Danforth is first introduced to us in this section, which has been chosen for us to analyse when Proctor leaps on Abigail violently, to react with this I would jump out of my seat and hammer my first, firmly on a desk in front of me. I would frown and look astonished because this is what the stage directions tell me to do, ‘ Danforth, astonished. ‘ When I say, ‘ What are you about,’ I would shout it very loudly making sure my voice sounds overpowering, commanding and authoritative I would yell this because the stage direction states, ‘cries’ and I interpret this as louder than just a shout.
When Proctor calls Abigail a whore I would immediately react and point my finger at Proctor, I would frown and look down at Proctor. I would shake my head in complete horror. I must react in a confused and bewildered way because Arthur Miller gave me the impression that Danforth had never experienced with anyone so rude and verbal: ‘Man! Man what do you-‘ When I recite this line I would say the first ‘ Man’ quietly and shout the second ‘ man’ with rage to make it clear who was boss.
I would express my absolute rage by Proctors actions by waving my hands sharply; I would do this because Danforth asks a question, ‘ What do you-‘ and it seems apparent that Danforth is not sure how to react in this situation and by waving his hands about it shows that the situation is not under control. To show Danforth’s amazement, ‘ dumbfounded’ I would rise from my seat and shake my head in dismay.
When Danforth says, ‘ you will prove this! This will not pass! ‘ I would point my finger at Proctor sternly as the sentence comes across as being very commanding and strict. At this point it is clear that Danforth gains his authority back over the court because the line, ‘ you will prove this! This will not pass! ‘ is very strict I would say it in a strict and meaningful way so that Proctor would not be able to answer back.
When Proctor recites his long paragraph and tries to, ‘ keep himself from weeping,’ I would stare at him not letting my eyes wander anywhere else, by doing this I would show the audience that I know that Proctor is hiding something and it would make the whole plot a lot more interesting. Throughout the whole of the speech I would leaf forward onto the desk in front of me and rest my chin on my clenched fist, making sure I n ever missed a single word proctor said.
I would do this because after the speech the stage directions state: ‘ blanched, in horror turning to Abigail’, this gives me the impression that Danforth listened to every word of what Proctor had to say and that he was very interested in it so by posing in this way it would show this. Referring to the same stage directions it is clear that Danforth is taken back by proctor’s speech but realises Abigail will completely disagree, I would look at Abigail suddenly turning by neck sharply and staring into her eyes deeply, I would then say, ‘ You deny every scrap of this’, in a way which practically tells her that she does.
