Dichotomy and Struggle Between Authority

¶ … Dichotomy and Struggle Between Authority and Power in Arthur Miller's The Crucible Arthur Miller's the Crucible, a fictional dramatization of the Salem witch trials that contained a great deal of relevant contemporary commentary, questions the very nature of power and authority. These concepts are often though of as one and the same, but there are both obvious and more subtle differences between them, and this is clearly illustrated in the characters of the play.

Danforth is the supreme representation of authority, which can be thought of as temporal and/or physical power. True power, however, is something that he clearly lacks, as is seen onstage in the final act with the two Proctors, and offstage with Giles Corey. John Proctor, especially, exemplifies the fact that temporal authority has no real power over individuals who reserve it for themselves.

This is immediately seen in Miller's description of Proctor at his first appearance in the first scene of the play, in one of the many paragraphs of description that punctuate the drama at this early stage: "Proctor...was the kind of man -- powerful of body, even-tempered, and not easily led -- who cannot refuse support to partisans without drawing their deepest resentment" (Miller 23). This description shows John Proctor not only as someone who is physically powerful, but who also exerts control over his thoughts and emotions, as well.

He struggles with this throughout the play, but the struggle doesn't demonstrate a lack of power. It is rather the characters who give in to the proceedings of the court and the condemnation of their neighbors -- i.e. those who do not struggle, or who struggle less -- who lack power over themselves. John's very conflict reveals his power. Similarly, Danforth betrays his true lack of power in his absolute certainty.

This type of certainty only signifies authority, but it shows Danforth to be truly powerless over his convictions or any sort of lasting truth. Like Proctor, he is also described upon his first appearance, with Miller commenting that he was of "some humor and sophistication that does not, however, interfere with an exact loyalty to his position and his cause" (Miller 73).

Though Danforth has authority over life and death in Salem, he has no real power because he has already completely given himself over to his position as a Judge and his cause of seeking out witches. When the truth and all things eternal cease to matter, all power is gone, and though John Proctor and many others meet death essentially at Danforth's hands, they retain power over themselves in their refusal to give in to Danforth's authority.

Nowhere is the difference between power and authority made more clear than in the end of the play, when John Proctor refuses to let the court sully his good name.