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Character analysis of proctor in the crucible
Character of the proctor in the crucible
John proctor of the crucible summary
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In The Crucible Arthur Miller identifies John Proctor as being one of the most important characters in the play. One obvious reason why Proctor would be considered important is that the jealousy that Abigail felt towards Elizabeth would have been nonexistent if it hadn’t been for the affair that John had with Abigail earlier that year. When Proctor says “And why not, if they must hang for denyin‘ it? There are them that will swear to anything before they’ll hang; have you never thought of that?” (Miller, Act One) in response to Hales comment about all the women confessing to witchcraft it helps to show him as a voice of reason during this time of hysteria. Another instance in which Proctor is a key character in the story is during Act Two when
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is set in Salem in a Puritan community. John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend Hale, Reverend Paris, and Abigail are the main characters. The book is about witchcraft or what the town thinks is witchcraft. John Proctor is the tragic hero because he is loving, loyal, authoritative, but his tragic flaw is his temper.
In the Crucible there was three characters that stood out from all the other ones in this wicked story. Abigail Williams was a big influence in this story she would lie and lie to get out of things and she was also the leader of the girls in the woods. Furthermore she also had an affair with John Proctor which made John and Elizabeth relationship unstable. Also John Proctor runs into a situation at the end of the story where he is put in the position if he wants his pride of not signing that paper full of lies or die knowing he did the right thing of not lying. Additionally, Elizabeth Proctor has never lied ever until the day John was being prosecuted for his witchcraft and possibly adultery and Elizabeth lied so that his name wouldn't be ruined.
John Proctor plays the leading role in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. He was persistent, honest, and full of integrity. He was simply, a man with pride. A wise woman once said, "Do what you feel in your heart to be right--for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't." (Eleanor Roosevelt). Proctor was the protagonist of the dramatic piece of literature.
In Act Ⅱ Scene 2 of The Crucible, a 1953 play by the Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams, the antagonist, meets John Proctor, the protagonist, in the forest at night, where John asks Abigail to free his wife in court the next day, or otherwise he will expose their affair in public to ruin her. This fast-paced short scene portrays Abigail as pious and possessed, which contradicts the impression given by previous scenes. Most importantly, the scene reveals the crucial plan of Proctor which he is planning to use to take down Abigail. By excluding the scene, Miller eliminates the unfavourable danger of jeopardizing the credibility of the characters due to the inconsistency of descriptions, heightens the dramatic effect when Proctor confesses in Act Ⅲ, and prevents the readers from being misled by the affection Abigail has displayed in the scene.
In this act he finds the goodness in himself to take responsibility for something he did not do just to make up for his sins. He says to Elizabeth, “Spite only gives me silent. It is hard to give a lie to dogs…” (4.136) He wants to confess, but he has to find the courage in him to confess it. He has to swallow his pride in order to confess of something he did not do. After he finds the courage to confess, Danforth makes him sign a confession statement, but he cannot. In support of this Proctor says, “I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are! It is enough!” (4.142) Proctor has already confessed and he feels as if that is already enough, but he has to sign the confession or he will be hung. He finds the courage to sign it but then rips it apart before it is hung upon the church, and he could not build up the courage to re-write it. This leads him to being executed. Henry Popkin once again helps support my sources by stating, “The real, the ultimate victim in this play is John Proctor, the one independent man, the one skeptic who sees through the witchcraft "craze" from the first…This is a climactic moment, a turning point in the play. New witches may continue to be named, but The Crucible now narrows its focus to John Proctor, caught in the trap, destroyed by his effort to save his wife, threatened by the irrationality that only he has comprehended.” (143) Abigail’s idea did not go as planned because Proctor rebelled against her. Therefore Proctor was accused and died because he was not going to let Abigail ruin the pureness of his
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.
John Proctor and I “God is Dead!” This quote was said by John Proctor a character in The Crucible. John Proctor makes this statement to Gov. Danforth because John didn’t want his name nailed to the church. John Proctor was accused of witchcraft and is also an outcast that had a sinful affair with Abigail Williams.
