1

An Epilogue of Some Sort

Sometime after Proctors hanging. Danforth, Hawthorne, Parris, Elizabeth, and Cheever are
gathered in the churchs vestry. The atmosphere is tense yet there is an air of resignation from all
of them. Things are finally quieting down and coming to a conclusion. Elizabeth is seated, her
belly rotund as her child is due very soon.
Hale: Do you really think a man would condemn himself simply for pride Danforth?
Parris: Let us parade his name down the streets! He confessed but then withdrew his concession!
The people of Salem must know
Elizabeth: You will not take away his goodness!
Hale: You have killed him you will not taint his name too. Turns to Parris. Are you content with
the unfolding of these matters? Are you? Looks at Danforth. Mayhaps now you see that all this
talk of witchcraft is foolish.
Danforth: he half-heartedly tries to defend himself. The court was only looking at the evidence,
at every possible aspect of it! The people of Salem acted suspicious when accused; no innocent
man may fear the court. They confessed!
Hale: It was either a confession or a hanging! Which would you choose, Your Excellency? He
throws the title almost mockingly.
Hawthorne: Mr. Hale, Danforth is still a figure of authority and demands respect.
Danforth: wearily sits. Elizabeth. Allow me to ask you once more and tell me true. Why did you
dismiss Abigail?
Parris: obviously uncomfortable. I-It is done, your Excellency. Surely we have already deduced
that Proctor was trying to release his wife from prison and bring down our source of light, Abbi!

Hale: Parris we are done with such ludicrous accusations! After all this you are still willfully
blind. Ignorant to what is going on around you. The one controlled by the Devil is you! Abbi has
stolen your money and-Hawthorne: Gentlemen!
Danforth: tired, resigned. Elizabeth, answer me. Cheever, record all of this down to precise
accuracy.
Elizabeth: it makes no matter now. I...It is true. For a while, I was ill. I became unbearable, cold,
distant. John tried to reach out to me but we were both dissatisfied and could not bring ourselves
to make amends. Parris starts stammering but Danforth quiets him. At that same time Abigail
had come to his attention and like any man he fell into temptation...it is my fault as much as his.
Danforth: he expected this but was still afraid of Elizabeths answer. All the people I
condemned...the innocent lives...
Parris: he clings to any possibility that might help clear his name. We were misguided. My
niece was directed by the Devil and we fell into
Hale: There is no Devil. It is the work of our own wicked human handsyour hands Parris-- do
you not understand that!
Elizabeth: Gentlemen, I cannot tell you how to do your job but now might be the time to finally
drop this. The townspeople are livid, confused and think you have abused your power. Many
have come to the light and realize that witchcraft was but a ploy schemed by those seeking
revenge.
Danforth: slouches in his seat. He rubs his eyes and sighs dramatically. Everyone is silent and
awaits his response. This has gone on for far too long. I deluded myself into thinking it was
justice but it was not. People have been condemned to death and all because of what I thought

was my correct judgement. We live in an illusion. Parris, I have allowed myself to be altered by
your words. I see now you have been doing the Devils work in this town
Parris:he interrupts, indignant yet afraid of what Danforth means to say I am a righteous ma
Danforth: continues as though uninterrupted. and corrupted our good faith. We have been led to
believe that misconduct is justifiable as long as we can twist the Bibles words to our advantage.
His voice becomes bitter. I have been a fool to let this proceed as it has. The others are shocked
by his sudden change.
Hale: his compassion is visible. Mr. Danforth, a lot of us were mistaken. It does not do to dwell
on our shortcomings. One must rather try and repair the damage done.
Danforth: Can I bring back those who I commanded to be hanged? Can I alleviate the pain of
Giles Corey as we went through measures inconceivably brutish to get a confession? How many
children left fatherless? How many wives are now widows? All for a lie. The damage cannot be
undone Reverend Hale. I can however prevent things such as this from ever happening again.
Elizabeth: What is it you mean to do, Your Excellency?
Danforth: I will step down from my position in court. Everyone is shocked by his resolute
proclamation. I will talk to other court officials. A theocracy. Did we really think that would
work? There is no God. And if there was, I doubt he would want anything to do with the
wretched scum we are. We have given him a bad image. Parris is horrified. He fears what is to
come. The court has already started reconsidering its foundations.
Parris: W-What do you mean?
Danforth: turns to him sharply. What this means Reverend Parris is that they have started
thinking about reinstating the sort of government and rule we mean to impose. It means

