Examples Of John Proctor's Motivation In The Crucible

John Proctor is a man who values his reputation. “How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” He wanted to save his name, but for personal and religious, rather than public, reasons. Proctor is a pious man although he went against his religion and committed adultery with Abigail Williams. He feels that the only way to stop Abigail and the girls from their lies is to confess his adultery.Along the line, Elizabeth is arrested so John desperately needs to tell the court he had an affair with Abigail.

Plays have been used as a method of storytelling and form of entertainment for hundreds of years. A tragedy is one type of play where the audience pities the characters and fear the same consequences that the characters face. In addition, tragedies often include a tragic hero who has a tragic flaw causing his or her downfall. One example of a play that is a tragedy and includes a tragic hero is the The Crucible. John Proctor in The Crucible is a true tragic hero because he possess the four characteristics of goodness, superiority, tragic flaw, and realization of his downfall.

Initially in the beginning , John Proctor believes the lechery committed with Abigail damaged his view in the eyes of Elizabeth, and himself. Even though Proctor did submit to sin and commit adultery; he lacks the capability to forgive himself. Unsurprisingly, his relationship with Elizabeth remains unnatural throughout the majority of the play. Elizabeth

Miller shows John Proctor's selflessness through a line of the character's dialogue. For instance, in Act Ⅲ, John Proctor verbalizes to court that he has ¨ known her, sir. I have known her¨ (193). As John Proctor confesses that he has broke his vows with Elizabeth to protect her from charges, he proves that his need for a self-sacrifice for Elizabeth drove him to confess his sins openly with the court. Miller reveals John Proctor's guilt clearly though his actions and words at the end of the play. For example, before his death in Act Ⅳ, expresses his feelings of himself as he states he “ cannot the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man” (208). In saying this, John Proctor reveals that he views himself as a bad man for his sins and that his only possible option for release from his guilt of almost condemning others to death and cheating on his wife is through his death. This view leads to John Proctor's actions of retracting his confession and allowing himself to be hung. Ultimately, these two motivations are simultaneously the most prominent motivations of John Proctor throughout the the course of Miller’s

First, is when he confesses to adultery, he admits to this because it is the only way he can prove Abigale (former maid, fellow adulterer) is a lying, “whore.” It was surprising that John Proctor admitted to his sin because now his name will always be associated with adultery. As shown by his later actions in the book it is clear that Proctor wants to leave his name for his children untarnished. At the end of the book John Proctor is being accused of witchcraft, at this time he also rekindles his love with his wife so he wants to do anything he can to stay alive. To do so he would have to confess to witchcraft, he was to sign a confession and it would be nailed to the court door for the whole town to see. Once Proctor finds out that the all of the townspeople will know he confessed he doesn’t let the judge take the paper and he rips it to shreds. In making this decision he is choosing to die a more honest man than he would if he had confessed. Proctor struggles internally with this decision because he knows that he isn’t a witch, but he also doesn’t want to die. He wants to spend more time with his wife, but he doesn’t want his name to become even more tarnished than it already is. He believes that Goody Nurse and Martha Corey are making the right decision by not confessing because they haven’t done anything sinful in the past. Proctor is

As per Miller’s explanation, John is a sinner “against his own vision of decent conduct”, and having “a sharp and biting way with hypocrites”, he “has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud”. A man whose name is “respected and even feared in Salem”, someone who is generally reputable for his common sense and rationality, for in his presence “a fool felt his foolishness” who has been reared in a Bible-dominated Puritan community, John Proctor has lusted and been an adulterer, thereby betraying his own values and his community’s and faith’s values. Of like ilk, such a community will prove self-deceptively undermining of its own foundational values (if it has not already been so, as the impression of some of the characters like Reverend Parris and Mr. Putnam that one gets in the first act, which alludes to a long-going kind of behavior, suggests), as soon as the witchcraft affair is introduced . Resultantly, Miller sets at the beginning of the play, when John is first introduced, the contextual groundwork for the reader to comprehend why John’s inner self-loathing and shame, as well as him witnessing the whole community’s essentially antithetic to its own values behavior, take the dimensions of nihilism in

In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” the protagonist is a man by the name of John Proctor. Proctor is a very complex character because he doesn 't have the cleanest history. He is a man in about his forties who had committed the sin of cheating on his wife with a young girl. This act of his gives a bad first impression to the reader. Proctor however does try to become a better man and do the right thing to save his wife 's life, which changes feelings about him as he is then seen as almost a savior. This controversial character faces many obstacles that go against him in trying to save his wife.

As the play progresses however, John Proctor capitulates, acknowledging his affair thinking it would clear his and his wife’s name from being involved in practicing witchcraft rituals. However, the judges prefer Abigail’s scheme over John’s story, which puts him in a stickier situation. Left with no choice, John sacrifices his name to protect Elizabeth. Through this, John made peace with Elizabeth’s mistrust. John is then given a chance to be exonerated, but he refuses to tarnish himself by admitting a fault he did not commit. He believes living a lie is not just. By these sacrifices he made, he finally redeems himself of his dignity.

So the only way Proctor can prove Abigail is lying is to admit to his adultery. While it was an admirable act of selflessness, it was also a desperate last attempt to prove his wife’s innocence. Later on when Danforth, Parris, and Hale try to convince him to admit to witchcraft in exchange for his life, he gives in at first, his selfishness winning over. However, he refuses to accuse others of witchcraft, saying “They think to go like saints. I like not to spoil their names” (Miller 141). When Danforth says that he plans to show the entire town the document Proctor signed saying he admits to witchcraft, Proctor tears up the document. When asked why he would not give Danforth the document, he says “Because it is my name!” (Miller 143). However, Proctor already admitted to lechery, meaning that he was willing to sacrifice his name to save Elizabeth, and he admitted to witchcraft, showing he was willing to sacrifice his name to save himself. So when it became clear he would also be ruining his friend’s good names, he could not do it. He believes that the reputations of those that hang are worth more than his life, and he makes the ultimate sacrifice so they can die with honor. It is then clear that John Proctor has discovered how to act selflessly.

