The desire for power is prevalent in our day to day life from wanting control over little insignificant aspects to control over others. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is 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 …show more content…
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is 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 comes 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, but also had it in her heart to help him forgive himself to release all of the pain and guilt he has been carrying around. Even though power is usually seen with having the evil advantage or vengeful upper hand Elizabeth was powerful enough to forgive his wrong doings and try to help him forgive
In The Crucible, the main struggle of all women is to be a perfect Puritan, wife, or friend, while the men struggle to uphold their reputations without sullying anyone else’s. Elizabeth Proctor is a prime example of a Puritan woman who strives to be the perfect wife. She demonstrates this by cooking for her husband and putting effort into cooking for him. When he compliments her food, she blushes, which exemplifies her desire to please him and to be a good wife for him. Elizabeth also forgives John for having an affair with Abigail. Even though John accuses her of judging him for his affair, Elizabeth maintains that she does not judge him for those actions. When he continues to claim that she has not and will not forgive him, she says, “I have sins of my own to count. It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery” (Miller 137). By saying this to John, she is telling him that she sins too and that she has things other than his sins to worry about. She appears to be hurt by his blame and lack of trust in her. John
The floor creaks between each one of their pauses. The silence is deadly. Should I dishonor my lord? The pressure I just can’t stop pacing back and fourth, my skin is tender and sweaty. Salem’s gone mad! All the women be crying witchcraft! But the only one that bewitching is that whore Abigail Williams. Reverend Parris caught her in the forest leading the young ones into the depths of sin, yet I am the one to blame. Its as if I’ve gone crazy myself. They all be believing the devil is loose in Salem. But the Lord may not shine through the unfaithful. She be confessing that my Elizabeth Proctor be practicing witchcraft. I will not believe none of it. She is the biggest sinner in the house of the lord, a liar. How may she call heaven? She may think God sleeps, but God sees everything. God knows a sinner.
What is power to a human? As time has gone by, there have been many forms of control and influence in the world. Many strive to achieve total rule over a society or group of individuals. Yet the question still presents itself to the average man. Why does man desire power so greatly even though there is visible trouble that follows? Shelley’s Frankenstein, Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, whether through the situation or the character themselves, depict the evils and hardships due to an imbalance and poor management of power.
Elizabeth and John start to feel the tension when Elizabeth tries to convince John about going to court and persecuting Abigail but he refuses. When he disputes with his wife he argues, “you will judge me no more Elizabeth I have good reason to charge fraud on Abigail and I will think on it” (193). Proctor is not completely satisfied about throwing Abigail under the bus because he doesn’t want to initially hurt her and he would lose his respect in the town if he did. So he isn’t convinced about the fact that his wife is trying to get him to charge fraud at this point of the play. Soon afterward Mary the proctor’s servant comes home with news that Elizabeth has been convicted of witchcraft as well and was arrested by the sheriff in town to be brought to the trials.
