John Proctor
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is set in Salem in a Puritan community. John Proctor had everything the average puritan could ever want: a farm to ceaselessly toil upon, three sons to discipline, and a wife to spend his life with. Proctor was a guy that wasn’t afraid to speak his mind and throughout Salem he was respected and honored for it. But John wasn’t the perfect man either he had betrayed his wife and committed adultery. John Proctor is the tragic hero because he is loving, loyal, authoritative, but his tragic flaw is his temper.
John is a loving husband. He proves that by telling Elizabeth, “It is well seasoned” (p. 48) talking about the rabbit she cooked, in which he had to add salt to. He likes to make her happy,
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John shows his loyalty when he is trying to prove Elizabeth’s innocence to witchcraft. By telling the judge, “my wife is innocent!” (103).
John has an authoritative personality. John proves this authoritative personality when he goes to Reverend Paris’s house, to find out why there is talk of witchcraft in the town, and finds his servant, Mary Warren, who is not supposed to be there and she shays “Oh! I’m just going home,” knowing she isn’t supposed to be there (20). His first words to her indicate his authority, “Now get home” because she does not question him and simply does what he says she proves he has authority (20). He shows his authoritative personality when talking alone with Abigail. He tells her, “That’s done with” trying to end the conversation after she has asked for a soft word therefore showing his authority (21). He also shows his authority with Elizabeth about Mary Warren going into Salem after he had “forbid her to go.” (49) He has shown his authority over the hired help in his house. Later he shows his authority by getting the last words in an argument with Mary Warren, “Good night, then!” (57)
John Proctor’s tragic flaw is his temper. Though his pride does go along with his temper, the reason he was jailed at the end of the story was for
The Crucible is a historical play by Arthur Miller, and is set in the town of Salem during the late 1690s. The main characters are John Proctor, the protagonist, and Abigail Williams, the antagonist. The conflict occurs when Abigail falsely accuses others of witchcraft. This leads to hysteria in the town, with people turning in innocent people for witchcraft. Many people including John and Elizabeth Proctor are arrested and put on trial, despite their innocence. John Proctor is sentenced to death after refusing to denounce his friends as witches, forgiven by Elizabeth for his affair with Abigail, and restores his reputation of being a good man. The Crucible delves into the extent people will go betray others in order to benefit themselves
John Proctor is a very friendly man. Everyone likes being his friend. He is open, kind, helpful, upright, blunt-spoken, and just a good, hard-working man. John has lots of faith in God but little in humans. He knows that mankind is good but he also knows that they are weak and imperfect. “Proctor: I’ve heard you to be a sensible man, Mr. Hale. I hope you’ll leave some of it in Salem”.
The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is an intriguing novel about the witch trials in Salem during the 17th century. During the Salem witch trials, innocent people were accused of being witches just so that others could take their land and farms. The main protagonist, John Procter, stands up against the corruption and greed that has infested the very heart of Salem, and tries to overthrow Abigail Williams, a corrupt young maiden who blames and kills the accused witches. This novel explores the depth of evil in human nature through these main characters John Procter and Abigail Williams. But despite the corruption of Abigail and the town, the just emerge to try and stop this evil from occurring. The characteristics of John Procter are
John Proctor became a tragic hero in “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller has brought a big problem to the Village of Salem, after Procto had an affair with Abigail Williams, she began to look for revenge and she started accusing people of witchcraft. John Proctor; a well-respected man in Salem, who is a hard worker always working for his family, love his children and his wife, is founded in a critical situation after committing adultery with a girl in the village. John Proctor, the protagonist of the play “The Crucible”, a well-respected man, a noble man who has done a lot for his family, possesses a major flaw he has had an affair with Abigail Williams, and eventually he realizes what he has done in Salem and to
In act II John Proctor is told by Mary that Elizabeth was accused and the court has come to her to take her to jail. John shows a lot of tension with Elizabeth in the beginning of act II. “I am wondering how I may prove what she had told Me.” said John, “You were alone with her?” retaliated Elizabeth. (1116) Elizabeth suspected John of adultery and is still worried about it. John is worried if he calls out Abby then their secret of Adultery will be out. “Spare me! You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’. Learn charity, women…” (1116) In this quote it shows what John thinks about his wife after 8 months of not having Abby in their house. John’s attempts to save Salem has failed and he and his wife are sent to
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an interpretation of the Salem witch trials of 1692 in Puritan Massachusetts in which religion, justice, individuality and dignity play a vital role. These factors define the characteristics of many of the most significant characters in the play. Some of them being John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Reverend Hale, Danforth and many others. The Salem witch trials were a result of the lack of expression of individuality and the fact that no individual could expect justice from the majority culture as a result of the deterioration of human dignity in the Puritan society of Salem.
Throughout the story, John expresses qualities of an honest man by defending his wife Elizabeth when she is accused of hurting Abigail. John defends Elizabeth” Herrick! Herrick don’t chain her” (page 177: Proctor) in many ways despite the hardship they have been going through with their marriage.
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
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
Another tragic flaw that, like most tragic heroes in Greek drama, John Proctor exhibits is pride. Proctor has the choice between life and death on pen and paper, to sign his name means life, to refuse means death. “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because
At the end of the scene, the astricted atmoshere remains within the couple when John pleads to Elizabeth, saying '' Let you look sometimes for the goodness in me, and judge me not,'' to which she replies '' I do not judge you. The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you.'' By this we are displayed Elizabeth's feeling towards John's accusation towards which she reveals to John that it is not her that he is being judged by, but in fact his quilty conscience over the affair.
Since John Proctor behaves as an essentially good and upright man throughout the story, his tragic death stirs pity and fear in the audience. The audience cannot help but
John proves that he puts his companions above everything else with his wife Elizabeth. He proves this by putting his life at risk just to demonstrate that she is not guilty. He also wants to correct his past mistakes and make up for his affair with Abigail to his wife. John once told his wife during a disagreement, “Spare me! You forget nothin’ and forgive nothing. Learn charity, woman. I have gone tiptoe in this house all seven month since she is gone. I have not moved from there without I think
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
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an interpretation of the Salem witch trials of 1692 in Puritan Massachusetts in which religion, self- preservation and self-dignity play a vital role. The three factors I listed played a huge role in John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Reverend Hale, Danforth and many other lives. Many other characters such as, Abigail Williams and her friends can be characterized by being greedy, bitter, and selfish. In the play, Miller reveals how people can go against their own morals, therefore they can protect themselves. In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, he reveals to readers how fear escalated in Salem because of people's desire for personal gain.