The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a great play when discussing developing characters. Throughout the four acts the accusations, affairs, and beliefs cause the characters to change and reveal their true selves. Elizabeth Proctor starts off as cold and uncaring, but throughout the play readers see her passion for her husband and life. In Act I the Elizabeth Proctor we see is distant and unhappy. She doesn’t appear to be emotionally attached to her husband. During the dinner she gives him one worded answers just saying “Aye” or “That’s well” (1267-1268). She is unable to put her emotions into words or stand up for herself. Even admits Mary Warren has “frightened all my strength away” (1269). She has also lost faith in her marriage It’s clear she …show more content…
This is where we truly see her being to change. Once her life, marriage, and reputation are on the line she starts to stand up for herself. She tells John to break it off with Abigail and “go tell her she’s a whore” (1275). Before Elizabeth didn’t really confront this issue let alone tell John what to do about it. Elizabeth goes from talking with “a sense of being lost” (1274) to speaking “without hesitation, even eagerly” (1277). She tells Mr. Hale “There be no mark of blame upon my life, Mr. Hale. I am a covenanted Christian woman” (1277). This is the first time we see Elizabeth stand up and just not take the yelling/abuse of others. Elizabeth’s interactions with John also change. She opens herself up to her husband “John, I counted myself so plain, so poorly made, no honest love could come to me! Suspicion kissed you when I did; I never knew how I should say my love. It were a cold house I kept!” She knows she has changed and wants John to know too. Rather than a cold distant wife she proves that she can be a passionate and loving one as well. Unfortunately, it took took losing her husband and being accused of witchcraft, but Elizabeth Proctor did find her
In 1692, many people in Salem, Massachusetts confessed to witchcraft, which resulted in several conflicts. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, uses real events to develop a fictional play. One of the characters in the play is Elizabeth Proctor. She is a static character because she undergoes very little changes throughout the play. The author illustrates the theme of reputation through Elizabeth. Her character shows traits of strength, honesty, and loyalty to protect her good reputation.
Elizabeth does not have very many “major flaws” one flaw she does have is her personality of being virtuous which makes it hard for her to trust people. This flaw can cause some mistakes for her and other people in the playwright. A quote from the text to show a mistake she made was when Danforth asked Elizabeth “… To your own knowledge, has John Proctor ever committed the crime of lechery?” (118). Then Elizabeth replies “No, sir” (119). This conversation between Elizabeth and Danforth shows how even though she was trying to protect her husband she really was making herself and John Proctor look like liars in the court room. Instead of Elizabeth trying to protect John, and lie, she should have told the truth so Danforth would have more trust in John than Abigail. Another quote from the story that involves Elizabeth was when she was fighting with John Proctor and Elizabeth said “You were alone with her?” (57). John says back “For a moment alone, aye” (57). Then Elizabeth caught him not telling the truth and says “Why, then, it is not as you told me” (57). After Elizabeth says this it almost seems like she gives up on the conversation and just starts to get angry, which soon turns into Proctor getting mad. So after Elizabeth says the last quote later on in the page Proctor says “Spare me! You forget nothin’ and forgive
The Crucible is play that helps to show human nature through a series of events linked through the Salem witch trials. In this play, a group of young teenagers would undermine the religious government and make a mockery of the Salem judicial system. Miller also shows human nature through the development of characters. Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor are foils of each other and have many differences; they would also develop many similar traits.
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
Elizabeth Proctor might be portrayed as only inverse of Abigail. A dependable wife of John Proctor, Elizabeth demonstrated to her group proper methodologies to be more than an observer in life. John thought of her the sweetest, most sure, and legit lady he has ever met. The point when deciding his hanging, John offered Elizabeth to discuss an occurrence that as of late happened on the grounds that he knew she might tell the complete truth, regardless of the possibility that his life was at stake. He said to the judges "Throughout her life sir, she will never lie" (Miller, Act 3). Despite the fact that Proctor submitted infidelity, Elizabeth chipped away at pardoning him due to her kind and religious heart. She never surrendered attempting to get John to concentrate on her again. For instance, she says "You'll tear it free- when you come to realize that I will be your just wife, or no wife whatsoever. She has a shaft in you yet, John Proctor, and you know it well!" (Miller, Act 2).
