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The Tragedy of John Proctor in The Crucible
External and internal conflicts in the crucible
The Tragedy of John Proctor in The Crucible
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The Crucible
John Proctor is Elizabeth Proctor husband. They live together for more than ten years, but their relationship seems to be awkward. Personally, I would rather think they owe each other than they love each other. John feels ashame to Elizabeth because of Abigail and him has an affair. And John become unhappy every time when Elizabeth talk about Abigail. The mistrust between John and Elizabeth seems to be more and more serious. When the chaos occurs, he hesitates to tell out the truth because he worries that his secret with Abigail will be exposed and his reputation will be ruined. Elizabeth and John proctor’s interaction seems to be weird. “He gets up, goes to her, kisses her. She receives it.” This is just not how a old-couple
interact. Tension in the house raise to its peak.
In The Crucible many people were judged unfairly. It happens to everyone, but in the time of The Crucible people were falsely accused of being a witch, and of doing other crazy things. In Act 2 Elizabeth Proctor was accused by Cheever of stabbing Abigail. Cheever found a poppet with a needle in the stomach at the Proctor house, and it just so happened that Abigail got hurt by a stabbing feeling she felt in her stomach that night. Cheever accused Elizabeth of this even though he has no proof. Elizabeth was judged unfairly which was wrong. No one has a right to judge someone, or jump to conclusion without having proof, or knowing the full story. Elizabeth Proctor was judged Unfairly in Act 2 of The Crucible.
In John Proctor’s sudden confession of committing adultery, Miller used strong ethos and pathos to help further his agenda. He used disinterest, a rhetorical ethos device, to show that he reluctantly confessed for the greater good. By casting away his reputation, he made a personal sacrifice to show that his revelation helped the people of Salem more than it helped him. Throughout the play, Proctor concealed his disloyalty to his wife from the public; however, he finally came to terms with his sin to save Elizabeth and other innocent people from the trials. John used a rhetorical tool called the reluctant conclusion during his confession, which is blatant by the uneasiness/hesitancy he displayed. John Proctor lost his credibility and appeared
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
Elizabeth Proctor is a character from the novel The Crucible. Elizabeth Proctor is an example of a mother figure archetype. The definition of a mother figure is someone who guides and cares for others, and they emotionally, spiritually and physically support their family. Elizabeth Proctor is an example of a mother figure archetype because she is a mother and a wife, who cares for her family. She tries to protect her family at all costs. The main question I will use to research is: why is Elizabeth Proctor considered a mother figure? The reason I chose to research Elizabeth Proctor is because she has a small role in the story but she has a big influence in the plot. Through his play, Arthur Miller shows how
Throughout the story of The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Elizabeth Proctor has changed from a stern woman who wants to get her point across to a caring woman who realizes she was a cold wife and wants to keep her husband and her family away from danger. As the plot of the story becomes more intense, she has to adjust her character to not just save herself from execution, but also her husband.
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.
“ I say- I say- God is dead!” Yells John Proctor as Danforth asks him if he will confess himself to hell. John Proctor lives in Salem, his wife has been accused of witchcraft by Abigail Williams who John Proctor had an affair with. A short while after Elizabeth is accused, John Proctor also gets accused by Mary Warren.
John Proctor is a man with many secrets and fatal flaws. His lust for Abigail Williams led to him having affair, and created Abby’s bitter envy toward his wife Elizabeth Proctor. “Abby I may think of you softly from time to time but I will cut off my hand before I ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched Abby” (Miller 177) John Proctor denied that he had an affair with Abby. Then Abigail utter these words “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge
Elizabeth still doubts her husband because she feels that if it were any other girl that he had to go testify against, he would not hesitate. But, because it’s Abigail, he feels he has to think harder on making a decision. John Proctor 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 accusations.
The primary dramatic focus in the play The Crucible is the moral struggle of its protagonist, John Proctor. Certain characteristics of John Proctor's character and also the environment of the Puritanical Salem alleviated this problem for him. The main issues running through out the play are a series of dilemmas that John Proctor faces. The first and foremost of these is his guilt over his adulterous affair with Abigail Williams, the second his hesitation to testify against Abigail to bring out the truth and the third, his final decision to make the ultimate sacrifice.
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.
John Proctor was a man who had internal conflicts that tested his moral values. In the beginning of the book the fact that he has feelings for a Mrs. Abigail Williams is brought to light when Proctor and his wife, Elizabeth are having a conversation: “
John Proctor comes home from working in his fields to his wife, Elizabeth. They argue about his affair with Abigail.
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.
In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the madness of the Salem witch trials is explored in great detail. Arthur Miller was an American playwright, who was born in 1915. He grew up in a Jewish family in New York City. While attending the University of Michigan in the mid 1930’s, he began to characterize himself as a distinguished writer. His first plays were Honors at Dawn and No Villain. The Death of a Salesman, which he wrote in 1949, won him the Pulitzer Prize for literature.