Essay On Textual Evidence In The Crucible

Furthermore, According to, John Proctor and the Crucible of Individuation in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Michelle I Pearson, states, “Proctor's hypocrisy surrounds his dealings with and about Abigail. In committing adultery with Abigail, Proctor has sinnednot only against the moral fashion of the time, but against his own vision of decent conduct" (18). He wishes, however, to deny this sin both to himself and to others.” This criticism helps

John Proctor sought his wife’s forgiveness to regain her trust and to entitle him to die an honest man. He recognized his actions; he simply wanted his wife to recognize them too. “Let you look sometimes for the goodness in me, and judge me not.” (Miller 55) Proctor’s appeal to his wife reveals his hope for her forgiveness and for her to see the goodness in him. He wants his wife to recognize him as an honest man, because to him that is the only substance that made him feel like a good person. Later in the course of the play, Elizabeth forgives Proctor for his mistakes. She states, “John, it come to naught that I should forgive you… Whatever you will do, it is a good man does it… it needs a cold wife to prompt lechery.” (Miller 136-137) Elizabeth’s statement to her husband exhibits an understanding of his mistakes and acknowledgement of the good man Proctor truly is. Elizabeth’s forgiveness allows Proctor to forgive himself as well. After being forgiven, John Proctor can now die an honest man, a tragic hero - a man with integrity and goodness.

Proctor 's decision to tell the court about his affair ironically demonstrates his goodness. He also spoke up for the innocent girls that had their names branded. He willingly sacrifices his good name in order to protect his wife and others who are wrongly accused. Only through his public acknowledgment of the affair does Proctor regain his wife 's trust. At the end of the play, Proctor refuses to slander himself by allowing the court to make him make a false confession. The court told him to lie, and that if he lies that he would not be sent to the gallows. He did the right decision by telling the truth about his affair with Abigail. He honestly told the truth about the affair, and that he was not part of the witchcraft. His response further exemplifies Proctor 's integrity. But John was not guilty. He had nothing to do with witchcraft, he admitted to his own mistakes. Proctor knows that if he confesses that he will be damned himself, yet again, if he agrees to confess, he will also be free from the torment from the demon inside him and set others free too. This realization, along with Elizabeth 's forgiveness, enables Proctor to forgive himself and finally regain his good name and self-respect. As the court

Proctor’s marriage was ruined the day he decided to step out in his marriage. Proctor was too focused on why Elizabeth could not trust him or forgive him, he forgot to stop and switch the focus of blaming others to understanding himself first. He held a grudge on Elizabeth because she cannot forgive the sins he committed and trust, but proctor is equivalently guilty of doing the same thing. Proctor shifts his mistakes to other people which makes it nearly impossible for him to reconcile with his wife: “Spare me! You forget nothin' and forgive nothin '. Learn charity, woman. I have gone tiptoe in this house all seven month since she is gone. I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you, and still an everlasting funeral marches round your heart” (Miller 36). Elizabeth’s lack of forgiveness escalates proctor’s frustration and guilt: “But it is a whore’s vengeance,

In the beginning of The Crucible when John Proctor cheats on his wife, Elizabeth, John expresses a lack of willingness to accept the consequences and to be accountable. “‘Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby.’ ‘Aye, but we did.’ ‘Aye, but we did not.’” (Page 15) When John is confronted by Abigail, he refuses to acknowledge his actions. In the face of her direct accusation, John denies the extent of their relationship. This highlights his unwillingness to be held accountable for his actions at the beginning of the story. “‘You will not judge me more, Elizabeth. I have good reason to

If someone told you that your light in your room is flickering, because of witchcraft and not the simple fact that the light bulb is burnt out, would you believe them? Well in Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible they did if something out of the ordinary happened and couldn’t be explained they turned to witchcraft. People were being accused without any proof which leads us to the theme of this play that is to not believe false accusations or accusations that have no proof. The author, Arthur Miller is trying to convey in this story that the government can sometimes get too powerful over the people and rule the people in ways just to benefit themselves. In today’s world there is a lot of debates about whether or not

When Elizabeth begins to show her suspicion towards John and Abigail’s relationship, John retorts pleading, ”Spare me! You forget nothing! ... I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you … I cannot speak but I am doubted every moment judged for lies”(54-55). Before committing adultery with Abigail, John was an extremely respected man and had much self- respect. Consequently, after the occurrence the sin began to hang over his head, causing him to lose his self-respect. He also began to be immersed in his own guilt, and struggles to get his self-respect back. When Elizabeth tries to make John believe that she is to blame for him cheating, she pleads, “You take my sins upon you, John”(137). John responds in agony, “No, I take my own, my own!”(137). John refuses to let Elizabeth take the blame for his mistake that he constantly agonizes over. He truly believes that he did a horrible sin and he is the only one to blame. After giving his life for his sin, Proctor is finally able to forgive himself and leave the earth as a good

