Conflict Is the Heart of Drama

In the Crucible, John Proctor is definitely a developing character, he starts of looking like a good guy, the white knight who sees the insanity of the witch trials. But as the play progresses, Proctor is shown to not be as pure as he appears, he sinned against his wife and God, and that consumed him. John Proctor is faced with many forms of conflict, the most influential being Man Vs. Society, and Man Vs. Man. While these conflicts shape Proctor’s character development, the conflict within was the most influential in his development.

The primary dramatic focus in the play The Crucible is the moral struggle of its protagonist, John Proctor. Certain characteristics of John Proctor's character and also the environment of the Puritanical Salem alleviated this problem for him. The main issues running through out the play are a series of dilemmas that John Proctor faces. The first and foremost of these is his guilt over his adulterous affair with Abigail Williams, the second his hesitation to testify against Abigail to bring out the truth and the third, his final decision to make the ultimate sacrifice.

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, various characters, whether it is from physical trials or unseen personal struggles, experience some kind of major conflict. There are those who spend every day in fear, wondering whether or not they will be falsely accused of witchcraft. There are others who struggle with more internal trials, such as forgiving those who have hurt them. The protagonist, John Proctor, was a man of strong moral constitution, and held himself to a high standard for the sake of his good name and family. As a result of this, he struggled with a major internal conflict throughout the play.

Purist Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 suffered from a rapidly increasing phenomenon: witchcraft accusations and trials. The Crucible is a play that recounts the times of this incident. For the most part, it follows a man known as John Proctor. He is a sensible, honest, and hardworking man who made the mistake of succumbing to lust which sets off a chain of events that leads to the witch trials, and to his own demise. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible’s protagonist John Proctor proves to be a flawed human being who struggles to make sense of his past relationship with Abigail, his love for his wife, and his pride.

''The Crucible,'' is a 1952 play written by Arthur Miller as an allegory of Mcarthyism. The play follows a theocratic society in which the church and the state are one, and reputation plays an important role in Salem where private and public moralities are the same. In act one, the secret affair of John Proctor and Abigail Williams was revealed that led to conflict between John and his wife. Divorce was not permitted in the late 16th century, hence, the Proctors had to maintain their marriage causing discord within the Proctor household. At the start of Act 2, Miller creates a tense atmosphere of animosity portrayed by John and Elizabeth Proctor in their lack of affection, awkwardness, appraisal and guilt leading to affliction.

Furthermore, in act three Proctor begins to put his words into actions. He has developed an urge to fight for his wife, due to Proctor finally believing in what he is fighting for. During the play Proctor, “Looks at Elizabeth, but she cannot speak. “She never saw no spirits,” (88), Proctor says defending Elizabeth. He wants to protect her from false evidence and from his past mistakes. Proctor is no longer only worried about himself and what will happen if he confesses. Proctor tries to reason with court, he asks for, ”God [to] help [him], [he] lusted and there is a promise in such sweat. But it's a whore’s vengeance, and [they] must see it,” (110). Proctor exhibits empathy towards his previous actions of adultery throughout act three of, The Crucible, where as in the beginning he had no empathy towards others or his actions. Proctor is quick to protect Elizabeth when she is accused of things that the court has no proof on. “There might also be a dragon with five legs in [his] house, but no one has ever seen it,” (104), Proctor told the court with vengeance. “[His] wife is innocent, except she knew a whore when she saw one!” (111), she has no reason to lie or cover for Proctor, for great sins by Proctor were inflicted upon Elizabeth. Proctor harbors great guilt for, ”She only thought to save [his] name!” (113). Proctor went from a sinner to a tragic hero and is starting to

Although not written by Miller, the introductory information for The Crucible establishes his credibility. An editor of Prentice Hall Literature informs the audience of Miller’s knowledge of the subject, “Arthur Miller has chronicled the dilemmas of common people pitted against powerful and unyielding social forces” (Kinsella 1230). The editor verifies Miller’s expertise and past work on other pieces focused on social issues such as All My Sons and Death of a Salesman. Additionally, the background information reveals that Miller based the play off a real historical event. Therefore, the play serves as a convincing example of real life social pressures and the resulting consequences that helps to prove Miller’s argument. While experiencing the play, a personal connection can be formed between John Proctor and audience members who have also experienced persecution. The ability to connect with the character allows the audience to empathize with the argument and consequently be more likely to be convinced by it.

