Proctor's Character Traits In The Crucible

Proctor is a good man, full of integrity. At the end of the novel, he has a choice: falsely confess about practicing witchcraft or be hanged. He doesn’t want to die so he agrees to confess, but he has a hard time signing the document. Once he does, “His breast heaving, his eyes staring, Proctor tears the paper and crumples it, and he is weeping in fury, but erect,” (144). He rather die than live a lie, which shows his righteousness.
John is unfaithful; he has an affair with Abigail while he is married to Elizabeth. He’s guilty about the affair, so he tries to ignore it, but Abby won’t let him. He tells her, ““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. We never touched, Abby”” (23). He knows he’s a horrible sinner, but he’s trying to escape his sin by pretending it never

happened. He committed an awful crime of adultery, and he’s not owning up to it, depicting him as a treacherous man.
He is hardworking. His wife tells Judge Danforth. ““My husband is a good and righteous man. He's never drunk, as some are, nor wasting his time at the shovelboard, but always at his work”” (113). He's a farmer like most men in Salem, and it seems as if he never stops working. He even works on the forbidden Sabbath day. Although he has some flaws, he works efficiently to provide for him and his wife.
Relationships:
had an affair with Abigail
married to Elizabeth
doesn’t like Parris
Mary Warren was his servant
land dispute with Putman

Abigail Williams
Character Traits:
Abigail is devious and sly when trying to hide what she’s done. After she is confronted, she turns to all the other girls involved and tells them, ““And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you”” (20). She is threatening them because she doesn’t to be exposed anymore. Abigail does everything in her power to hide her actions, including manipulating and lying to people.
She is smart. When Tituba confesses to practicing witchcraft, Abigail realizes that the men treat her different and it gives her the opportunity to accuse other people. Shortly after she exclaims, “”I danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand,”” and she starts naming more women (48). People were hanged if they didn’t confess to being a witch, so Abigail follows Tituba by saying she saw the Devil, but now she loves God. She knows that once she confesses she can start to accuse other women to take the blame away from her.
Abigail is jealous; she had an affair with John Proctor, who is married, and now she doesn’t want to let him go. She tries to mess with John’s head by saying many things about his wife, ““She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her! Let her turn you like a—”” (24). She loves John, but she cannot have him. She is jealous of Elizabeth because she is married to him.
Relationships:
had an affair with John
Rev. Samuel’s niece
Betty’s cousin
conflict with Elizabeth

Rev. Samuel Parris
Character Traits:
Parris is concerned with his public image; when he is speaking to Abigail he seems very worried about how the town views him. He says, ““But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it”” (11). He doesn’t want Abigail’s actions to reflect him negatively. This shows that he fears things will damage his reputation.
Parris is greedy; he complains about his pay as a minister, ““You will look far for a man of my kind at sixty pound a year! I am not used to this poverty; I left a thrifty business in the Barbados to serve the Lord… why am I persecuted here?” (30). It makes it seem like he left Barbados just to become a preacher for the money, and that he expects more pay from them. He tells them he’s not used to being this poor, as if he expects them to raise his pay. He is an avaricious man who only cares about money.
Relationships:
Abigail’s uncle
Betty’s father
conflict with Proctor

Elizabeth Proctor
Character Traits:
Elizabeth Proctor is a moral and good wife. She is very religious, like most Puritans, and she is very strict when it comes to acting right and proper. She tells Hale, ““I cannot think the Devil may own a woman's soul, Mr. Hale, when she keeps an upright way, as I have. I am a good woman, I know it; and if you believe I may do only good work in the world, and yet be secretly bound to Satan, then I must tell you, sir, I do not believe it”” (act 2). She cannot believe that someone would accuse her of witchcraft when she has been anything but malevolent.
Elizabeth is a very cautious woman, and she’s not dumb enough to trust John. He tells her he hasn’t committed adultery, but she doesn’t believe him; “She [had] suddenly lost all faith in him.” (54). His mistakes have caused her to become a stronger woman and not fall for anymore tricks. She is vigilant towards people, especially John.
Relationships:
married to John
conflict with Abigail
Mary Warren is her current servant

Rev.

