John Proctor, a respected and followed Puritan, although an adulterer, became one of the most afflicted men in Salem when vengeance was sought upon his wife. Elizabeth, John's beloved wife, became envied by Abagail Williams, when John ended their affair. Abagail accused Elizabeth of sending her spirit out to stab her with a needle so that Elizabeth would be either hung or jailed. By pushing Elizabeth out of John's life, Abagail thought that John would rediscover his love for her. In an attempt to save his wife's life, he pressures his maidservant, Mary Warren, to confess that the group of girls crying "witchery" were faking. When Abagail breaks Mary's confession by scaring her publicly, Mary turns and accuses John of coming to her in the night and threatening her for her life if she didn't save Elizabeth. John, being accused of witchery, had no choice but to be jailed and hung in order to further cleanse the country of evil. On the day of John's hanging, Minister Hale and Judge Danforth came to him to plead with him to sign the confession. John had to make the decision to…
After John Proctor has an affair with Abigail Williams, he is filled with guilt and he does not have the self-respect to forgive himself for what he had done. He is bothered with his disgrace, only because he knows in his heart the one day he will have to confess to his sins and ruin his reputation. There was a trial in court for all the witchcraft going on in Salem. His wife (Elizabeth) is being tried for witchcraft. She was accused by…
Before the Salem witch trials start, John Proctor is already suffering from an internal conflict when he commits adultery. He is unable to forgive himself and wholeheartedly believes that God and his wife Elizabeth will never see him the same way. To make matters even worse he must reveal his horrible acts to save his wife from being killed…
The life of a man in Salem Massachusetts in the late 1600s was to live a life that was led by his faith and by what the Bible tells people to do. Men were supposed to go to church on the sabbath day and not do any physical labor for the rest of the day. If one was to judge John Proctor by these standards, they would look at him as a man who is not holy and will not go to heaven after he died. He made bad decisions, and caused the people that were closest to him much strife. However, John Proctor was a honest man that is willing to do what is right rather than what was easy.…
He told them that he wanted to confess so then he live with his wife. "I want my life" (pg 884). They told him if I he confesses he will be safe and not be sentenced to hang. They asked him questions to get more information from him but he did not blame anyone else. "Mr. Proctor, have you seen the Devil in your life? Come man, there is light in the sky; the town waits at the scaffold; I would give out this news. Did you see the Devil?' I did."(885). He is only confessing so then he can be with his and children again not to help them in the witch hunt. He is ashamed that he is lying to live when all of his friends have stuck to the truth and accepted death. "Man, you will hang! You cannot!' I can. And there's your first marvel, that I can. You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor." (884). He knows that if does sign this that his name will be plagued in the community for the rest of his life and he will not be able to raise his kids being known in the town as a coward. John accepts death with honor and meets a tragic…
In the play, John Proctor is an ordinary farmer, who has proven himself a hardworking man, with a good name around the village of Salem. John is the type of man who often says what he believes and he does what his heart tells him to. In his past he has done a lot of good and bad deeds, but he is a human and humans do make mistakes for example, he had committed the crime of lechery with Abigail Williams. Abigail used to work at his house as a servant for him and his wife Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail is a two-faced 18 year old who causes a lot of mischief and she is in love with John and will do anything to separate him and his wife, just to take her place. John clearly regrets the mistake he had made in his life, and does his best to pick himself up and attempts to change things in his life. He is a smart man who is somewhat foolish, because from what I have observed, John puts more importance on the present than he does on the future. He is a kind man who is loyal to his wife and friends; he even blackens his own name for the sake of their lives. He is devoted to stop the hangings, and save the people who are accused.…
As a character, John Proctor values his reputation and stays honest with himself through the play. He undergoes lots of internal and external struggles but yet, never changes his character. At the end he gets accused for witchcraft. In the story, if you confess to being a witch, you live and if you don’t, you die. Proctor values the Puritan faith and in the end, the “court” makes him admit to being a witch and sign saying he confessed. He doesn’t sign because he unwilling to sign his name to something he doesn’t believe in. He would rather die than to tell more lies. "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign…
Proctor is arrested on charges of witchcraft along with his wife, Elizabeth. The people that are arrested for witchcraft live if they confess, but hang if they deny the charges, even if the charges are not truthful. This plays an important part in the testing of John’s integrity later in the play. In the beginning, we find out that Proctor had an affair with the niece of the town reverend, Abigail Williams. This displays a lack of integrity for John, but nobody knows about it until later. John shows his integrity when he confesses to this affair later in the play. At the beginnig of the play, the Proctor’s want no part in the witch trials. They get dragged into the proceedings when Abigail accuses Elizabeth of hurting her with a voodoo doll. John has integegrity when he tries to save his wife from being hanged. He gets depositions from others in the town that show how good his wife was. He has Mary Warren, who was working in the Proctor house, confess that she was the one who made the doll and stuck the needle in it. This does not work though, and Mary turns on Proctor and gets him arrested. When Proctor is in jail, he shows his integrity once again. He knows that he has the…
