John Proctor was a “farmer in his middle thirties… strong, even-tempered, and not easily led” (20). Proctor’s reputation was good and he was a well respected man around Salem. The play shows that Proctor’s past involved him having an affair with Abigail. Now in the present, Proctor is conflicted with the fear of being labeled as an adulterer for his past. Proctor’s fear weakens his morality in the court when he has to explain the situation to Judge Danforth. Proctor tells Danforth that he “has known her” (110) and that Abigail wishes to “dance with me (Proctor) on my wife's grave” (110). Although the fear of being labeled as an adulterer and being charged of lechery, Proctor believes that telling the truth is the right thing to do. Proctor realizes that the Salem witch trials have gone to far and are merely just attempts from Abigail to get Proctor all to herself. Proctor’s fear initially holds him back from telling the court the reason why Abigail is accusing everyone and acting strange. Later on the unveiling of his affair with Abigail results in the trials being questioned but it also fuels the deadly fate of
First and foremost, John Proctor is a middle age family man of integrity who values his reputation by the community. Numerous times John faces evils in the play. In the beginning, he has committed the sin of adultery with Abigail Williams. He must come to accept with the terms of reality meaning he has to admit the adulterous affair in order to show and prove his point
People are known to change, whether it is liked or not, there is no way of stopping change, and people know this; what most people don’t know, is how similar character change is to human change. In the wonderfully written play 'The Crucible', by Arthur Miller, many of his characters change in big ways as the story progresses, and three of these characters that changed the most are; John Proctor, Reverend Hale, and Elizabeth Proctor. These characters change a great deal throughout this play.
One definition of "crucible" is "a severe test of patience and belief, or a trial". This definition pertains to Arthur Miller's four-act play, "The Crucible." The definition is suiting, because it is during this play that the wills of innocent women and men are put to the test when they are accused of things they did not do. It was the ultimate trial of determination and willpower to withstand such a wretched ordeal. Abigail Williams, Elizabeth and John Proctor, Mary Warren, Reverend Parris and even Reverend Hale had changed drastically because of what they had to go through during the course of the play. However, other characters such as Ezekiel Cheever and Marshall
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.
John Proctor has a dark secret, He possesses a major flaw he has had an affair with Abigail Williams, and eventually he realizes what he has done to Elizabeth, He has committed adultery against his wife. Due to the fact that Proctor has committed adultery against Elizabeth, he becomes a tragic hero, and Abigail Williams shows that when she says “I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I come near” (Act I, lines 423-425). John broke his marriage vows, but even though he regrets he has become a tragic hero. It’s too late to regret he has sinned, he has ruined his marriage with Elizabeth and now she is not pleased with him. Due to the fact that he has cheated on Elizabeth, his outlook in life is negative, when He tells her “I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you” (Act II, lines 159-161). The affair also caused Elizabeth to distrust John, who for seven months was trying to get into her good graces and is tired of her suspicion. Because of John's inability to control his desire and resist temptation, his life is being turned upside down by the jealousy and need for revenge of Abigail, marking the beginning of his downfall and path to becoming a tragic hero. As a result, the need for revenge of Abigail marks the beginning of John downfall.
In the book the crucible, it is about courage, weakness and truth. THroughout the book there are times where a character may either need to stand up and fight back or break under pressure. Some examples of what i am claiming are when abigail and tituba break under the pressure and say they were with the devil. Truth is also a big part in the book because all around were lies and more lies. A main example is when john proctor stands up to the little girl's claiming these things. When he shows courage against the children they know that what will happes is not going to come out in their favor. They create more and more false rumors but that is because they are too weak to tell the truth and face their punishments. I mainly believe that the
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.
John Proctor would be classified as a dynamic character, because of how he matured during the play. When the play begins, we are told of an affair that took place between John Proctor and Abigail Williams, which eventually will lead to his demise. Proctor’s fatal flaw is his tenuous resistance to Abigail and his lust for her. After the girls had been sporting in the woods, Abby came to John to tell him that she still wanted to be with him and that she is in love with him, but she also elucidates that the girls had not seen anyone with the Devil, nor was any witchcraft involved. When the girls began to accuse others of witchcraft, Proctor could have easily substantiated that the accusations were false, but he knew that the affair would come out and he wanted to keep his good name. Later in the story, John comes home and Elizabeth begins to question his loyalty and he tries to convince her that all he does is try to make her happy, but she will
There are many flaws that people have, do you have any flaws? In the novel, The Crucible, Abigail shows many character flaws. Abigail’s flaws are jealousy, lust, and remorsefulness.
In the beginning of the story Elizabeth Proctor is especially cold and always suspicious of her husband, John. Elizabeth gives John the cold shoulder due to his previous affair with their housekeeper, Abigail Williams. When John Proctor comes home in the first act, he and Elizabeth have a distant conversation about why he came home so late (Miller 1162). Even though Elizabeth never says it, Proctor knows that Elizabeth thinks he went to Salem to visit Abigail. During the story Elizabeth and John have a conversation about Abigail. Abigail finds herself in a predicament that may cause serious consequences for herself. Elizabeth suggests to John that he tell people that she is lying about what happened to her, but John refuses because he knows no one will believe him. In anger, Elizabeth told him that he should go and tell Abigail that she is a whore, and to her dismay he agrees to do that. Elizabeth’s frustration grows as she
fraud. I am not that man’ he is sure that he does not want to die.
Throughout history, the presence of fear has driven people to do and become the unthinkable. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, a fear-stricken town turns against one another in a literal witch hunt where only few dare to speak out and risk their own prosecution. The town’s conflict not only shapes how the story turns out, but also shapes what the characters become. One of the most significant character changes in the play takes place in Reverend John Hale, who was once a proud man, eager to find witches, but then later became a remorseful one, desperate to save the accused. It is through his actions, his statements, and the other characters’ views on him that this gradual change is shown.
John Proctor has changed throughout the play because he became closer to his wife and his social status went down. But ultimately he decided he would rather die a good christian than live as a liar.
In the play, John Proctor was a common farmer living with a wife and three children. However, Proctor has a significant secret, which was his affair with the young girl that works for him and his wife. Abigail was forbidden to work for the Proctors again when John’s wife Elizabeth found out about the affair. This creates Abigail to loathe Elizabeth Proctor. She is now motivated to get John to love her and only her. One night Abigail and other girls from the town are involve themselves with witchcraft; Abigail wishes death upon Elizabeth Proctor because she wanted John’s love for