Reverend Hale, In The Crucible, shows the danger of being overconfident.
The Crucible Quotes With Page Numbers
Reverend Hale Character Traits From The Crucible
In Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible,” Reverend Hale starts as an eager, self-assured witch-hunter who believes he can root out the Devil.
But morphs into a disillusioned and broken man who loses faith in his abilities and the justice system upon realizing his inadvertent contribution to a hysteria that caused the deaths of innocent people.
Reverend Hale is portrayed as a tight-skinned, eager-eyed intellectual nearing forty who takes pride in his unique knowledge about witchcraft that is publicly called for.
Even after his encounter with an alleged witch, Hale is certain of the underworld’s existence and the multitude of Lucifer’s agents (The Crucible, Pages 30- 31).
Reverend Hale is depicted as a diligent student of witchcraft and sorcery. His meticulously gathered knowledge of symptoms, keywords, and diagnostics is akin to a young doctor set to make his first medical call.
He perceives himself as in the elite company of great European minds – kings, philosophers, scientists, and ecclesiastics from all churches.
When called upon to face the perceived evil, he feels a deep sense of exaltation and conviction. He trusts in his precision to detect the devil’s presence (The Crucible, Page 31).
Hale showcases a profound love for intellectual pursuits. His passion lies in studying the invisible world, aiming to understand and expose the Devil’s disguises and nefarious operations (The Crucible, Page 37).
As a seeming contrast to his intellectual pursuits, Hale is also depicted as compassionate. For example, he kindly took in and tended to a child believed to have been afflicted by a witch, leading to her recovery (The Crucible, Page 31).
Hale’s capacity to recognize goodness in others is referenced when he meets Rebecca Nurse, whom he acknowledges for her reputed philanthropy in Beverly (The Crucible, Page 37).
Hale’s conviction in the presence of demonic influences leads him to decisively quote, “The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone…” (The Crucible, Page 34). This conviction drives him to uncover the Devil’s agents within Salem.
Despite his knowledge and firm beliefs, Hale still shows humility. When his books—representing his authority on the subject—are remarked upon for their weight, Hale responds that they need to carry weight because the task requires serious study (The Crucible, Page 34).
Hale exhibits a deep sense of responsibility, regarding himself as an instrument God chose to cleanse the village of the Devil’s agents (The Crucible, Page 44).
Despite his cause’s seeming righteousness, Hale tends to lean towards an elitist viewpoint.
He says, “What victory would the Devil have to win a soul already bad? It is the best the Devil wants, and who is better than the minister” (The Crucible, Page 39).
This statement suggests that Hale sees the clergy, including himself, as the most virtuous individuals and, therefore, the prime targets of the devil. This belief might also hint at a sense of self-importance and pride within Hale.
The character of Reverend Hale in The Crucible is multi-faceted, complex, and dynamic.
Readers can view his traits through his intellectual pursuits, passionate convictions, compassion, humility, sense of responsibility, and self-importance.
Reverend Hale Quotes The Crucible Act 1
“Mr. Hale is nearing forty, a tight-skinned, eager-eyed intel-lectual. This is a belovederrand for him; on being called here to ascertain witchcraft he felt the pride of the specialist whose uniqueknowledge has at last been publicly called for. Like almost all men of learning, he spent a good deal of his time pondering the invisible world, especially since he had himself encountered a witch in his parish not long before. That woman, however, turned into a mere pest under his searching scrutiny, and the child she had allegedly been afflicting recovered her normal behavior after Hale had given her his kindness and a few days of rest in his own house. However, that experience never raised a doubt in his mind as to the reality of the under-world or the existence of Lucifer’s many-faced lieutenants. And his belief is not to his discredit. Better minds than Hale’s were – and still are – convinced that there is a society of spirits beyond our ken. One cannot help noting that one of his lines has never yet raised a laugh in any audience that has seen this play; it is his assurance that “,We cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise.” Evidently we are not quite certain even now whether diabolism is holy and not to be scoffed at. And it is no accident that we should be so bemused. Like Reverend Hale and the others on this stage, we conceive the Devil as a necessary part of a respectable view of cosmology.”
“Coming into Salem now, Reverend Hale conceives of himself much as a young doctor on his first call. His painfully acquired armory of symptoms, catchwords, and diagnostic procedures are now to be put to use at last. The road from Beverly is unusually busy this morning, and he has passed a hundred rumors that make him smile at the ignorance of the yeomanry in this most precise science. He feels himself allied with the best minds of Europe – kings, philosophers, scientists, and ecclesiasts of all churches. His goal is light, goodness and its preservation, and he knows the exaltation of the blessed whose intelligence, sharpened by minute examinations of enormous tracts, is finally called upon to face what may be a bloody fight with the Fiend himself.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act One, Pages 30, 31
“Parris, delighted: Mr. Hale! Oh! it’s good to see you again!