Reverend Parris that you will not be keeping your position of power for long. It means we are
choosing logic and rationality over intangible premises.
Elizabeth: she is saddened that Proctor is not there to witness the great shift the town of Salem is
making but she knows that without his death none of this would be possible, so she is feeling a
mournful sort of satisfaction that things are finally going right, and coming to an end. I suppose
in the end things are finally brightening.
Hale: Not all is lost. We can reconstruct this town to be built upon firm beliefs. A better place for
the children he looks at Elizabeths bellyand all can redeem themselves!
The people in the vestry look at each other with a quiet hope. Hales words have given them
cause to be optimistic. Parris is the only one that is disheartened. With an icy gaze, he quickly
exits the room. The room is silent.
Danforth: he sits up, pushes his chair back and stands. He walks to the centre of the room. We
cannot undo the damage weI have done. For the present time, I can only try and fix and
innovate all I have done. May God have mercy on all of us.
The curtain falls.

[Rationale]
I chose to write an epilogue for the play. In my gap narrative I tried to elaborate on
Echoes down the Corridor which is also sort of an epilogue to The Crucible but in factual
form. I chose this part was so that I could try and somewhat portray what those in power must
have felt once everything came to lightspecifically Danforth.

In this narrative I explored Hales compassion as well as his rigid sense of morality. His
compassion is presented to readers in the play by his active participation in trying to save
peoples lives, Why, it is all simple. I come to do the Devil's work...Can you not see the blood on my
head! Hale means that by convincing people to lie and confess to something they did not do (which is a
sin according to the Bible) they save themselves while spiritually condemning themselvesthus its the
Devils work. At the same time he is willing to taint his image in order to save lives. In my narrative, he is
passionate about the injustice and about how the system has got it all wrong. He is also quick to forgive as
he tries to offer Danforth comfort. His words in the end are optimistic and he is willing to put the ordeal
behind and work towards a better world.
The Crucible illustrated Danforth as a morally upright man whose entire convictional foundation
was based on the law and court. I thought it would be interesting to write about how he must have felt and
responded to everything that was happeningthe weakening of the churchs power, the courts fallacy
and so on. Danforth believed that, no uncorrupted man may fear this court yet that idea was challenged
and defeated. Danforth seemed like a logical man, so to me it seemed that in the end he would see that he
was either wrong or misguided or both. As a man who was so based on the court I felt sympathetic
towards himespecially when all he believed in crashed. He truly seemed to believe in all he preached
and unlike Parris I would argue that he was not consciously corrupt and working only to his own
advantage. I believe my gap narrative gave Danforth a more humane description and a chance for readers
not to despise him as much.
When reading my gap narrative, one can see that it is terribly biased. Parris, of all the characters,
was my least favourite and Im sure many more readers can agree. I accentuated his selfish character in
my writinghe is only trying to look out for himself and rather than shedding light like Hale he distorts
Gods image and words to his own advantage. In my narrative, he feels no remorse for all the people that
were hanged because of his influence. He is only worried about his status.

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Lastly, I decided to write an epilogue as a form of closure. I found The Crucibles ending
wonderfully dissatisfying. It was the reason I stayed up late at night reconsidering my life and pondering
on Arthur Millers intentions. It was a great ending really. My purpose in writing the epilogue was to
provide a more conventional conclusion where things start to look better and there is more of a resolution.