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Character analysis john proctor
Elizabeth proctor crucible character analysis
Role of john proctor in the crucible
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In the playwright, The Crucible, characters show qualities and perform actions that cause the reader to classify them in two ways. The two categories are dynamic and static. The two characters that act dynamically in the play are Elizabeth Proctor and Reverend Hale. Their actions in the beginning to end of the play are significantly different.
Elizabeth Proctor was one of the dynamic characters that stood out in The Crucible. In the start, Elizabeth acted very cold towards her husband John Proctor. Understandably, Elizabeth was very upset about the affair that John had with their nanny Abigail Williams. She blames him for a lot of the unrest and tension in the relationship. In Act four, Elizabeth realizes maybe she was at fault too. Elizabeth
Reverend Hale is a dynamic character in Miller's The Crucible as he is challenged by John Proctor's courage. He starts out very convincing and seems to know exactly what he wants. John Proctor is a very strong and courageous character. He influences Reverend Hale so much that Hale completely changes his mind about Salem, the court, and witches. Reverend Hale enters Salem as a very strong character that knows what he wants to do.
At the start of the play, Elizabeth is heartbroken her husband, John Proctor, has committed adultery seven months ago with Abagail Williams. Elizabeth’s sorrow leads her to insecurities of her husband’s fidelity. When the talk of witchcraft comes up, Elizabeth becomes devastated she has been accused of witchery by Abagail. She is even more heartbroken John will not confess to the court of his infidelity to end the whole fiasco. She gently asks John to break any false hopes Abagail may have and is quickly discouraged by his answer. Elizabeth believes Abagail means to accuse her of witchery to take her place (1127). She goes on to tell her husband, “…I will be ...
Before the play takes place, Abigail Williams and John Proctor had an affair while Abigail was working as a servant in their home. Eventually, John confessed and apologized to Elizabeth, pledging his faithfulness to her. Nonetheless, at the time the play takes place, Elizabeth still hasn’t fully forgiven him, and gives him a hard time about it. Abigail confessed the pretense of her accusations to him when they were alone, and now he has no way to prove that she’s lying to the court. But because he was alone with her again, Elizabeth becomes angry with him. She still doubts her husband because she feels that if it were any other girl he had to go testify against, he would not hesitate. But, because it’s Abigail, John feels he has to think harder on making a decision. He doesn’t want his name spoiled by a counter-testimony. John feels he is now justified in becoming angry because for the seven months since his confession, he has done nothing but try to please his wife, and she still approaches him with suspicion and accusatio...
Elizabeth Proctor portrays great power with her husband, John Proctor when she forgives him for having the affair and is trying to help him forgive himself. “John it come to naught that I forgive you, if you’ll not forgive yourself” (Miller 126). Elizabeth released a lot of the guilt John had when she said this because one of the main reasons he did not want anyone to find out about the affair was so his wife doesn’t get hurt. She was the motive behind John’s actions and held great power with her husband. If she did not have as much grace and forgiveness in that moment that could have impacted John’s actions extensively. She not only looked past what he did
She was put in the middle of the situation because she lied to the court about the affair with Abigail not knowing that John already admitted to it. That situation made both Elizabeth and John look bad. Some say that the truths will you set you free but in this case all it did was digging a deeper hole for the Proctor’s. Abigail tried to say that Elizabeth was dancing with the devil and the people believed it and started prosecuting every potential
Elizabeth Proctor was a stay at home wife and mother and was very loyal to her husband John Proctor. Although John had cheated on her in the past she didn’t let that interfere with the love she had for him. Elizabeth represents the frigid wife in “The Crucible”. Even though she loved her husband that didn’t keep her mind from wonders of evil thoughts. “Even seven months after Proctor’s confession of adultery, Elizabeth is unable to
Early on in the play, the reader comes to understand that John Proctor has had an affair with Abigail Williams while she was working in his home. Abigail believed that if she got rid of Elizabeth Proctor, then John Proctor would become her own. John Proctor had an affair with Abigail, but for him it was just lust, while Abigail believed it to be true love. She told John Proctor that she loved him, and once she destroys Elizabeth, they would be free to love one another. John is horrified at this, but can do nothing to convince Abigail that he is not in love with her. Because of Abigail's twisted plot to secure John for herself, Elizabeth is arrested. John Proctor has to wrestle with the decision of what to do. He knows that he has sinned; yet he does not want to hurt his beloved wife. This is partly why he is willing to die. He knows he has already sinned.