Taking some books: My, they’re heavy!
Hale, setting down his books: They must be; they are weighted with authority.
Parris, a little scared: Well, you do come prepared!
Hale: We shall need hard study if it comes to tracking down the Old Boy. Noticing
Rebecca: You cannot be Rebecca Nurse?Rebecca: I am, sir. Do you know me?
Hale: It’s strange how I knew you, but I suppose you look as such a good soul
should. We have all heard of your great charities in Beverly.“The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone…”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Paris, Reverend Hale, and Rebecca, Act One, Page 34
“Here is all the invisible world, caught, defined, and calculated. In these books the Devil stands stripped of all his brute disguises. Here are all your familiar spirits-your incubi and succubi; your witches that go by land, by air, and by sea; your wizards of the night and of the day. Have no fear now-we shall find him out and I mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face!”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act One, Page 37
“HALE, with a tasty love of intellectual pursuit”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act One, Page 37
“What victory would the Devil have to win a soul already bad? It is the best the Devil wants, and who is better than the minister.” – Rev. John Hale”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act One, Page 39
“You are God’s instrument put in our hands to discover the Devil’s agents among us. You are selected, Tituba, you are chosen to help us cleanse our village.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act One, Page 44
Reverend Hale Act 2 Quotes
“Reverend Hale: How comes it that only two are baptized?
Proctor: I like it not that Mr. Parris should lay his hand upon my baby. I see no light of God in that man. I’ll not conceal it.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act Two, Page 62
“If Rebecca Nurse be tainted, then nothing’s left to stop the whole green world from burning.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act Two, Page 67
“Until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in Heaven.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act Two, Page 68
“…though our hearts break, we cannot flinch…”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act Two, Page 68
“What I have heard in her favor, I will not fear to testify in court.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act Two, Page 74
Reverend Hale Quotes The Crucible Act 3
“There is a prodigious fear of this court in the country. (Hale to Danforth)”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act Three, Page 90
“In God’s name, sir, stop here; send him home and let him come again with a lawyer. (to Danforth)”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act Three, Page 92
“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, Reverend Hale, Act Three, Page 92
“Excellency, it is a natural lie to tell; I beg you, stop now before another is condemned! l may shut my conscience to it no more – private vengeance is working through this testimony! From the beginning this man has struck me true. By my oath to Heaven, I believe him now, and I pray you call back his wife before we -”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act Three, Page 105
“I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court! He slams the door to the outside behind him.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act Three, Page 111
Reverend Hale Quotes The Crucible Act 4
“I come to do the Devil’s work. I come to counsel Christians they should belie themselves. There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head!!”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act Four, Page 121
“For he is taken I count myself his murderer.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act Four, Page 122
“I beg you, woman, prevail upon your husband to confess. Let him give his lie. Quail not before God’s judgment in this.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act Four, Page 122
“Quail not before God’s judgment in this, for it, may well be God damns a liar less than he that throws his life away for pride.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act Four, Page 122
“Life, woman, life is God’s most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act Four, Page 122
“cleave to no faith when faith brings blood.” – Rev. John Hale”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act Four, Page 122
“I came into this village like a bridegroom to his beloved, bearing gifts of high religion; the very crowns of holy law I brought, and what I touched with my bright confidence, it died; and where I turned the eye of my great faith, blood flowed up. Beware, Goody Proctor–cleave to no faith when faith brings blood. It is mistaken law that leads you to sacrifice. Life, woman, life is God’s most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Act Four, Page 122
What is the quote when Reverend Hale quits the court?
“I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court! He slams the door to the outside behind him.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Page 111
What does Reverend Hale say about witchcraft?
“We cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Page 34
What was Reverend Hale’s prideful quote?
“I beg you, woman, prevail upon your husband to confess. Let him give his lie. Quail not before God’s judgment in this.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Page 122
What is Reverend Hale’s fatal flaw?
Reverend Hale’s fatal flaw is his rigid belief in his intellectual and spiritual superiority, initially leading him to pursue alleged witchcraft practitioners with unwavering certainty.
However, as he witnesses the shattered lives resulting from the trials he helped instigate, he dramatically shifts his perspective, realizing that not everything can be chalked up to spiritual intervention.
This disillusionment marks his downfall, as he believes truth is less valuable than preserving life.