforth’s response that those "of good conscience" need have no fear as they will not be hurt is ironic. Innocent people have been accused of being witches and forced to confess to crimes they did not commit in order to save their lives.

But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between. This is a sharp time, now, a precise time – we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. Now, by God’s grace, the shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it. I hope you be one of those.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 3. Danforth, in this courtroom speech to Francis Nurse, comes across as rigid, authoritarian, intolerant and a symbol of the absolute nature of Salem’s justice. He uses the metaphor of "no road between" to emphasize that you are either for the court or counted against it. Driven by an extreme ideology, he views the court and himself as being on the right side of the war between good and evil. They are essentially doing God’s work. In an extended metaphor he compares himself to the shining sun come to light up the dusky afternoon when evil was indistinguishable from good and confused the world. Danforth is self-deluded into believing that he is doing God’s will condemning and hanging innocent people. The irony is that the court is not being guided by God’s grace in a fight against evil. It is the corrupt court judges in collaboration with the lying Abigail and her troop of girls that are the true evil in Salem. Intoxicated by his own power, Danforth fails to see any of this.

Do that which is good, and no harm shall come to thee.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 3. John Proctor give this advise to Mary Warren, quoting what the angel Raphael said to the boy Tobias. This is an allusion to a story from the Book of Tobit, one of the books of the Apocrypha, which form part of the Catholic Bible but are omitted from the Protestant. The story tells of two Israelite families, that of the blind Tobit in Nineveh and of the abandoned Sarah in Ecbatana who is plagued by a demon. The archangel Raphael helps Tobit defeat the demon. There is a tragic irony in what Proctor advises Mary. The audience knows that good people are being arrested and accused, while evil continues and those doing harm are free to point fingers at the innocent.

HALE: There is a prodigious fear of this court in the country.
DANFORTH: Reproach me not with the fear in the country; there is fear in the country because there is a moving plot to topple Christ in the country!
HALE: But it does not follow that everyone accused is part of it.
DANFORTH: No uncorrupted man may fear this court, Mr. Hale! None! (To Giles): You are under arrest in contempt of this court.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 3. There are echoes of McCarthyism in this exchange between the top judge in the Salem witch trials court Danforth and Reverend John Hale. Hale speaks of the climate of fear create by a court that has imprisoned and hanged so many innocent people for the crime of witchcraft. But Danforth, with great irony, insists that no innocent person may fear the court. The truth is that many innocents have been condemned by his court of so-called justice. Just as Danforth fears a "plot to topple Christ in the country," Senator Joe McCarthy believed that communists wanted to topple democracy in the United States.

I am a minister of the Lord, and I dare not take a life without there be a proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience may doubt it.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 3. Having signed seventy-two death warrants in the Salem witch trials, Reverend Hale makes this comment to Danforth. The irony is that the "proof so immaculate" relied on by the court to decide guilt is the unsubstantiated word of one person against another. Hale, in agonizing over the "qualm of conscience" he feels with each case, is expressing his first real moments of doubt about what is happening in Salem. This foreshadows how the witchcraft expert will soon be full of concerns about Salem justice, believing eventually that he has "blood on my head."

I cannot lie no more. I am with God, I am with God.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 3. Mary Warren finds her courage and integrity, when she decides to tell the truth to the court and risk the anger of Abigail and the girls. A deposition on her behalf is presented to the judges by Proctor, in which Mary swears that she saw neither spirits nor the Devil, despite her and the girls testified that they had. The irony is that Mary uses much the same words at the end of the act when she reverses her testimony again and returns to the lies of the other girls: "I love God, I bless God." Mary is a girl who is weak, fickle and easily manipulated.

DANFORTH: Sit you down, children. Your friend, Mary Warren, has given us a deposition. In which she swears that she never saw familiar spirits, apparitions, nor any manifest of the Devil. She claims as well that none of you have seen these things either. Now, children, this is a court of law. The law, based upon the Bible, and the Bible, writ by Almighty God, forbid the practice of witchcraft, and describe death as the penalty thereof. But likewise, children, the law and Bible damn all bearers of false witness. Now then. It does not escape me that this may be devised to blind us; it may well be that Mary Warren has been conquered by Satan, who sends her here to distract our sacred purpose. If so, her neck will break for it. But if she speak true, I bid you now drop your guile and confess your pretense, for a quick confession will go easier with you. Abigail Williams, rise. Is there any truth in this?
ABIGAIL: No, sir.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 3. Danforth emphasizies his authority over the "children," explaining that Mary Warren has submitted a deposition claiming their evidence of seeing spirits and the Devil to be a lie. Danforth and his court have invested a great deal in the girls’ stories being true. While he may now be having his doubts, he is not going to easily dismiss their testimony on the word of one who has recanted. He may wish to be seen to be "fair," but his speech shows bias as he suggests that Mary may be lying on the instructions of Satan and threatens her with hanging. It is ironic that Mary’s honesty is characterized in this way. When Danforth asks Abigail if what Mary says in her deposition is true, Abby has little problem lying and answering "no."

A man will not cast away his good name.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 3. Proctor knows that the only way he can expose Abigail’s lies about Elizabeth and the other accused witches is to confess his illicit affair with Abby. So he decides to sacrifice his good name and publicly admit his crime of lechery to the court. He hopes that this will shake the court’s faith in Abby’s testimony. His decision to do this ironically shows that he is essentially an honorable man, one who is flawed and succumbed to the sin of lust.

Your Honor, I – in that time I were sick. And I – My husband is a good and righteous man. He is never drunk as some are, nor wastin’ his time at the shovelboard, but always at his work. But in my sickness – you see, sir, I were a long time sick after my last baby, and I thought I saw my husband somewhat turning from me. And this girl – .

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 3. Elizabeth is asked by Danforth what caused her to dismiss Abigail from her service. She tries to evade Danforth’s question. Rather than admit to her husband’s infidelity with Abigail she covers up for John. In her desire to protect him, she takes the blame herself by speaking of how she was sick after having a baby and thought her husband was losing interest in her. But far from saving John, her lie ironically ends up hurting both herself and him more.

I came to think he fancied her. And so one night I lost my wits, I think, and put her out on the highroad.

– Arthur Miller

The Crucible, Act 3. Elizabeth is questioned in court after John confesses to his affair with Abigail Williams. She is asked about Abigail Williams by Judge Danforth. Rather than disclose her husband’s infidelity, she tries to protect him by lying and portraying herself as the irrational wife who gave Abby her walking papers because of jealousy. There is tragic irony in Elizabeth’s action, as it ends up making the situation worse for herself and John.
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