Significance Of A Name Of The Crucible By Arthur Miller

“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” This speech is said by John Proctor near to the end of Act IV a moment before he tears up his confession; it is the moment where he finds the shred of goodness in himself. To understand how he finds it, we first need to understand the moral battle and journey the Proctor goes through.

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

Another inner quality that defines John Proctor is the value he holds to his good name. Proctor is a firm believer in the fact that one’s name is the only thing that remains after death, and what is done with it while living can affect one’s posterity for generations. This is the driving force behind his actions in the final act of the play. At first, he felt no shame in lying to the court about his accusation of witchcraft because he felt there was no more damage he could do to his reputation and that one more sin would not make any difference. His attitude changed when he realized his confession would mean blackening the name of those who already had died, and his sons would have to live with that mark on their names. He knew he could not teach his sons “. . . to walk like

     John Proctor’s last characteristic that makes him a tragic hero is that his struggles eventually end in his downfall. His courage to stand strong in his beliefs leads him to death at the gallows. His personal struggle with Elizabeth is resolved as he makes his decision to refuse to confess to

In the play by Arthur Miller The Crucible, the town of Salem is in pandemonium under the non-existent threat of witchcraft. Every character is either lying to save their lives or to end others, or dying for not admitting to a lie. One character who stands out among the chaotic conflagration is the tragic hero John Proctor. In Greek drama, a tragic hero is defined as “a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy that is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat.” No character in The Crucible fits this description better than John Proctor. John Proctor is the tragic hero in The Crucible because of his strengths and notable traits,

In the play, The Crucible,by Arthur Miller.Many characters have desires that drive them to pursue certain things.This affects the plot in many ways.In this puritan society,people strongly cared what other people think of them and how their reputation stands in the village.They always strive to make sure their actions reflect wisely on their names.A major motivation John Proctor,Abagail,and Parris share is pride in their names,which eventually leads to their ultimate downfall.

Crucible, a noun defined as; a container of metal or refractory material employed for heating substances to high temperatures, in the traditional sense but, it also means a severe, searching test or trial. The latter of the two definitions is exactly what Arthur Miller had in mind when he wrote the play, The Crucible. The play set in Salem Massachusetts during the start of the infamous Salem Witch Trials, is about the struggle to discover truth within the twisted and brutal lies flying about the little town, started mainly by a young girl by the name of Abigail Williams. Abigail Williams, as we quickly come to know, is the past mistress of the prominent Mr. John Proctor, a local farmer. As the tension rises in the

In the play, Arthur Miller wrote called, The Crucible John Proctor says "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Miller 143). He had a very strong belief that if his name was blackened there is no reason to live. John Proctor also chose to die because he could not double cross his friends, the fact that he has three children, John could not raise his children to walk like men in the world if he himself was not a true man. Therefore, for the sake of his name, reputation, and his kids John's decision to die was a heroic one.

After John Proctor had courageously confessed to his adultery, everyone turned against him and he was deemed as a liar. In his cell, he was conflicted between lying so that he could live but also wanted to tell the truth because he, for once, wanted to stop lying. He did not want to leave Elizabeth again so in order to stay alive, he lied again. John Proctor was asked to gives names but he defended, “They think to go like saints. I like not to spoil their names”(Miller, 1230). But after truly wanting to find peace, he finally could not stand any longer to lie and voluntarily gives his life. When Reverend Hale pleaded Elizabeth to go change Proctor mind, Elizabeth replied, “He has his goodness. God forbid I take it from him!” (Miller, 1233). When Elizabeth said this, she’s saying that Proctor has redeem himself but in order to forgive himself, he needs to do this. His death, for him, meant he righted his wrongs and finally regain his respect and his dignity by dying for the

A man 's reputation in many forms is his, life’s work. To have your reputation dismantled is like taking away one 's accomplishments and life’s work. Arthur Miller 's The Crucible is a play about justice and injustice, and how our justice system can be easily corrupted. The story revolves around a man named John Proctor, the tragic hero of this story. John Protector is a symbolic character created by Arthur Miller, because he faced the justice system head on. Proctor’s biggest flaw would be his great amounts of pride, which unfortunately led to his own death. In Arthur Millers’ The Crucible, he characterizes John Proctor as the tragic hero of the story because of all that he lost, through his relentless crusade to free his wife and exposing injustice, illustrating that no hero is perfect.

He accomplishes this through the tone and style the characters use when articulating about their name and reputation throughout the play. For example, the selfish John Proctor demands to his wife, Elizabeth, as she questions his honesty to her, “Woman. I’ll not have your suspicion any more” (Miller 1271). This proves that the moment someone attempts to belittle him, he uses his name to stop it by saying the person has no right to speak of him in such a way because of all he has done. Proctors use of authority and force towards his hardworking wife, just for questioning his name, upsets the audience. By causing the audience to react in this way, they become emotionally involved in Miller’s argument that people of Salem depend solely on their very own reputation. Correspondingly, Proctor exclaims as the court tries to post his confession to witchcraft on the church door, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on my feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Miller 1333). All the exclamation points and the emotional description of Proctor’s upcoming execution instigates people’s sensitive side. The readers cannot help but to act sympathetic towards Proctor at this time due to the fact that Arthur Miller’s claim, that

“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Miller 110). John Proctor, who says this statement, exclaims about keeping his name honorable rather than living with a tarnished name and shame, which he learns as he evolves in The Crucible. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor is considered a tragic hero because he meets all five traits of a tragic hero. In having these traits, he is noble, has a tragic flaw, a reversal of fortune, a moment of realization, and brings about a feeling of catharsis, or pity, to the audience that watches as he takes his final breaths.

John Proctor, throughout the play, undergoes a personal dilemma. He earns our respect during the play by making some moral choices. Towards the end of the play he follows the courage of his convictions but ironically has to play the ultimate price.

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.

The title of The Crucible effectively helps us to understand the play in a deeper and more thorough way as the definitions of the noun ‘crucible’ reflects the themes of the play such as moral, reputation, courage, righteousness, hysteria and truth. It also foreshadows the severe and unjust persecution of the upright characters who hold on to their beliefs and moral values, as the word ‘crucible’ comes from the Latin word ‘crucibulum’, which derives from the word ‘crux’. ‘Crux’ is also the root word of ‘crucifixion’.