Elizabeth Proctor Character Analysis

“You’re Honor, I-in that time I were sick. And I- My husband is a good and righteous man. He is never drunk as some are, nor wastin’ his time at the shovelboard, but always at his work. But in my sickness” (III.410-426).Even though he cheated in her with Abigail she is strong enough to lie for him. Her growth is also evident in the end of the play because Elizabeth shows tremendous courage and integrity letting go of John to. “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!”(IV.207-208). Elizabeth understood John’s motive and that took tremendous bravery for her to allow him to be get his redemption and be hanged. She now has the role of taking care of her and financially supporting her

She is an unmarried orphan and described as beautiful and intelligent, however she is very vengeful and seeks for power. In addition to that, she is a liar, manipulative and selfish.

One trait that Elizabeth has is loyalty to her husband, John. Although John was unfaithful to Elizabeth, she was always loyal and supported him. In Act II, Elizabeth assures John, “I will be your only wife, or no wife at all!" (Miller 62). After John has an affair with Abigail, he asks for Elizabeth’s forgiveness. Elizabeth states, “It come to naught that I should forgive you. Will you forgive yourself? It is your soul, John” (Miller 57). Elizabeth realizes that she has already forgiven John. She knows John needs to forgive himself. Elizabeth will do anything to keep her loyalty. This relates to the theme of reputation because she is always a loyal and moral person. Elizabeth has a large respect for John and her own reputation.

Through the characterization of Abigail’s Machiavellian nature, playing her uncle for a fool and using lies and her deceit to achieve power, Miller enables the reader to draw a direct feministic comparison between her and the powerless woman in The Crucible. The use of adultery and its connection to humiliation and lack of respect allows for a greater representation of Elizabeth’s and Proctor’s relationship with respect to Abigail. Elizabeth is victimised as she finds herself stumbling through her husband’s evident adultery “(Abigail) charge lechery on you, Mr. Proctor! and his reprimands “Enough… Elizabeth! “I’ll whip you”. Submissive to his anger and with her own “She’d dare not call out such a farmer’s wife!” Elizabeth understands that it is Abigail who has driven a wedge between her and Proctor’s marriage. As a result, her situation contrives sympathy, a reaction that is similar to the highly respected Rebecca Nurse who Hale has “heard of your giving great charities”. Nurse, as a direct result of Abigail’s machinations is thrown in jail, labelled a “witch”. The helplessness of these woman is directly attributable Abigail’s lust for influence and recognition and represents the power imbalance between the woman of Salem.

The Crucible is a lengthy theatrical that delves into the time of the Salem witch trials. The author, Arthur Miller, depicts a dark time in which no one is safe from the questionable accusations of a few girls caught in a lie and trying to save their own skins. Miller introduces the protagonist, John Proctor, as a “sinner,” while some critics view him as a Christlike figure. John Proctor is a good man because he supports his family, practices his religion, and never fell for the witchcraft insanity that the rest of Salem fell for.

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible presents Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams who serve important roles through their unique characteristics and thinking. John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, has two defining characteristics that show throughout this play: she not only lives to please everyone around her and behaves passively, but she lacks the assertiveness to confront what lies directly under her nose. However, Abigail, the girl John Proctor commits the crime of adultery with, manipulates those around her. She is keen to act upon an opportunity when one arises and feels a determination to get her way. While Elizabeth and Abigail are similar in their love for John Proctor, Elizabeth differs from Abigail through her tendency to try to please everyone and keep her own emotions bottled up, while Abigail believes the world revolves around her and works to make things go her own way.

Life in the 1600’s was arduous for members of Puritan society. Strict social rules, including defined gender-specific roles, mandatory attendance at church, no self-indulging activities, and limited personal freedoms, forced people to repress their feelings and opinions to maintain a good reputation. God was involved in every aspect of life, and punishment fell upon those who were seen as not doing God’s work and deviated from the norm. The Crucible, a play set during the events of the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts during this time, focuses on the mass hysteria which plagued the people and their reactions. A group of girls went dancing in the woods, and were caught by Reverend Parris. To avoid getting in trouble, the girls, led by Abigail Williams, claimed being the victims of witchcraft. John Proctor, who previously had an affair with Abby while she worked for his family, refused to believe the accusations of witchcraft. After Abby accuses his wife, Elizabeth, John does his best to prove her innocence, yet ultimately ends up being hanged himself. The events are tragic, and many people died as a result. Abigail’s “in the moment” survival is evident in her disregard for virtue in favor of reputation throughout The Crucible, whereas John Proctor ultimately decides integrity is more important than survival through his admission of guilt.