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
The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations. The confession of Proctor would convince others in the town to confess to their
In the play, The Crucible, John Proctor dauntlessly serves as the voice of reason and justice when he is willingly ready to sacrifice his own life in order to save his innocent wife, Elizabeth Proctor, from getting hanged. With all the accusations of witchcraft that Abigail Williams made it caused mayhem in the Puritan town of Salem. Many innocent people had to be tyrannized due to her. With all of the persecution it led up to making its way to John Proctor. He as an innocent man put his life to the most fatal seconds of the entire circumstance. With everything that is happening the debatable question still stands, is John Proctor truly innocent? We presume true that he is an innocent man. Although he put his life on the line he was an ethical
When Proctor is put on trial, Danforth brings in Elizabeth to questions about the affair. Elizabeth must feel her heart racing because his life is in her hands. The words that came out of Elizabeth’s mouth is taken seriously. When Danfourth questions Elizabeth he says “Look at me! To your own knowledge, has John Proctor even committed the crime of lechery?”(Miller 105). Elizabeth answers faintly and says “No, sir”(Miller 105). At that moment, things went terribly wrong. Elizabeth tries to protect Proctor’s name, so she does not tell the truth. Little does she know, Proctor confesses beforehand. Obviously, she does this because no matter what, she still loves him. After the trial, Elizabeth talks to John about the situation. When Elizabeth soothes John about the situation, she says “John, it come to naught that I should forgive you, if you’ll not forgive yourself” (Miller 126). Elizabeth’s forgiveness makes John want to keep lying. If he knows she is okay with it, he will deny it to others. Her opinion is so important to him because he wants the best for her. Although, he decides to confess. This proves Elizabeth does not want him to die. Finally , after everything Proctor has been through, she lies to the court, so they do not hang him. This proves Elizabeth is a loyal
In The Crucible, John Proctor is a good man with a deadly secret. He has a wife, children, and a good name in the Puritan society. However, his lust for Abigail Williams leads to their affair, which could potentially ruin Proctor’s status in Salem if anyone were to find out. Proctor is, above all, a proud man who places great emphasis on his reputation. Proctor regrets his past actions, and dislikes Abigail for continually provoking him to love her. Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, is suspicious of his relations with Abigail, which causes tension in their marriage. His negative feelings toward Abigail grow stronger and stronger as the
Elizabeth Proctor is used in The Crucible to illustrate the powerful strength of what manipulation has over any living mortal. Typically an honest person under their religious faith would believe in telling the truth, but not while having an evil thoughts being whispered in your ear disguised as manipulation. Already knowledgeable of her husband’s previous affair with Abigail Williams, Elizabeth fears of ruining the Proctor name in the town of Salem, Massachusetts due to John’s affair and since John is a high authority figure in the church, it would ruining his name and people would not respect him as a preacher anymore. So in the process of saving the Proctor name, regardless of John admitting the truth by making the court aware of the recent affair he had with Abigail, Elizabeth denies those allegations because she fears that John will be upset to the utmost point, so she sacrifices herself to protect the Proctor name, even though she fears that she hopes that she made the right decision, as shown when she tried to clarify all statements be...
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.
When we are first introduced to John Proctor, we learn of his affair with Abigail Williams, Abigail's involvement in the accusations of witchcraft, and of John's desire to do what is honorable. Because of John's desire to do what is honorable, he ends the affair with Abigail and begins to attempt to repair his broken marriage. Abigail's jealously of Elizabeth and desire to be John's wife leads to Elizabeth's name being mentioned in court. Abigail's mention of Elizabeth's name in court reveals her attempt to get rid of Elizabeth for she knows Elizabeth will claim innocence and be hung if she does. When word reaches the Proctors, about Abigail's mentioning of Elizabeth's name in court, John concludes that Abigail's motive is to kill Elizabeth. Knowing this information, John is faced with his first difficult decision, save his reputation, keep his affair a secret, and let the accusations continue, or ruin his reputation, tell of his affair, and end the girls' accusations. Not wanting to ruin his good name, John decides to hold his tongue and because of this the trials continue and more accusations are made, some of which lead to his wife's and his friends arrest for witchcraft and bewitchment.
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 wishes to forget of his sin, he is ashamed of it, and clearly shows that he does not want to repeat such an incident in the future. He is caged by guilt and the emotional weight of the play rests on Proctor's quest to regain his lost self-image, his lost goodness. He is strongly committed to his wife, Elizabeth, and is determined to avoid any further contact with Abigail. Unfortunately, Abigail cannot simply dissipate the happening so easily.
Out of all the characters in the crucible was great, but in my opinion, Elizabeth is the best character in the cast in the Crucible. She was a faithful wife, a good mother, and strong in her faith/religion. Even though her husband cheated on her she still remained faithful to him. Elizabeth demonstrates a very truthful woman. She’s the wife of John Proctor. Nicknamed Goody Proctor, because she was a good christen woman. Everyone liked her, because she was a woman who never lied. Until, she lied in court one day to save her husband’s life. She acts very frigidly to others. The only person that didn’t like her was Abigail Williams. Abigail wants Elizabeth to die because Abigail wants John Proctor all to her self.