How Does John Proctor Change Throughout The Play

He does this with the intention of exposing Abigail’s spiteful character and her main desire to replace his wife. John Proctor says “I beg you sir, I beg you -see her what she is…She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave. And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance and you must see it. I set myself entirely in your hands. I know you must see it now” (110) John Proctor exposes not only Abigail’s sins, but also the fact that he was infatuated with Abigail. He knows that by doing this he would dishonor his name, but he deems it as the only solution because people were falling into Abigail’s manipulation., John Proctor also fights for everyone not just his wife. John Proctor continues his attempt to voice out the truth even though his wife was exempted from being punished because she was pregnant. He defends other people because he knows their innocence. “The people signing it declare their good opinion of Rebecca, and my wife and Martha Corey...these are all landholding farmers, members of the church, sir- they’ve known the women many years and never saw no sign they had dealing with the Devil” (93) John Proctor protects everyone’s names because he recognizes that they have no reason to be jailed, thus showing his kindness and consideration.

​Would you rather die and know you did the right thing or would you rather live a life of shame and be seen as a villain. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible John Procter is seen as a strong hardworking man who sees himself as evil. John changes throughout the play and realized he was good. John‘s past was sinful and with the help of others he overcame his past and through his actions many readers notice his dynamic change.

First of all, reputation is a huge issue for John Proctor, both internally and externally. From the very beginning, John is extremely concerned about word escaping about his adulterous acts with Abigail. If anyone were to find out, his good reputation as a respectable farmer in Salem would have been cast away by nasty looks. A lack of willingness to give up his good name also stopped John from admitting anything he knew about Abigail to possibly save lives. He cared more about having a clean name than completely halting the trials to begin with. In the end of the play, John Proctor is put to death

Elizabeth is also strong and courageous. When John is accused of witchcraft, Elizabeth is willing to follow along with the decision John decides about whether he wants to confess or not. She knows if he confesses he will be living a lie and if he tells the truth, he will be put to death. Although the decision John makes will affect Elizabeth and she wants John alive, she is courageous towards John by showing her support and love. Elizabeth knows she must put her opinions to the side and John must construct this decision on his own. Elizabeth states, “I cannot judge you, John, I cannot” (Miller). Elizabeth is also strong because she was falsely accused by Abigail and

The second way John Proctor is an internally conflicted character is that he had an affair with Abigail. John Proctor, a married man with three sons, cheats on his wife with a young Abigail. He confesses to this by saying “God help me, I lusted and there is a promise in such sweat, but it is a whore’s vengeance.”(Act III, 49 ). John did not want to confess but absolutely had to, to expose Abigail’s real desires on why she is accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft. What John had confessed to was adultery and is punishable so he took a big risk. When Proctor said “Whores

Many men don't think things through before acting, so it is believed John Proctor was an impulsive character throughout the story. "You can play brand new to all the other chicks out here- but I know what you are". John Proctor did what he felt was right by having an affair with Abigail but he wasn't thinkingof the concequences. Elizabeth knew all along and acted different around her husband. The outcome of John Proctors choices turned out to be a horrible mistake since his reputation and life were put on

Elizabeth still questions John’s loyalty throughout the play. Elizabeth comes off as an outspoken women and that isn’t really supported in the Puritan society. When convicted of witchcraft she doesn’t fight with the men because she knows she hasn’t done anything wrong. Even though she tries to do what she thinks is the best for John, she ends up saying the wrong thing and Abigail isn’t punished. Elizabeth ends up being pregnant and the trials end before she has her baby so she survives.

Proctor chose to have an affair with his servant, Abigail and develops a temper when his opinions are questioned or argued upon. John when arguing with Elizabeth, says, “you will not judge me more, Elizabeth. I have good reason to think before I charge fraud on Abigail, and I will think on it. Let you look to your own improvement before you go to judge your husband any more” (Miller 1294). John is snapping on his wife for being mad at him about the affair, when she has the right to be mad as he betrayed her and she is upset. Johns temper is portrayed more so in the first half of the play, as he is concerned of himself, but as the plot thickens he realizes that there are others who need help. John's temper causes him to snap in other instances with Danforth and Abigail causing their decisions to have been affected by what John said. When speaking to Abigail in Act I, John 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”(Miller 1270). John realizes after the affair, that it was not a good decision and that he

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.

     John Procter is a strong man, who thrives at the chance to be right and known. But by the end of the play he questions himself saying, “Who is John Proctor, Who is John Proctor?” (act 4). The trials to John Proctor are a time of change. When Reverend Hale enters the town John leaves in disgust, he knows the girls are lying. John’s pride springs from his feeling of being smarter then the rest of the town. He was constantly found bickering with Reverend Parris about unnecessary expenses. He is worried to speak at the trials for he would condemn himself as a lecher. His wife has her finger on his button though because after the affair, she uses his guilt so he will promise to accuse Abigail. As soon as John steps into the trials he is labeled as a witch and condemned to death. But from his own pride is unable to confess. But at the same time he does not want to die for such an absurd reason.

One way John suffered harsh consequences was by suffering with his dignity and could not figure out how he was feeling about himself. “Proctor: angered at himself as well, You'll speak nothing of Elizabeth!” (202-205). In the beginning of the novel, he suffered with adultery with Abigail Williams. She held that against John throughout the novel. Abigail never let him forget the fact that he had touched her inappropriately. Abigail was the main girl in the witchcraft and dragged all the other girls in

that he is daft and why later on in the play why he is not well liked.

John Proctor shows his courage many ways including going to talk to abigail about ending the accusations she has been taking part in. Even though he knew upsetting abigail could lead her to accusing people he loved he went and did it anyways to try and protect the people of salem. Some may say he only talked to Abigail because he wanted to ensure that his wife was safe from being accused, but that is false because he wanted the witch trials to stop completely not just for his wife to be exempt from them. After Abigail refuses to stop her accusations John takes a different approach.

When Mary Warren reveals that she knows about Proctors and Abigail’s affair, before Elizabeth is taken away, Proctor is aggressive and prepared to use violence towards Mary in order to stop her from going to the court, Mary says she has to go o the court, this makes Proctor angry so he replies “ I’ll official you! “ Proctor thinks that Mary should be subservient as she’s just a common servant but as Mary knows his secret his attitude changes towards her. At this point in the play Proctor acknowledges that all might have to come public. This is a significant moment as he’s willing to blacken his good name in order to save his wife. Proctor comes to term that Mary may be the answer to their problem.

Several characters throughout the play, The Crucible, remain the same. However, some did change. One in particular was John Proctor. This character changes a lot from the beginning, even to the end. Some feel that he is the most important element of the play, going from a hot tempered guy who committed adultery, to a man who wants forgiveness from his wife, admitting he did her wrong.