John Proctor is an honest, though harsh, man who is clearly the protagonist of The Crucible. Before the beginning of the play, John had an affair with Abigail Williams, a girl who worked in his household, which was abruptly ended when Elizabeth Proctor, John's wife, fired her. This event causes Abigail to desire revenge against Elizabeth while she still pines for John. Once the trials are well underway, Abigail accuses Elizabeth of being a witch, which leads to her arrest. John goes to the court in defense of his wife, where he reveals that he did indeed committed adultery with Abigail in an attempt to expose her as a fraud and a liar. Unfortunately, John's appeal falls on deaf ears and he is arrested as well. While his wife manages to get a temporary stay of execution, due to the fact that she is pregnant at the time of the trials, which in the end saves her by insuring her life until the chaos, hysteria, and persecution comes to an end, John is sentenced to death. The play ends with his hanging, but his death puts an end to the trials.
still lusts after her - when she asks if he looked up at her window
The only thing John Proctor wants to be is an honorable man in the eyes of Puritan society. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible John Proctor repeatedly tries to do good for other people. John’s motivation motivation to retain his honor is seen throughout his actions. Since John Proctor is motivated by his honor, his decision to admit he committed adultery creates doubt in the guilt of the accused.
Pride has kept John Proctor from coming forward with the truth, as adultery is a sin. Social status is everything in the town of Salem and if John came forward with the truth, his status would be ruined During his questioning in court, John Proctor, fed up with Abigail 's lies, admits to the affair in front of the entire town. He has come clean, but at what cost? When Elizabeth enters and is questioned, not allowed to look at her husband, she denies the allegations of the affair for him, which ends up condemning them both. “Proctor: … She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance, and you must see it; I set myself entirely in your hands. I know you must see it now” (220-221). The above quote is an excerpt from The Crucible that shows John Proctor has finally cast aside his want for social status and has chosen honesty to save his wife. The reason this scene is so crucial is because it changes the course of events that would have followed if John Proctor had kept quiet about the affair. Elizabeth also played a key factor in the event, since she lied about the affair for him, mistakenly condemning both her and him from what would follow. If John and Elizabeth both admitted to the affair, they could of
“Difficult times show true colors, hard times reveal true friends, and the good will be blessed through the pain.” This quote from an anonymous speaker holds truth for any human. Readers of The Crucible do not have to wonder how the majority of the main characters behave or how they treat others.. However, Elizabeth Proctor is the one character that Arthur Miller does not inform readers about. They are solely given the knowledge of Abigail’s dismissal from being the Proctor’s servant and her husband, John’s, affair. Unlike all the other characters in Miller’s drama, we know not whether she is an angry, vengeful woman or a reserved pacifist. However, by the time the reader finishes the story, they know her to be a woman of integrity who is capable of loving beyond anything. She puts the desires of those whom she loves above her own personal wants for them.
He was also viewed as a superior leader along with his goodness of moral character. These are two of the traits that represent Proctor as a tragic hero in The Crucible. In act two John Proctor shows his goodness of a character by protecting his wife and fighting against her accusation of witchcraft. He even goes as far as ruining his reputation and admitting to the court of his affair with Abigail Williams. By doing this Proctor is risking the possibility to hang. Throughout act one of the play the readers are given the initiative that John Proctor still has lust feelings towards Abigail Williams every time they encounter each other. He shows goodness and loyalty to his wife by confronting Abigail Williams and proclaims that he no longer feels the way he had for her. In act two John Proctor asks Abigail Williams to admit to the court that she and the other girls are faking. John is expressing his goodness to prevent his wife from hanging. John Proctor is a well respected farmer in Salem, and attends church almost regularly. He holds a superior name in Salem, and with if the affair with Abigail Williams were to be known he would lose his reputation and possibly his life. The town would have never have accused John or Goody Proctor of witchery. The Proctors were considered privileged in Salem, they owned and farmed many acres of land. Also the Proctor’s crops were well which gave him superiority
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor plays a very significant and crucial role in many ways. John, being a man 33 years old, was a farmer who had married to Elizabeth and after their third baby, had an affair with Abigail after she was hired as a housemaid. Throughout the story, John showed dramatic emotional and personal courage, uses irony, imagery, foreshadowing and symbolism to show his sins, guilt, confrontation, love and adherence. Proctor shows hatred for hypocrites, especially Reverend Parris, and after committing adultery; he becomes one of his own. Proctor shows a desperate need and want for forgiveness throughout The Crucible and in all reality; John needs to forgive himself just as Abigail says in the book. As well as
In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller goes into detail about the historical event, the Salem witchcraft trials which took place in Massachusetts in 1692. The drama centers on John and Elizabeth Proctor and a young girl Abigail Williams, whom John Proctor has committed adultery with. In order to get rid of Elizabeth so that Abigail can have John to herself Abigail accuses John’s wife of witchcraft, a crime that was highly frowned upon. John proctor goes through a series of changes from being a horrible person who cheated on his wife to a tragic hero who will give up his life to say his wife. John proctor is viewed as many things in this play but at the end he come out an honest and noble man.