combined with his relentlessly logical nature, allow him to remain calm amidst all the chaos and hysteria swirling around him. His presence reminds us of the overriding importance of doing justice in all cases, however serious the charges may be.

According to Miller, Reverend Hale is almost forty years old and is a "tight-skinned, eager-eyed intellectual." He is very proud of his craft (career) of witch-hunting and is excited to finally put his skills and years of learning to use. He considers himself a specialist on witches, although he has never seen one first-hand. The only allegedly witch he has encountered turned out to be innocent. Despite this setback, he is certain that witches and evil exist and that they can be proved through science: "We cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise."

Regardless of his initial over-zealousness, Hale proves to be a scrupulous and just man, as he demands that the innocent be let go when he realizes that the trials are a mistake.

Miller portrays Reverend Hale as a man who is initially very confident, even a bit arrogant, concerning his ability to identify the “marks” of the devil and to banish him. He comes to Salem with his big books which, he says, are “weighted with authority,” and he never doubts for a moment that he could be wrong. In act II, he visits the Proctors to get a sense of them, and to ask John some questions regarding John’s position on the local minister and John’s own theology. When Hale learns that Rebecca Nurse has been charged with witchcraft, he is shocked, but he still believes in the righteousness of the court and its judges, and he claims that, if she is sent home, she will be exonerated. It is only in act III that we see Hale finally understand the corruption at the heart of the court, and he “quits” it and will no longer take part in its proceedings now that he recognizes how unjustly it operates. Finally, in act IV, Hale returns to Salem to counsel those convicted of witchcraft to lie and confess their “guilt” to save their own lives and avoid being hanged for crimes they did not commit. He now feels responsible for the executions that have already happened and those which are about to take place, crying out that there is “blood on [his] head.” If the audience is familiar at all with the real story of the Salem Witch Trials, then they know how this ends, and they have known since Reverend Hale appeared onstage, full of confidence. This creates dramatic irony, when the audience knows more than the character, as we understand what will happen long before Hale does. This builds tension for the audience as we see his naivety change to understanding, and it results in a release of that tension when he finally figures out the truth.