Elizabeth Proctor is the wife of the main character John Proctor who was trying to save their marriage, but John’s affair with Abigail put Elizabeth in danger. Elizabeth’s goal is to save Proctor’s and her marriage by telling the truth to each other. But the truth may have later come back to “haunt” her and she came to a point where she didn't tell the truth about John in the court. Elizabeth feels pressured because of Abby and she want’s the truth about her to be out in the village so they do not have to suffer because of her. Proctor says, “I am only wondering how I may
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
Elizabeth Proctor is an honest and virtuous christian woman from Salem. Abigail being the pretentious girl from the village accuses her of witchcraft causing, Elizabeth to be in prison. While Elizabeth is in prison her husband, John Proctor admits to lechery with Abigail. Elizabeth shows her loyalty towards John by lying in court to protect him (Miller 46). Although the affair hurt Elizabeth, there is still a devotion towards her husband.
Elizabeth Proctor is a wife of John Proctor and her marriage isn’t that good as her husband had an affair with our other character, previous housekeeper of Proctor’s house, Abigail Williams. Now Elizabeth is cold to her husband and doesn’t believe him as she can’t forgive him the past. She tries to forgive John for the whole play, but something stops her. In the beginning of the play we also see that Elizabeth thinks that she doesn’t deserve John and after his affair with Abigail he thinks about it even more. During the play we see that Elizabeth loves John but still can’t feel free with him. We can see that they behave polite to each other, but with cold and Elizabeth views him with a suspicion. She also dislikes Abigail as
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, people in Salem, Massachusetts experience a barrage of court trials in which people were persecuted and sentenced to death. These persecutions divided families and divided communities, but for some, there were opposing results. John and Elizabeth Proctor, who are in a struggling relationship, undergo an unusual change in one another. At first, John and Elizabeth Proctor are a couple that is uncomfortable around each other. John Proctor was committing adultery with their household servant named Abigail Williams.
In The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller John Proctor and Elizabeth Proctor’s relationship changes from the beginning to the end because, John commits adultery, John goes to kiss her and she doesn’t kiss him back, they show affection towards each other at the end. Relationships are hard especially after the significant other cheats, they don’t feel good enough about themselves and it’s hard to recover. In the play, the Proctors are focused on fixing their relationship and keeping Elizabeth out of the trials. When Elizabeth is accused John fights to get Elizabeth out of jail and he wouldn’t allow them to chain her up. It was never John’s purpose to hurt Elizabeth, he truly loves her. Elizabeth just wants to be good enough for John.
Elizabeth Proctor plays a big part in this play, she says little, but yet has some very big actions. She is an innocent girl basically just trying to make friends, but ends up getting caught with the wrong group of people. Elizabeth was an honest girl that would never lie, or treat anyone wrongly. We get to see what part she plays in the story mainly in the second act. There is an insight into how she and proctor acts together in this act, and we see lots of tension. Elizabeth tries her best to please proctor, but proctor always seems hesitant to say or do things. After the almost awkward first part, we see that Elizabeth was convicted of witchcraft by the court. Giles was first introduced and he was
The Crucible is a fictional drama written by Arthur Miller (an American playwright) about the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines crucible as, “a place or situation that forces people to change or make difficult decisions.” This applies to The Crucible because during the play, hundreds of people are faced with the dilemma of choosing either to confess to the court about something they did not do, or deny their act of witchcraft and be hanged for lying. Different characters had a different perspective throughout the play causing some to change more than others, and some not at all. John and Elizabeth Proctor went through an immense change, while Abigail Williams did not change at all.
and cold to her husband. In act II we see a glimpse into the Proctor's home life, it is awkward and the two seem act unlike a real married couple. The aftermath of John's affair still haunts them both. The line in the text 'He gets up, goes to her, kisses her. She receives it.' (The Crucible Act II) She still hurts while John wants to move forward. As she is trying to convince John to go to court and tell that Abigail said the accusations were in sport, jealousy and judgement creep in despite her efforts. She does not want to upset their precarious balance, but she must convince him to tell the truth. She is John's moral compass, --we see that more in act III. Elizabeth values the law and the truth. When she is arrested for witchcraft that same night she goes willingly although scared. In fact if it was not for her arrest we would not see her next phase of development.
Elizabeth Proctor carries a key role in this play even though she enters the play into the second Act. Elizabeth enters the play described as a “cold, sniveling woman” (138-139) although there is much more to her than described. Arthur Miller’s point of putting Elizabeth into the play was to create a conflict within the play.She’s also a key character because she exhibits an extreme change throughout the play. As shown in Act 2 Elizabeth and her Husband are having a cold relationship with one another. This relationship between her husband and her leads to Proctor cheating with Abigail. Thus, Abigail’s hatred begins to grow towards Elizabeth, and when she is caught doing witchcraft