Despite his being an insignificant and non-status-holding member of society, John Proctor is a much-respected man in Salem. However, in determining his fate, he continues to make several critical and irreversible mistakes that harm his reputation. For fear of being exiled in a town where reputation plays such a large role in their daily lives, Proctor initially tries to hide his crime of adultery, but his affair with Abigail triggers a major series of events in Salem, where simple, unproven accusations escalate to a far larger issue: “Abby—you mean to cry out still others?” “If I live, if I am not murdered, I surely will, until the last hypocrite is dead” (Miller 150). In the end, Proctor decides that for the sake of his desperate circumstances, it would be better to admit to his affair, but by the time he decides to reveal his crime, it is too late to reverse all past actions. He is convicted of witchcraft and doomed to be hanged, later, when given a chance to live, he caves in and confesses to seeing the Devil, only to go back even on this last lie, because he does not have the heart to be freed and saved by a lie.

In “The Crucible” Arthur Miller made the plot develops through the conflicts by using high tension and climaxes. He ends each of the four acts with a climax. In addition, he allowed the protagonist to develop throughout the acts. “The Crucible” has many internal and external conflicts. The major external conflict is John Proctor trying to save his wife from being hanged by the town officials for supposedly being a witch. The major internal conflict is John trying to decide between saving himself and family from being hanged, or accept the death penalty for false accusations against him. The main conflict sharply differentiated good and evil as John Proctor, the protagonist of the play is faced with the

American playwright Arthur Miller, in his play The Crucible (1952) displays to us that which hunt still exists in American society. Miller supports this claim by drawing parallels between the Salem Witch trials and the senator Joseph McCarthy. His purpose is to warn his readers of the dangers of mass hysteria. He uses emotional appeals and logic to convince the readers that mass “hunts” are still a danger to Americans today. The crucial way however, that Miller achieves his supreme objective of revealing the risks of reputation vs. integrity is through a fascinating character, John Proctor. John is an example of an internally conflicted character because he had a huge argument with Elizabeth over Abigail, Proctor also had an affair with Abigail, and lastly John had a choice between life and death at the end of the play.

Arthur Miller has created John Proctor the protagonist of The Crucible to be a 30 year old farmer in Salem, Massachusetts, powerful of body, even-tempered and not easily led. John speaks his mind when he recognizes injustice. He is highly respected, even feared, by some in Salem. His name is synonymous with honour and integrity. He takes pleasure in exposing hypocrisy and is respected for it. However John is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time but against his own vision of decent conduct, he has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud. After admitting to lechery, John is accused of witchcraft, on this charge he is condemned.

Another major conflict in this story involves John Proctor basically fighting his conscience. After, he was later accused of being a witch, he was given the opportunity to save his life by confessing to what he had done. He thought hard to himself and confessed. But later, when he realized Rebecca Nurse had been accused of being a witch, and had not confessed to it, Proctor knowing her innocence, tore up his confession as to not feel like a coward and die for what was right. He ended up being hung just like Rebecca even though he had been completely innocent of witchcraft. This conflict was different from the other ones, in how it was not person-to-person but person vs. self

How Does Miller convey his Message through The Crucible? In this essay, I will explore the message communicated through 'The Crucible' to its audience, and the way in which its author, Arthur Miller, attempts to convey it, especially through one of the play's main characters, John Proctor. The main issues raised by the play are the role of the individual within society, the value of one's name and perceptions of justice and truth.

Throughout The Crucible, external and internal conflicts run in parallel. Though distinct, together they reinforce and nuance the theme that to belong is to exclude. The main characters who experience internal conflict are Reverend Hale, John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor and Mary Warren. These characters are forced to be involved in the conflict of the town

One character in particular, represents Miller’s view of individuality and is seen as a hero figure because he chooses to defend his individuality. This play shows one man, John Proctor, in his struggle to keep his pride and name from being destroyed with lies, deceit and accusations of consorting with the devil. Proctor tries to expose Abigail and the girl’s deceit but he is punished for it because children were thought of as the voice of god and they were innocent. When the trial was brought in front of the court officials, Deputy Governor Danforth feared that he will lose power therefore weakens the testimony from the girls which broke the power of theocracy in Massachusetts.