Power is what corrupts the magistrate. Fear is what compels the people of Salem to go along with the rulings of the court.
I do not believe we can reasonably argue that Danforth was led into his great hubris by any kind of fear unless that is the fear of losing his authority. The reason he can persist in persecuting innocent people is because he feels that the moral code which would prohibit punishing the innocent does not apply to him. He...
↧