Even though he knows that Elizabeth is saved because of her pregnancy, he still continues to fight for the other women that are charged with the witchcraft issue. He supports fairness. All his actions were made to save many people from the witchhunt. He pays it with his own life, a symbol of goodness. John Proctor's decision to die is very important. He had to choose between dying and saving a whole society. John Proctor was willing to die than damn all the others. “You use not use me! I am no Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor! You will not use me! It is no part of salvation that you should use me! (Miller 62).” This statement shows the sense of pride that John still withholds in himself. John Proctor becomes so proud that he shocks the whole counsel by ripping the confession up in front of their faces. John Proctor then states the following: “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 143-144).” He always wanted to keep his name clean. He took the right decision as it also allowed him to compensate his sin with Abigail. John Proctor wanted to protect the truth, even if he has to pay with his own…
John’s conflicts have left him weaker than that he was before, and that weakness makes him depend on Mary Warren to reveal the truth about the witch trials in his place. Mary Warren would then accuse John Proctor of witchcraft. John is thrown into a dungeon and he is in a dilemma whether he should hang like a “saint”, or live with the guilt. In a conversation between Elizabeth and John Proctor, his inner struggle is shown, after Elizabeth says that she cannot judge him, “Then who will judge me? God in Heaven, what is John Proctor? I think it is honest, I think so; I am no saint. Let Rebecca go like a saint for me it is fraud!”(Proctor, Miller, IIII, 1100) Elizabeth then replies that she is not his judge, and to do as he will, to which John states, “Would you give them such a lie? Say it. Would you ever give them this? You would not if tongs of fire were singeing you you would not! It is evil. Good, then-it is evil, and I do it.”(Proctor, Miller, IIII, 1100) When John Proctor’s conflicts have been chosen he turns into a selfless…
Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” is a story based on the Salem witch trials, where people used the trials for their own good. The conditions around the time that lead to the trials were scared people wanting to find the source of their problems and people not thinking or not wanting to figure out the true source because the group isn’t thinking or the event benefits them somehow. Some may wonder if these conditions still exist , and yes, current day is somewhat like “The Crucible” and/or the Salem witch trials and are seen in the many other “witch hunts” in recent times.…
Proctor himself is a smart man who can sometimes just make stupid decisions. He could have easily charged Abigail with fraud at a part in the play, but decides not to. John had an affair with Abigail when Elizabeth was ill which started Abigail on a wild fantasy. She strategically eliminated people to work her way up to Elizabeth to get her out of the way. Proctor always feels guilty about sleeping with Abigail and he is one who will never forgive himself. He feels it is his fault that the Witch Trials are occurring and that God is angry with him for being unfaithful. Despite the fact that he is ruined, he still revealed the sin which his had committed. This was probably the worst choice he could have made as it made him look even guiltier in the eyes of the people. Proctor does say that Abigail wants to replace his wife. "She thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave" (Pg. 69). He eventually allows the court to nail his false confessions to the church door which ruins him even more and guarantees his death. By doing this however, he does free himself of his guilt. At the end of the play, he is hung on the…
All three of these characters decisions are influenced by a desire to have a good reputation. John Proctor is a farmer who lives outside of Salem. He is stern, has a strong set of morals and hates hypocrisy. He is a good, and respectable citizen in the eyes of the town. However he has a hidden sin. His affair he had with Abigail is his one fatal flaw. In the witch trials, innocent people were being hung, and put on trial for being falsely accused of being witches. At the very beginning Abigail revealed to John that there were no witches, and none of the girls were practicing witchcraft or made any deals with the devil. He knew all of this and could of put an end to the hysteria and madness of the witch trials with a confession. But if he…
John Proctor lost his life because he stayed true to his morals by not lying about using witchcraft. John would not let anybody take his pride. A man is not a man if he goes everyday regretting that he had lied. John Proctor was the type of man who would wake up every morning regretting that he had lied just so he could live. Proctor’s wife Elizabeth knows her husband better than anyone in the town of Salem. As Hale is mad that Proctor ripped the paper, Elizabeth explains to Hale that, “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him” (4,784). She tells Hale that no one can take John’s pride from him.…
If you don't believe in witch hunts, that's fine. But the idea of them is very real. The Crucible is a story that takes place in Salem, Massachusetts. This small community is full of superstition and the towns people let their beliefs destroy friendships, and lives. Arthur Miller uses many repeating themes in the play The Crucible. There are many good, and bad themes that come up throughout the play. Some of the common themes of this story are lust, fear, and courage.…