John Hale
Character Traits:
Reverend Hale is very intelligent. “Mr. Hale is nearing forty, a tight-skinned, eager-eyed intel-lectual… He feels himself allied with the best minds of Europe - kings, philosophers, scientists, and ecclesiasts of all churches.” (32, 36). Many people in the neighborhood know he is bright, and he considers himself to be as well. He believes he fits in with the most clever men of Europe.
He is determined to convict people of witchcraft, and he is also sly while doing so. He went to the Proctors’ house to learn more information about them that he could use against them. He begins to question them, “With the voice of one ad-ministering a secret test, “Do you know your Commandments, Elizabeth?”” (66). She replies positively, but when he asked John to name them, he forgot one: adultery. He asked it as if he was testing him, and this shows how smooth he was when gathering information from others.
Relationships:
no current relationships with people of the town because he’s an an outsider

Giles Corey
Character

Traits:
Giles is dumb; he’s the reason his wife was accused of being a witch. He speaks to Hale, and he mentions his wife has strange books. When in reality, he thinks all books are strange. He tells Hale, ““ I’’m not sayin’’ she’’s touched the Devil, now, but I’’d admire to know what books she reads and why she hides them. ' She’’ll not answer me, y’’ see”” (41). He makes her seem very suspicious and secretive, which leads to her being accused of witchcraft.
He is guilty for getting his wife accused of witchcraft. ““I will not give you no name, I mentioned my wife’’s name once and I’’ll burn in hell long enough for that. I stand mute.”” He cannot bear being blamed for jailing another person.
Relationships:
Martha’s husband

Thomas Putnam
Character Traits:
Thomas Putnam is a bitter man. Although he is wealthy, he is obviously never content. It’s mentioned that “He was a man with many grievances” (14). He was corrupt; he tried to break his father’s will in order to receive more than his stepbrother, but he failed. He and his daughter accused many innocent people of witchcraft; this shows that he is a ruthless man.
Mr. Putnam is arrogant. “He regarded himself as the intellectual superior of most of the people around him” (14). He doesn’t usually put other people before himself because he feels that he is better than them. He came from a rich family, so this could explain why he was such a snob.
Relationships:
Ann’s husband
Ruth’s father
land dispute with Proctor

Rebecca Nurse
Character Traits:
Rebecca Nurse was a well respected woman. When everyone was hysterical about the sudden outburst of witchcraft, many women were accused; “as for Rebecca herself, the general opinion of her character was so high that to explain how anyone dared cry her out for a witch - and more, how adults could bring them-selves to lay hands on her - we must look to the fields and boundaries of that time.” (26). Rebecca was an honorable person, so it was crazy to think she would be accused, but many women were falsely thrown under the bus in The Crucible. When she was put in jail, it was shocking, because she was admired by many.
She is a nurturing woman. She comforts and takes care of many people in Act 1. “Rebecca walks across the room to the bed. Gentleness exudes from her. Betty is quietly whimpering, eyes shut, Rebecca simply stands over the child, who gradually quiets” (25). Betty’s stirs calm down just by Rebecca’s presence. She is a gentle old woman who shows a lot of compassion.
Relationships:
Francis Nurse’s wife

Mary Warren
Character Traits:
Mary is an anxious character. She was one of the girls caught in the woods, suspected of witchcraft, but she just watched them. She tells Abby that she’s going to get in a lot trouble if she doesn’t confess soon, and Abby stresses that they were both involved. Mary tells her, ““I never done none of it, Abby. I only looked!”” (19). She was probably too fearful to join in. Her lack of participation makes her seem afraid and like a cautious person.
Mary Warren is sweet. When she becomes the new servant for the Proctors, she starts to feel bad for Elizabeth when Abigail mentions her name in court. “As though to compensate, Mary Warren goes to Elizabeth with a small rag doll [and tells her,] “I made a gift for you today, Goody Proctor… We must all love each other now, Goody Proctor”” (56). She makes her a poppet, showing she is a compassionate girl that just wants peace. When Abigail uses the poppet to her advantage in court, Mary and John go to defend Elizabeth, Even though Mary’s poppet backfired on Elizabeth, her thoughtful actions depict her as a considerate girl.

Relationships:
apart of the witchcraft in the woods (spectator)
Proctors’ servant

Betty Parris
Character Traits:
Betty Parris is childish. Rebecca Nurse senses this in children and tells everyone, ““I have eleven children and I am twenty-six times a grandma, and I have seen them all through their silly seasons, and when it come on them they will run the Devil bowlegged keeping up with their mischief. I think she’ll wake when she tires of it”” (27). She knows Betty’s “sickness” is pretend and it’ll be over soon.
Betty is delusional. She’s in a coma for the beginning of the play, but when she wakes, she says she wants her mama, whom is dead. She then declares, ““I’’ll fly to Mama. Let me fly!” She raises her arms as though to fly, and streaks for the window, gets one leg out” (19). It seems as if she has gone mad because of participating in the traumatizing practice of witchcraft.
Relationships:
Rev. Samuel’s daughter
Abigail’s Cousin