Dichotomy and Struggle Between Authority Essay

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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 for the people of the town and his two sons, and instead marches off to his death.

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Earlier, Elizabeth has given him news of Giles Corey's defiance, which allowed his land to pass to his sons uncontested. This is in some ways an even greater comment on Danforth's lack of power; he cannot even force a man to give up his property. His authority is strictly limited by his position, and he has no real power beyond those limitations -- and thus no real power at all. Giles Corey, John Proctor, and the others who resist the court, however, have names and souls that cannot be touched or altered by anyone else -- and this is true….....

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