Despite the fact it was technically his affair with Abigail that started the anarchy of the town, he was still against witchcraft and execution. In fact, he was one of the only people with actual common sense and questioned the society the whole play. For example, Proctor is tired of the constant talk of hell and religion. While talking to Reverend Parris, Proctor bellowed, “Can you speak one minute without we land in Hell again? I am sick of Hell!.” Throughout his time in Salem and throughout his time during the Witch Trials, hell and the devil were the only things he heard from his community. Proctor admits to being tired of the only conversation his neighbors appear to be having, which happen to be hell and false witchcraft accusations. He yells at Parris, a high respected reverend, verifying that he’s exasperated and despises the government and situation. In addition, Procter doesn’t believe in witchcraft like his fellow acquaintances. While talking about the girls and the situation, Proctor insisted, “But I know the children’s sickness had naught to do with witchcraft.” Proctor appears to be going against the ideology of witches the rest of society believes in. He’s at a constant questioning towards the town he lives in and why they appear to so easily influenced by what a teenage girl tells them and not the hard facts of multiple adults, including himself. Moreover, Proctor begins to lose his patience for

John Proctor is considered to be a good man, however good people do bad things. When the readers first meet John Proctor, he seems to be a sensible and honest man. Proctor has a wife and seems to be well known in the town. When Proctor is first seen he has that presence to him that make people either fear him or want to know him.(19) Proctor goes into the town to see what all the commotion is about and he finds Parris’ daughter, unmoving in bed and Abigail right beside her. Right when Proctor walks into the room with Abigail readers can sense something between the two of them. Proctor continues to watch Betty when Abigail “jumps” at him in excitement saying “Give me a word, John. A soft word.”(21) Readers get a hint into what happened between both he and Abigail.On page twenty two Abigail and Proctor continue to talk something is said that makes Proctor mad and he says “ 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.”(22) Upon reading this, the reader seems to get a glimpse of what happened between the two of them a while ago. Later in Act Two when Proctor heads home, his wife Elizabeth

John Proctor’s honor and humbleness kept him from confessing adultery, even when his wife was called up to court, he attempted to figure out another solution to the problem rather than confess. His attempt to bring Mary Warren into the court to support his wife’s innocence backfires as he is forced to admit to adultery. As Elizabeth is questioned if her “husband[is] a lecher” John proctor gets arrested for perjury (Miller 105). Even with positive intentions to help both himself and Elizabeth , John Proctor chooses an incorrect path and ends up causing more misfortune upon himself. After being jailed, John Proctor is given a choice from the court, to either confess and live, or be hanged. At first, he chooses life and gives a confession, however, the fatality of John Proctor's flaw goes into full effect as he rips up his signature after some thought. The idea of lying and having his name degraded as it hangs up on the church is not something that John Proctor can fathom. As Elizabeth is about to speak against John Proctor's actions, John pronounces “for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor” as he reflects on the pureness of his most recent action (Miller 133). Instead of dying as a liar and having his name dishonored, he died as a good man with flaws who preserved his pride and dignity thus finalizing himself as a tragic

The majority of the townspeople believe John Proctor, a normal Puritan husband and father, is an honest and hard-working man. The first time he is introduced into the play, Miller writes, “he is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time, but against his own vision of decent conduct,” (Miller). He frowns upon hypocrites but sees himself as a fraud. Salem townspeople respect Proctor, however his name is sacred and something he cherishes. Although he secretly committed adultery and lechery with Abigail Williams, he believes the reputation people are aware of will redeem his respectful image. Further into the play, he is accused of practicing witchcraft, which is either played into a false confession that saves their life, or remaining truthful but punished by hanging. At this point, he already confessed to adultery, lechery, and turning from his wife, he agreed to falsely confess to practicing witchcraft if it saves Elizabeth and others, but when asked to sign his statement, he refuses

John Proctor being an ethical and willing to do his best, face many trials and tribulations throughout The Crucible but he faced him the way he thought seemed fit. John Proctor throughout the play had to try and forgive himself for the sin that he had committed with Abigail. “I may think of you softly from time to time, but I will cut off my hand before I reach for you again. We never touched” (Miller I. __). He knew that what he did with Abigail was wrong and when she tried to tempt him again, he would refrain from falling into the trap of adultery again. Equally important, is Proctor’s self-respect. In the Crucible, Proctor was being taken to go hang because he was accused of witchcraft, but he had a chance be redeemed. Danforth had put the offer out that if he signed the confession saying that he committed an adultery that he would not hang. Hale was trying to convince him, he even tried to get Elizabeth to help so that another innocent soul wouldn’t be lost to the ignorance of the justice system. Proctor, at

With that being said, John Proctor is concerned with his reputation as he lies about committing adultery to not appear as a bad person. Therefore, by saving his reputation it causes him to turn into a dishonest person. John Proctor lies to his wife, Elizabeth Proctor and others by saying that he was never alone with Abigail Williams and saying he had no involvement what so ever with her as he says in Act 2, ¨ She told it to me in a room alone-I have no proof for it...For a moment, I say we were alone. The others come in soon after.¨ (Miller pg.53,54) However, in reality John Proctor was alone with Abigail the whole time and had an affair with her. Even though John Proctor lies about committing adultery to save his marriage and to appear as a good man , it would.ve been better for him to have spoken the truth. I think the truth is more important than his