The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a drastic play overflowing with stereotyped characters. It takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in the year of 1692. There are suspicions of witchcraft taking place throughout the town. Abigail Williams is the start of it all. If you weren’t actually involved in all the witchcraft hysteria, you were to blame. John Proctor, an innocent Puritan farmer, was one to get involved. He had a fallacious reputation with Abigail Williams. Though Proctor was married, Abigail’s love for him still endured. She wanted him back, so the only way of doing so, she would have to get rid of his wife. Abigail not only got rid of Elizabeth, Proctor’s wife, she got rid of a lot more innocent people as well. They were hung if they …show more content…
At the beginning of the play, his best possession is his name and the integrity associated with it. He didn’t want anyone to figure out he had an affair with Abigail, so he kept quiet. But in the end of the play, he confessed of being an adulterer. His attitude towards the whole thing changed. He cared deeply about his reputation and what people thought of him. Towards the end, he didn’t care. He wanted his wife out of jail, and put Abigail in. Proctor is not only motivated by his wife, he is motivated by honor. He wanted to have others respect him, but he deserved respect for himself. He demonstrated his notion of self-worth and sacrifice. Proctor stands for the truth and resists the social paranoia of the town. He is able to stand for his word and not sign a false accusation. He acted upon what he believed. Proctor is irritated with the whole witchcraft fiasco. He wants to put it to an end, along with Abigail. While Proctor was being accused of witchcraft by the judges, he decided to confess. He didn’t confess to being involved in the witchcraft, but he confessed about his adultery with Abigail Williams. He wanted to prove to the court that she had a motive for wanting to accuse Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft. He wanted to make it evident to the court that Abigail’s desire to do away with his wife is what has driven her to accuse Elizabeth as well as the others. Proctor is in hope for discrediting Abigail in the eyes of the court. Thinking
To help his wife, might make Mary protest and court to try to save his wife even though it might cause his adultery acts to be known among everyone. He will do this because he wants his wife to be innocent and not to be affiliated with being a witch or being of the Devil. It did show that proctor might be a little hesitant to speak out against Abigail for what she did because she can call him out on his acts of adultery. Even though in the beginning of the act they weren’t really conversing, it shows by the end of the act that Proctor has some compassion for his wife and doesn’t want her to be of the accused. Proctor will most likely go to court, with or without Mary Warren to prove the innocence of his wife in the poppet situation. If Abigail mentions their affair, it could make Proctor looked down on in Salem, and could add one more thing to worry about while dealing with the witch
He was devastated whenever he had to leave his wife. He could’ve given up everything but he wanted to keep his name pure. Readers may think that if he had not had the affair, he would not have to worry about any of this madness if he had not committed adultery. They may think he was a bad person because he never considered his wife, but one must consider all of the facts. If the only reason Proctor was bad was because he cheated on his wife, then he doesn’t seem as sinful as people these days.
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.
The first step for Proctor to regain his self-respect is when he goes to the court armed with three main weapons in order to free his wife, Abigail’s admission to him that there was no witchcraft, Mary Warren’s testimony and finally, Proctor is prepared to admit that he and Abigail had an affair. This would blacken Abigail’s now saintly reputation and discredit her in the eyes of the court. Even though Proctor’s goal of freeing Elizabeth and putting an end to the hysteria is not achieved, he takes significant steps towards regaining his self-respect. The first step being that he does not stop fighting the false accusations even after he finds out that Elizabeth is pregnant and therefore safe for the time being. He feels he owes a greater duty to the community and proceeds. The second step is that he has now just openly admitted his adulterous lechery; he is no longer a hypocrite. He has publicly embraced his sin.
Proctor 's decision to tell the court about his affair ironically demonstrates his goodness. He also spoke up for the innocent girls that had their names branded. He willingly sacrifices his good name in order to protect his wife and others who are wrongly accused. Only through his public acknowledgment of the affair does Proctor regain his wife 's trust. At the end of the play, Proctor refuses to slander himself by allowing the court to make him make a false confession. The court told him to lie, and that if he lies that he would not be sent to the gallows. He did the right decision by telling the truth about his affair with Abigail. He honestly told the truth about the affair, and that he was not part of the witchcraft. His response further exemplifies Proctor 's integrity. But John was not guilty. He had nothing to do with witchcraft, he admitted to his own mistakes. Proctor knows that if he confesses that he will be damned himself, yet again, if he agrees to confess, he will also be free from the torment from the demon inside him and set others free too. This realization, along with Elizabeth 's forgiveness, enables Proctor to forgive himself and finally regain his good name and self-respect. As the court
When we are introduced to his character, it is apparent that he has been unfaithful to his wife (Elizabeth) with a lady named Abigail. Following this, we see that his wife has been accused of witchcraft, and it is Abigail who made the accusation. Proctor realizes that it is because of his actions that his wife has been accused and he
Throughout the play, Proctor struggles with his honor as he changes from viewing it as his reputation to believing it is based on his own private moral of truth. The isolated Puritan community in which Proctor lives forces him to try and achieve a pious and perfect lifestyle, which ultimately pressures him into lying about his affair with Abigail in order to maintain a good reputation. This view changes in the courtroom, when Proctor becomes extremely frustrated with the lies and deceit that Abigail is telling the judges, Proctor screams in anger, “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
He overcomes these conflicts by deciding to testify against Abigail and confessing to the crime of lechery. It is at this moment that he realises that he must participate in the community and that his individual needs might have to be sacrificed for the good of all. Another motivation for Proctor could have been that he wanted to replace his wife's alleged guilt with his own and that he wanted to be redeemed of his sin.
Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible show the hysteria that took place in Salem in 1692. Even though this play is fiction, Miller based the plot of his play on a real historical event which was McCarthyism in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. There’re many connection in The Crucible to be considered as an allegory due to similarities themes and how the characters are being portrayed. Miller does an excellent job of portraying numerals characters used fear for benefit and they showed selfishness and malfeasance. This is also similar to how Joseph McCarthy’s oppressive by using intense fear of the spread of the economic system called communism.
The movie, The Crucible, was produced in 1996 and portrayed the dramatized play written by Arthur Miller in 1953. The movie story deals with the Salem, Massachusetts hysteria in 1692 with an irrational fear of the devil. Witch hunts and false accusations resulted. Trials took place and resulted in the hanging and associated death of more than 20 people and the false imprisonment of many others.
John Proctor was a man with good reputation in Salem who wished to see justice in his town and was willing to make a compromise to see that justice, this is seen when Proctor is in the courtroom and says “A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. 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.” Proctor confesses his affair with Abigail, after attempting to expose her without revealing the truth about their relationship as he believes the truth would ruin his reputation. This scene, in the Salem courtroom, can be considered a turning point in the play, where Proctor’s thirst for justice finally outweighs his efforts to keep a good reputation. This allows Proctor to attempt to expose Abigail since he no longer has anything to hide. Although Proctor made a valid attempt to bring peace to Salem by compromising his reputation it came a little too late, instead of Abigail and the witch trials being exposed as a hoax, Proctor is called a liar and he is then accused of witchcraft by the court. Along with making compromises Proctor is able to bring justice by creating a common understanding of the issue at hand this is seen when Proctor says “If she is
John Proctor was a “farmer in his middle thirties… strong, even-tempered, and not easily led” (20). Proctor’s reputation was good and he was a well respected man around Salem. The play shows that Proctor’s past involved him having an affair with Abigail. Now in the present, Proctor is conflicted with the fear of being labeled as an adulterer for his past. Proctor’s fear weakens his morality in the court when he has to explain the situation to Judge Danforth. Proctor tells Danforth that he “has known her” (110) and that Abigail wishes to “dance with me (Proctor) on my wife's grave” (110). Although the fear of being labeled as an adulterer and being charged of lechery, Proctor believes that telling the truth is the right thing to do. Proctor realizes that the Salem witch trials have gone to far and are merely just attempts from Abigail to get Proctor all to herself. Proctor’s fear initially holds him back from telling the court the reason why Abigail is accusing everyone and acting strange. Later on the unveiling of his affair with Abigail results in the trials being questioned but it also fuels the deadly fate of
John Proctor and Elizabeth Proctor had reached a downfall in their relationship after Proctor’s affair with Abigail Williams. Ever since, Proctor had tried to gain back Elizabeth’s respect which proved their deep rooted love for one another. This angered Abigail since she was in love with Proctor, which lead her to accuse Elizabeth of Witchcraft. Throughout the court trials, Proctor continuously defends Elizabeth and himself, yet realizes he must tell the truth on how he committed adultery. Elizabeth, renown for her honesty, lies in the court to try and save Proctor, however, she is ultimately contradicting the truth Proctor had previously told. Elizabeth’s false confession led Proctor to his death, even though Proctor had cried out, “She only thought to save my name!” (Miller 113). Proctor’s confession signifies that he was protecting Elizabeth to help her get out of jail which also would have proved that Abigail was making false accusations. On the other hand, Elizabeth’s fabricated confession could have saved Proctor’s name, and would allow him to keep is high esteem. Proctor and Elizabeth’s twisted situation suggests that the truth would not always set one free. In this case, all the truth that had been confessed was enough to prove Proctor and Elizabeth innocent, yet one lie tore it all apart. Even though Proctor confessed all his truth to prove innocence, the
“That John Proctor the sinner might overturn his paralyzing personal guilt and become the most forthright voice against the madness around him was a reassurance to me, and, I suppose, an inspiration: it demonstrated that a clear moral outcry could still spring even from an ambiguously unblemished soul,” Miller says this about Proctor. Procter the “sinner” was unfaithful to his wife Elizabeth; during the beginning of the play we see Proctor as a cheater and hot-headed adulterer. Throughout the play he truly tried to seek redemption for his wrongdoing towards Elizabeth. He later on changes from this cheater, hot-headed adulterer to a saint who tries to save the lives of the falsely accused by admitting to his sins and fighting for the truth until his very last breath.
He feels that he can never be with Abigail again. He is haunted by this because when he talks to her, he is nervous. “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” (Page 22). In this quote, two betrayals are revealed by Proctor. First, his betrayal of his wife and second his betrayal of Abigail. These two betrayals are crucial to the play seeing as it is due to Proctor’s betrayal of his wife, by cheating on her, and his betrayal of Abigail, by leaving her without taking responsibility, that initiated the conflict. Furthermore, because Proctor is not willing to admit his deceit, both he and his wife got caught in disorder. Ultimately, Proctor’s betrayal and dishonesty lead to his downfall.