In literature, a dynamic character changes significantly as a result of events, conflicts, or other forces. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Mary Warren, the young servant of the Proctor’s is a dynamic character. Throughout the play, Mary’s personality takes a turn for the better. At the beginning of the play, Mary is shy, timid girl who hides in the shadows of Abigail Williams and lets people walk all over her. As the play develops, Mary realizes that what Abigail is doing isn’t right and rebels against Abby. Instead of following Abby, she follows in the footsteps of John Proctor to bring justice to the girl’s accusing innocent people of witchcraft.
Elizabeth is often cold and not open towards people yet she changes as the novel progresses. Abigail accuses her friends and the townspeople of witchcraft; her motivations for turning against her friends are mainly because of Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail had an affair with Elizabeth's husband, which made Elizabeth fire Abigail. Abigail is in love with John and while talking to him she says, "I wake and walk about the house as though I'd find you comin' through some door" (Act I). This illustrates her love towards John and that she will never forget their affair and how Elizabeth broke them up.
In the play, "The Crucible," characters are put in tough situations where they feel uncomfortable and they need for something to change in order to resolve the problem. The definition of crucible is actually a "heat resistant container in which materials inside can be subjected to great heat." (Merriam-Webster, 190) This is very fitting for the play because the girls are like the heat on the outside, putting pressure and tension on the adults in the village, who are like the materials on the inside. One of the two categories of people must change in order to resolve the conflict, and three main characters display this need to change more than any others. The first person is John Procter, who changes somewhat through the play. The second is Abigail Williams, who attempts to change the people around her. And the third is Reverend John Hale, who changes quite dramatically through the play. All of these characters recognize that change is needed, but approach the problem from different perspectives.
When a life is at stake, everyone changes, except for those that are truly evil. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, each if the characters of Proctor, Hale, and Parris change from the beginning to the end of the play. Proctor becomes more honest; Hale becomes more skeptical of his mission; and Parris finds in himself some shred of humanity. These characters when through emotional and mental changes.
Elizabeth Proctor has many moments which show how she is changing throughout the play. When she is trying to persuade Proctor to tell the court that Abigail said the girls were not practicing witchcraft, Elizabeth blurts out, "John, if it were not Abigail that you must go to hurt, would you falter now? I think not." Elizabeth is confessing that she believes Proctor had an affair with Abigail. She is giving him no mercy by showing that she will never forget what happened. When Elizabeth is being accused of stabbing Abigail, she instructs Proctor to go to court, and tells him "Oh, John, bring me soon!" Elizabeth is gaining trust in John. She is forgetting his act of adultery and now has faith that he will defend her. At the end of the play, when Proctor is sentenced to death, Elizabeth says that "he [has] his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!" Elizabeth is admitting that John was righteous to confess his sin of lechery, and she should have pardoned him. She considers herself impure for not showing mercy, and does not want to take away from his glory. Elizabeth has transformed from an ignorant victim of adultery, to a forgiving, loving wife.
John Proctor’s tragic flaw is that he is impulsive. Proctor regrets what he had done with Abigail Williams and cannot forgive himself of his sins. This tragic flaw follows John Proctor throughout the entire play. Abigail Williams is vastly jealousy to Goody Proctor because of her husband John. This is shown in act two when Abigail stabs herself with a needle to prove that Goody Proctor sent her spirit upon her and to place an accusation on Goody Proctor of witchery. John has lost his relationship with his wife because of his sin, he tries to gain forgiveness of his wife but she tells him, “John, it come to naught that I should forgive you, if you’ll not forgive yourself” (Act four). Elizabeth Proctor says this because she feels that John Proctor will not feel forgiven by his wife until he can forgive himself for lechery. This tragic flaw eventually leads John Proctor to confess and find his path to
Naturally, Elizabeth feels guilty as well. She tells John, “I have sins of my own to count. It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery.” Elizabeth feels as though she is to blame for John committing adultery. She is a mother and, of course, Elizabeth will be consumed with taking care of their children, cooking, cleaning, etc. At first, Elizabeth does not recognize John pulling away from her and turning towards Abigail. Soon after Elizabeth finds out John committed adultery with Abby, she fires her. Later on in the novel Elizabeth is accused of being a witch and John goes to court to prove Abigail is lying.
One definition of "crucible" is "a severe test of patience and belief, or a trial". This definition pertains to Arthur Miller's four-act play, "The Crucible." The definition is suiting, because it is during this play that the wills of innocent women and men are put to the test when they are accused of things they did not do. It was the ultimate trial of determination and willpower to withstand such a wretched ordeal. Abigail Williams, Elizabeth and John Proctor, Mary Warren, Reverend Parris and even Reverend Hale had changed drastically because of what they had to go through during the course of the play. However, other characters such as Ezekiel Cheever and Marshall Herrick did not really change noticeably. Reverend Parris and Reverend Hale are two characters in "The Crucible" that did change, and Ezekiel Cheever is one that did not.