This quote shows how Proctor regrets having an affair with Abigail and does not wish to continue it any longer. Since their encounter, John avoids Abigail as often as possible because he wants to prove to his wife that he truly feels sorry for what he did. He wants to prove that he has changed his ways and that he is a trustworthy man. John loves his wife very much and he tries to show her that the affair was nothing but a mistake. However, Elizabeth still doubts him. “Spare me! You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’. Learn charity, woman. I have gone tiptoe in this house all seven month since she is gone. I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you, and still an everlasting funeral marches round your heart. I cannot speak but I am doubted, every moment judges for lies, as though I come into a court when I come into this house!” (Proctor,

Proctors value of life is broken down and shown in The Crucible metaphor down as the Salem Witch Trials. Initially Proctor lies about his affair with Abigail to save his reputation and to save his marriage with Elizabeth. However, when the heat is on durning the trials Proctor shows what ultimately matters most. He confesses his affair with Abigail by saying, “I have known her, Sir. I have known her” (Miller 648). Here Proctor has “cast away his good name” (Miller 648). This shows that Proctor believes that truth and justice is more important than his own reputation. Later, Proctor searches his soul and changes his mind again. First he was ready to sign his confession to save his life but after much thought decides he can not be disloyal to others or give up his own integrity. Proctor states when he is asked why he will not sign his confession, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! (Miller 677). In The Crucible Proctor Faces many trials and test of his values. At each challenge he struggles with his decisions but Ultimately always stays true to

Lying leads to terrible tragedies. Lying for so long will make it unpleasant to move on and the more difficult it will become. Just like how The Crucible ends. The Crucible is set in Salem, Massachusetts, at the beginning of the 1692 Salem Witchcraft Trials. The story is centralized around John Proctor, a white, landowning Puritan who betrayed his wife, Elizabeth by having sex with Abigail Williams. Back in the day, everything was black and white, meaning if something isn’t about God then it must’ve been about the Devil, they were religious people and they would not accept the fact that he had sex with someone else outside of marriage. He denied that nothing ever happened between him and Abigail. While Proctor is not taking responsibility for his actions, he causes a big commotion: people getting arrested and hanged, Abigail and a group of other girls are being accused of being part of Witchcraft. In the fourth act, Proctor is stuck in a situation where he either says the truth about who is part of witchcraft or he gets hanged. Proctor does not confess because he does not want people to use his name in vain and he knows that if he confesses it will leave a bad example for his sons, he decided to die an honest man than to live a fraud. At the end, Proctor ripped the confession knowing that he will be hung. Throughout the play, Arthur Miller creates two themes: the past will always haunt you and as people run away from their problems, their problems will continue to follow

She has grown to be much more forgiving to both, allowing their past affair not to bother her as much. In the beginning of The Crucible, Proctor speaking to Elizabeth states, “ I should have roared you down when first you told me your suspicion”(Miller 138) . Elizabeth would not forgive Proctor for having an affair with Abigail, but towards the end of the book when he is about to get hanged, she forgives him. Although she has been lied to and has much dissatisfaction within John, she finally begins to overlook his past mistake. Elizabeth proclaims, “John, it come to naught that I should forgive you, if you'll not forgive yourself” (Miller 138). Elizabeth has found a way to forgive him and allow her to get over this past event. Throughout the poem, Elizabeth dynamically changes from being annoyed and confused with John, to forgiving and appreciative for

Often when someone goes outside of their comfort zone and engages in activity they know is wrong, they mislead people and try to fix the problem later, but sometimes it is too late for good results. Throughout the play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, John Proctor has an affair with a young, 17 year old girl named Abigail. With being married to another wife, he knows that committing adultery is against the 10 commandments and the belief of his Puritan community, but he goes ahead and does commits it anyway. Proctor definitely misleads Abigail deep into their relationship and soon when she finds out the truth about him not wanting to interact with her again, she is distressed and sets off for revenge to Proctors innocent wife, Elizabeth.

Within the Crucible, John Proctor is a tormented individual with the inability to forgive himself, he is constantly looking to make up for the choices in his past, in other words he is motivated by his own shame and guilt. John is arguably the most dynamic character throughout the crucible, he undergoes many changes and his outlook is constantly evolving. The first sign of his overwhelming amount of guilt is when he states “I will cut off my hands before I ever reach for you again” (Miller 22) referring to his young mistress Abigail. He is driven by guilt simply because he does think of her softly, and he does admit it on the previous page, however as if he snapped back to reality and rational thinking he denies her instantly. In front of the

She wants him to go to Salem where the court is being held at and tell the four judges that what Abigail is going to present is a fraud.

Throughout The Crucible, John Proctor showed immense courage when he stuck to his beliefs. In Act 3, John Proctor confesses to the court his affair with Abigail Williams because he doesn’t want his wife being accused of witchcraft. He further explains Abigail’s plan to kill his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, and dance with him on her grave. (Miller 873). When Proctor calls Abigail a whore, he gives the court an opportunity to end the trials. Additionally, John faces the ultimate test when he has to sign the document that would keep him alive. Proctor is unable to lie, so he shouts, “ Because it is my name!..Because I lie and sign myself to lies” (Miller 886). His action of ripping up the document further represents Proctor’s integrity and courage. Proctor knows he will never forgive himself if he agrees to confess. He chooses to be hanged over living the remaining of his life on a lie. Proctor refuses to name others and tears up the document. Overall in The Crucible, John Proctor is a firm believer in the fact that one’s name is the only thing that stays after death.