|
|
"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | Them that will not confess will hang. Twelve are already executed; the names of these seven are given out, and the village expects to see them die this morning. Postponement now speaks a floundering on my part; reprieve or pardon must cast doubt upon the guilt of them that died till now. While I speak God’s law, I will not crack its voice with whimpering. If retaliation is your fear, know this—I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolution of the statutes. Now draw yourselves up like men and help me, as you are bound by Heaven to do. | „ |
| ~ Danforth refusing to commute the sentences of the innocents. |
Thomas Danforth, better known as Deputy Governor Danforth, is the secondary antagonist of the 1953 play The Crucible.
He is a fanatical Puritan politician who oversees a corrupt witch trial in Salem in which several innocent people are arrested and executed.
He was portrayed by the late Paul Scofield.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- As one of the judges for the witch trails in Salem, he was the main one sentencing the accused to prison, and if the accused deny (which the usually did), he called for their executions, while the people who confessed were sentenced to prison or exiled from the city.
- Over the next four months, the people in prison were sent into fits of hysteria and insanity, such as Sarah Goode and Tituba, as the entire city is in disarray; children having no guardians and being homeless as riots start blowing out. This also shows people who died in prison, such as Giles Corey to was tortured to death and made Marshall Hedrick a alcoholic from depression.
- t’s shown that dozens if not hundreds of people were accused through the city.
- Over the next four months, the people in prison were sent into fits of hysteria and insanity, such as Sarah Goode and Tituba, as the entire city is in disarray; children having no guardians and being homeless as riots start blowing out. This also shows people who died in prison, such as Giles Corey to was tortured to death and made Marshall Hedrick a alcoholic from depression.
- When provided with a document of 91 individuals willing to back up Martha Corey, he immediately dismisses it and believes they are all in line with the devil and ordered for their arrest.
- Arrested Giles Corey and John Proctor for disrupting the court and not providing a key witness because the former does not want to cause them to get arrested.
- While seemingly begging to understand John’s point when he confesses that Abigail seduces him, he immediately sides with Mary Warren when she accuses him of witchcraft, and sends him and Giles into the
- When Parris and Hale attempt to reason with Danforth and say that the seven people who are to hang in the morning, including John Proctor, were innocent, Danforth admits he sees them as innocents, but is gonna execute them anyway in order to prevent the church from discovering he murdered innocent people, showing he truly doesn’t care for anything other than his reputation.
- While he was willing to allow Proctor to go free if he confessed, he wanted John to sell out the six others in order to have them executed.
- While he concedes in allowing John to go free anyway, it was only due to Hale and Parris’ pressuring and further to ensure his reputation.
- When John rips up the confession, he sends out John to be executed, which will presumably lead to a riot and Danforth, Hawthorne and Parris to become despised by the church and lead to a giant riot in the town of Salem.
- While he spared Elizabeth Proctor due to her being pregnant, it was not out of honor but because it would be illegal to execute pregnant woman, clearly showing he would be willing to kill her anyway.
- Shows to be nothing more than a hypocritical egotist who’s willing to mass sacrifice dozens of innocent people in order to just protect his reputation and uses the accusations of witchcraft and the Word of God as an excuse to commit the heinous crimes.
Trivia[]
- He is one of the two Pure Evils in The Crucible, along with Abigail Williams.
External link[]
- Deputy Governor Danforth on the Villains Wiki