The Crucible

Still at the Proctors’ house, two officers of the Court arrive to arrest Elizabeth.  They search the house and find the poppet, which contains a needle, and Elizabeth learns that Abigail has charged Elizabeth with attempted murder. Poppet’s were seen to be an act of witchcraft, like a voodoo doll in today’s time. Abigail has been stabbed with a needle whilst in the Parris’ house. Proctor pleads with Mary to testify against Abigail in Court because Mary was the person to make the poppet.  Mary is reluctant to do this because it would make her at odds with the other girls.  She is aware of Proctor’s affair with Abigail but again Proctor again does not wish to face up to his responsibilities and thinks he can make Mary appear in Court against Abigail, but she warns him that Abigail will accuse him of lechery. All too slowly, Proctor has come to the realisation of Abigail’s obsession with him, and this may cost the life of his wife, who is completely innocent. He is angry at his wife’s arrest, and accuses Hale of being like Pontius Pilate, but what he fails to realise is that he too has been like Pontius Pilate, trying to escape involvement in the affair by persuading others to act for him. It is only now that he comes to the conclusion that he will have

The next day, Proctor brings Mary to court and tells Judge Danforth that she will testify that the girls are lying. Danforth is suspicious of Proctor’s motives and tells Proctor, truthfully, that Elizabeth is pregnant and will be spared for a year. Proctor

While in court one day, she sews a poppet for Elizabeth and leaves her needle in there. Abigail sees this and later at dinner, she stabs herself with a needle and accuses Elizabeth of doing so. This results into the police going to the Proctor household and questioning Mary about the doll. “Why, I meant no harm by it, sir.” Mary admits that the doll is hers, and tells Cheever that the cries of witchery are all pretense. This all leads to John convincing her to tell the truth. Mary tries to take responsibility, to help, but nobody believed her. Even though she did take responsibility for her actions, Mary had to lie in the end to save herself.

Along with giving the impression of manipulability, Mary shows apparent genuine concern for those who appear to control her. When the governor visited the Proctors’ home to arrest Elizabeth, Mary was there working as a servant and was asked about the court’s main piece of evidence, the “poppet”, or doll. Mary also answered Reverend Hale, who asked about the needle in the poppet, insisting she “meant no harm”

Abigail and Mary Warren have one final similarity; they both are apprehensive. While in court when about to be convicted, both girls blamed someone else for being witches and said they saw them with the devil. Then they would say explain that they have found God again so they are off the hook. When all this shenanigans first started, Abigail shouted “I saw Goody Hawkins with the Devil. I saw Goody Booth with the Devil!” By saying those names she was taken off the hook, and Goody Hawkins and Goody Booth were now being accused of witchery. This shows that Abigail is apprehensive because, she was scared of what would happen so by blaming it on someone else she didn’t have to worry about what would happen to her. Mary Warren also did the same terrible thing. Right before Mary Warren was to be called a witch by the court she said “You’re the Devil’s Man!” to John Proctor. That made the court decide to convict Proctor instead of her because she cried that she had found God. It made Mary not have to be fearful for her own life anymore.

In the previous winter, John’s wife Elizabeth had become very ill. John Proctor had an affair during

In the play, Mary Warren was one of the girls that was seen in the woods by Reverend Hale. When they go caught she told him that she was not participating she was just watching. In the book she felt guilt for the poppet, and it causing suspicion on Elizabeth. She was also scared of Abigail, because of the things that she did and she she wanted John Proctor to love her the way she loved him. ( Miller 2)

should be happy. He also hides the fact that he was alone in the room

Mary Warren’s behavior foreshadow about her testimony in court by giving Elizabeth a doll she made, “a popper,” which later leads to her arrest. They found a needle inside the doll, in the same spot Abigail was stabbed in. She seems to be manipulated by Abigail, due to the fact that she feared to have to testify against her in court. “She’ll kill me for sayin’ that! Abby’ll charge lechery on you, Mr. Proctor!” Mary kept saying over and over again that she cannot, which also indicates that she knows that Abigail will do something terrible to her.

While speaking in private at Rev. Parris 's house, Abigail confess to Proctor her true intentions, and what she really wants. Upon finding out about Abigail still being in love with him, we start to see Proctor 's more aggressive side. This is shown when he says to Abigail after she speaks badly of Elizabeth, "shaking her: Do you look for a whippin '?" (Miller 24). This is not Proctor 's first time slipping up and over showing his rage and emotion. For he is a very emotional man and confident in his choices and ideas; well except when it comes to his mistake of engaging in any type of relationship with Abigail. After firing Abigail, Elizabeth continues to be suspicious of Proctor. We see this in Act II when Elizabeth starts arguing with Proctor over still having feelings for Abigail or sending her mixed/ the wrong signals. Proctor maybe feeling guilt for his actions but with no other better counter in the argument he turns towards his angrier side. This is evident in his words saying " with a violent undertone: You doubt me yet?" (Miller 54). Soon after this argument or should it be said during the mid-argument Proctor 's anger is now directed to Mary Warren upon her arrival in the house. This is better shown/explained by Miller who states " As soon as he sees her, he goes directly to her and grabs her by her cloak, furious... shaking her. I 'll whip you if you dare leave this house again!"

Proctor produces a self-inflicted wound, which, only enlarges as Abigail’s jealousy of his wife, Elizabeth, increases. After Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor 's wife, is taken away by Cheever, the lawman, Proctor has a revelation, which entails, exposing Abigail`s lies with Mary Warren’s testimony. But when Abigail’s and her posse accuse Mary Warren of witchery he soon comprehends that a confession of his adulterous ways

When analyzing the event in the play in which John is trying to apologize to Elizabeth, the scene is very emotional and can connect with many other moments in a person’s life. The song “Apologize” by OneRepublic best describes this scene very well. John Proctor cheated on his wife with Abigail Williams. His wife finds out but does not confront John right away and she is mad at him for 7 months before confronting. Because of this it causes tension through the relationship. Finally, John does not like the way Elizabeth was acting recently and starts questioning why she must act the way she does around him, as their argument starts to escalate. In the middle of the argument, Elizabeth says to John,

When Proctor makes his decision Elizabeth won’t comment on it. This shows that she now knows her place and knows that its his own decision. Proctor realises that his wife is the only one he’ll ever love. The audience respect proctors decision as they know that this is the right one.

Elizabeth Proctor had her suspicions that her husband John Proctor may have been having an “inappropriate” relationship with

We can see that she has little concern for herself, but that her family comes first. She is not concerned with how scared she is, just how frightened her children will be. Because of this emotional scene, John is forced to develop a new identity. One that is brave and strong and stands up to what he knows is right. Where before his sins were kept secret, he will now have to face the truth in order for his character to become strong. “I will fall like an ocean on that court! Fear nothing, Elizabeth.”