Arthur Miller's verifiable play, The Crucible, depicts the recorded occasions of the Salem witch trials through a swarm of life-changing characters. Trepidation drives these Puritans to uncover their actual feelings while confronting their informers in the predisposition courts before coldblooded judges. While in the long run all the individuals of Salem get subject to this frenzy, two ladies emerge above the rest. Retribution and disgrace live in the heart of the young adulteress, Abigail Williams, while truth and exemplary nature dwell in the soul of Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor's dedicated wife. Although they both elevate the strain and tension of the play, Abigail William's and Elizabeth Proctor's disparities lead to turmoil because

We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started”(Henry Ward Beecher). In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts Madness is consuming Salem, and everyone is accused of being with the devil. John Proctor’s affair with Abigail jump starts the witch hunts. In the Crucible Arthur Miller embodies Proctor as a tragic hero with many flaws but his fatal flaw was his pride which caused his demise. Throughout the play we witness Proctor’s transformation as a person from a sinful remorseless adulterer, repentant, and to an honorable man.

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, hysteria breaks out in Salem when young girls begin pronouncing accusations of witchcraft. One of the accused, Elizabeth Proctor and her husband, John Proctor, live on a farm where he provides and cares for their family. When Elizabeth becomes sick John is unfaithful and has an affair with one of the accusers, Abigail Williams. Through the course of the story, John Proctor moves from denial and deflection of his actions and their consequences in order to maintain his public dignity, to public confession and condemnation for his actions in order to soothe his conscience and maintain his internal sense of integrity. This progression is illustrated by his interactions with his wife, their accusers and the court, who ultimately condemns them.

The Crucible was a play written by Arthur Miller during the era of McCarthyism. This time period and person experiences helped influence the outcomes and aspects of the play written to mimic the Salem Witch Trials. Many characters were accused and even tried for witchcraft, while the audience is clear of whom the guilty party is the entire play. Elizabeth Proctor, the wife to John Proctor the wrongly one wrongly accused and executed, had many conflicts in this play as many others did. Elizabeth Proctor was met with conflicts of wrong accusations, adultery, death threats, and eventually, losing her husband. Elizabeth Proctor endured an incredible amount of pain and conflict throughout the play, The Crucible. She was met with many conflicts that involved many the people she loved, or once trusted. Elizabeth Proctor ended one of the only characters that would feel the pain of the trials forever.

In The Crucible, John Proctor is put into several sticky situations as he is determined to clear his wife’s name and dispel this corruption and nonsense of the court. Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, is put into jail and is to be tried on the accusations by Abigail Williams that

In The Crucible, Arthur Miller employs many rhetorical and poetic elements to depict the changing nature of relationships between the play’s characters. One of the most rhetorically dynamic relationships portrayed in the play is the marriage between the protagonist John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth. Miller skillfully uses Elizabeth and John’s language and the overall tone of their marriage to manifest John’s complex character development throughout the play. The marriage evolves from a relationship of hostility and tension to sacrifice and selflessness as John becomes a man of integrity. While John is overall more of a dynamic character than his wife, Elizabeth does not remain static for the entirety of the play; she demonstrates a slight character change in the final act that is, in a sense, opposite from her husband’s. The changes in the language of Elizabeth and John throughout the play result from the gradual breakdown and final anagnorisis of John’s character as he learns the value of the truth and becomes willing to shed his formerly coveted dignity for Elizabeth’s honor. This evolution of communication and character between the Proctors allows for mutual forgiveness and the final reconciliation of their marriage before John dies as a martyr.

She even said, “it needs a cold wife to prompt lechery”, (Miller 137). around the end of the play. One reason she distrusts John, is that he has claimed he was not alone with her. He later says that he was, in fact, alone with her for a short while. It takes a person of strength to be able to take that lie he gave and still control herself in the manner a wife should do. It was her inner strength that showed her that “it were a cold house she kept”(Miller 136). and needed to fix that problem.

In 1692, nineteen innocent people were convicted and hanged for witchcraft. In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, most characters are unable to change because of their religion or other beliefs. However, three people change drastically for the better. Elizabeth Proctor does something she has never done before in order to save someone she loves. Reverend Hale moves past his religious beliefs in attempts to save those accused of witchcraft.