Pride In The Crucible

The Salem witch trials was a story of envy, lies, and the danger of the people. Others wouldn’t defend those accused, and if they did, they themselves were eventually charged as witches. In many ways, defending others was condemning yourself. Such was the case for John Proctor in “The Crucible”. John Proctor was someone who had made mistakes, but through his own crucible made peace with himself and defended the honor of himself and the others that would not admit to witchcraft.

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible a town starts massacring townspeople because a group of girls are pretending to be possessed by witches.  John Proctor, a character in The Crucible, is a Non-conformist who stubbornly avoids following the crowd and is honest by not being able to lie to the court. John Proctor’s character may revealed through his refusal to sign his name on a false confession, his inability to believe in the witches in the town and his honesty when confessing to the affair with Abigail.

“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.” This quote, by Saint Augustine, looks deeper into the idea of pride and the change it can have on something as innocent as an angel into a devil if not contained and used in a positive way. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, displays this similar theme of pride and the absence of humility in a community and the effect it has. The pride that multiple characters of The Crucible put before everything else drives them to knowingly do the wrong thing and for some, their own personal destruction.

The play The Crucible by Arthur Miller is set in Salem during the infamous witch trials. Near the end of the play, the protagonist, John Proctor, is in detained on suspicion of witchcraft. During his imprisonment, John Proctor is given an ultimatum—confess to witchcraft, or be hanged. While he originally intends to confess the sin he has not committed, he becomes resolute against it because he cannot, in good conscience, lie, and therefore sacrifice his character. Furthermore, he cannot betray anyone he loves or help perpetuate the ideologies of fear and blame that persist in Salem. Even though it will cost him his life, Proctor refuses to make a written confession because he will not let the Salem official to use his testimony for their

Pride can be both beneficial and detrimental. Pride is the feeling of intense satisfaction because of one’s achievements. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Miller shows different types of pride throughout the play. Miller shows examples of good pride, bad pride, and mixed pride through various characters in the play. He wants us to learn the difference between the good pride and the bad pride so we can focus on the good.

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, various characters, whether it is from physical trials or unseen personal struggles, experience some kind of major conflict. There are those who spend every day in fear, wondering whether or not they will be falsely accused of witchcraft. There are others who struggle with more internal trials, such as forgiving those who have hurt them. The protagonist, John Proctor, was a man of strong moral constitution, and held himself to a high standard for the sake of his good name and family. As a result of this, he struggled with a major internal conflict throughout the play.

Purist Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 suffered from a rapidly increasing phenomenon: witchcraft accusations and trials. The Crucible is a play that recounts the times of this incident. For the most part, it follows a man known as John Proctor. He is a sensible, honest, and hardworking man who made the mistake of succumbing to lust which sets off a chain of events that leads to the witch trials, and to his own demise. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible’s protagonist John Proctor proves to be a flawed human being who struggles to make sense of his past relationship with Abigail, his love for his wife, and his pride.

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is based on actual events led to the Salem Witch Trials. These trials were a group of hearings to prosecute those accused of witchcraft. Pride influenced the characters throughout the play. Pride is a sense of one's dignity. Excessive pride is the driving force behind arrogance. Throughout the play pride influences the actions of three main characters. The three characters that have excessive pride are, Hale, Elizabeth Proctor and John Proctor.

The reader can infer that Proctor is a highly respected, and even feared individual in Salem. He speaks his mind, and strikes down any malevolence. For this, Proctor has a very good reputation in the town. He maintains this good name by being very immersed in town issues, but being detached when not needed. Unlike many of the other characters, Proctor lives away from the town center. This is symbolic of his stance in conflicts and his opinion of Salem’s leadership. When all the leaders of Salem erupt into a frenzy about the possible issue of witchcraft, Proctor silences the chaos by asking if anyone can “speak one minute without we (Salem citizens) land in Hell again?” (30). Later in the scene, Proctors goes even further to point out how the current ministry is broken by saying, “I mean it solemnly...I like not the smell of this ‘authority’” (31). His distrustfulness of nature is what makes him the leading protagonist against the many ensuing problems so deeply ingrained into Salem’s population. Proctor is not only unwilling to join the current ministry due to its blind leader, but also the first character to see the irrationality of

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.

In Miller’s “The Crucible” the pride of the people of Salem leads to a massacre of innocent lives. Pride is delight or elation arising from some act, possession, or relationship. One of the main characters, John Proctor, has pride in his beliefs of purifying the Church of England. His wife, Elizabeth, has pride in her ability to use the trials as an ultimate revenge against Abigail Williams. John Hale is the “expert” on witches his pride springs from his extensive knowledge, but later in the play he recants and loses all his respect. Hale is the chemical that cause the conflict to come into full swing between Elizabeth and John Proctor.      

Pride can be defined positively and negatively, it can mean a sense of one's own proper dignity or value or self-respect, or an excessively high opinion of oneself or conceit, respectively. In the play which portrays both sides of pride we are transported to the late sixteen hundreds and introduced to the town of Salem in the province of Massachusetts Bay during the time of witch trials, and it’s excessively superstitious habitants. Some of the fictitious but notable habitants of the town are John Proctor, his wife Elizabeth Proctor and Reverend Hale, all of whom show various facets of pride, its benefits and its consequences.

            By methods of denying hypocrites, redeeming his relationship with his wife, and surrendering his life to save others, Proctor has indeed proven himself to be an admirable character.  Despite the dirty deeds of his teenage mistress Abigail, Proctor was able to successfully overcome his biggest fears and stressors in order to put an end to the Salem Witch trials.  If Proctor’s legacy is remembered and followed, then similar experiences in history to come will surely have a much better than if people are to follow the simple minded lead of the citizens of Salem,

John Proctor had one flaw throughout the story and that was his act of adultery he committed on Abigail. John is judged and haunted by his conscience and he finally he comes clean and frees his guilt that's trapped inside of him. While admitting to his crime he tells Judge Danforth “There is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whores vengsnce,and you must see it, i set my self entirely in your hand.

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.