A Character Analysis of John Proctor In order to maintain one’s dignity, one must assume the responsibility for one’s actions whatever the outcome. In Arthur Miller’s play “ The Crucible,” John Proctor is a flawed character at the beginning of the play, but by the end he redeems himself and pays the ultimate price because he chooses to act by striving to uphold justice for his wife, his friends and himself. The righteous nature of John Proctor to always seek the truth and denounce those who abuse their given powers is evident as he exposes the corruption that existed in Salem. Proctor exposes that the girls were only acting as if they were possessed by the devil and witchcraft. Unlike many within Salem, Proctor does not see the value of …show more content…
His affair with Abigail is the only major flaw attributing to his own righteous character. Abigail Williams is intent on destroying Elizabeth Proctor and accuses her of witchcraft. As a result of his foolish actions, Proctor’s affair drove Abigail to plot to get Proctor’s wife Elizabeth out of the picture so that she could take her place. She was intelligent enough to realize that if she accused the wife of a well-respected man of the village of conspiring with the devil, no one would believe and she would be thrown in jail for lying to the court. It was as if Abigail decided that if she filled the jails with people who were not as respected, no one would notice one more person passing through the courts. Abigail was driven by the hope that she and Proctor had this affair, that he made a sort of a promise to her. She thought that if Proctor did not have Elizabeth he would then love her instead, but John Proctor was intent on protecting his wife’s name no matter what the cost. He finally decides to speak the truth to the court of his affair in order to save Elizabeth.” I have known her, sir. I have known her. In the proper place where my beast are bedded. On the last night of my joy, some eight months past”. She used to serve me in my house, sir. I have made a bell of my honor! I have rung the doom of my good name. You believe me, Mr. Danforth! My wife is innocent, except she knew a whore when she
John proctor was a successful farmer who lived outside of town, Married to his wife Elizabeth Proctor. John Proctor was called over to the home of reverend parris to help determine if Abigail ,who is the niece of reverend parris, Is In fact a witch. John proctor then realizes that the rumors are true of the witchcraft talk that his has heard around town. John proctor knows the truth about Abigail but does not tell. Why? John Proctor committed MAL behavior with Abigail, He had an affair with a 17 year old girl while married to his wife Elizabeth. He knows that if he tells the truth about Abigail being a witch that the truth will come out about him and his affair, so he tells lies to keep
John Proctor takes pride in being a good, upstanding, and moral male figure in his community. Proctor is considered an honorable and a
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, it is evident that John Proctor is the tragic hero. Concluding through evidence in the play, it is fairly simple to connect him with separate parts of the definition. He makes his share of mistakes, just as many human beings do. John Proctor is fundamentally a good man, with respectable
In order for John to save his wife and friends from execution, he has to find a way to discredit Abigail. John decides to admit his affair with Abigail, even though it would ruin his name and the way people see him. But once they bring in Elizabeth to see if this was true, everything backfired and Elizabeth lied to the court about John and Abigail. In the book Elizabeth says “My husband-is a goodly man, sir” (Miller 194). That’s when John realized that Elizabeth was going to lie. Proctor replies to Elizabeth,”Elizabeth, tell the truth!...I have confessed it!” (Miller 195). Elizabeth responds while being taken away “Oh, God!” (Miller 195). John Proctor's motivations directly impacted his
Within the community of Salem, John Proctor is a well known member of the community who has a reputation of always doing what’s right. When he is confronted by Abigail about their affair, she insults his wife, Elizabeth, by calling her “a cold, sniveling woman…”(I.202-205). He does what is right by defending his wife’s honor by snapping back, “You’ll speak nothin’ of Elizabeth!” (I.197-198). Even
Many people think that John Proctor was a shame of a husband because of the affair he had with Abigail Williams. I agree, his decision to have an affair with Abigail was a despicable thing to do, especially for his wife Elizabeth. John
John Proctor is portrayed throughout the play to be a man who has high moral values that he must abide by. He
As Arthur Miller states “the commonest of men may take on that [tragic] stature to the extent of his willingness to throw all he has into the contest, the battle to secure his rightful place in the world.”(Source B) It is John’s courage that inspires us to fight the battle for our own beliefs even though the fear of losing is, among us, what makes us human. John Proctor, the protagonist and tragic hero of Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible” succumbs to his own flaws and yet earns the respect of the
After having an affair with John Proctor, she couldn’t accept not being without him. Abigail also admires “how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife” like Elizabeth be unaware of the affair she had with John Proctor(act1pg#). As a result to the affair, Proctor is trying to rebuild his marriage with his wife. Abigail continues to intervene in John Proctors marriage and attempts to manipulate Proctor so he would confess his love for her. Proctor admits his love for her, but does not continue his affection because Abigail seeps of vengeance for other individuals. He portrays her “as a lump of vanity” who thinks to dance on his “wife’s grave!”(act 3). For her own selfish desires, Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft and tries to intentionally sabotage her. She does this for the purpose of her own selfish and fictitious relationship that she has with Proctor. Abigail believes she has the capability to influence Proctor, but her egoistic actions to win his undefining love makes her appear as the criminal in the
Proctor is also portrayed as a character of honesty in various scenes. John Proctor, though a man of guilt, is an intelligent man who sees the wrongdoings of others and can speak the truth about what is morally correct in life. When questioned by Danforth if he is a lecher (a man of excessive desire), Proctor responds, “A man will not cast away his good name. You surely know that.” It was also in this scene that Proctor confessed of his affair with Abigail. Though it was hard for Proctor to reveal his adulterous past, he spoke the truth (not only about Abigail, but about not “casting away his good name”) in order to save his wife and stop the strenuous court proceedings. Proctor’s honesty prevails throughout the play when he he comments on the tense situation in Salem at the time: “Peace, it is a providence, and no greater change; we are only what we always were, but naked now. Aye, naked! And the wind, God's icy wind, will blow!" By this statement, he means to tell the townspeople that they no longer have “protection” from God’s wrath because anyone could accuse anyone in the crooked justice system of Salem. It can now only come down to God to judge who’s right and who’s wrong. John Proctor is
He does this with the intention of exposing Abigail’s spiteful character and her main desire to replace his wife. John Proctor says “I beg you sir, I beg you -see her what she is…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” (110) John Proctor exposes not only Abigail’s sins, but also the fact that he was infatuated with Abigail. He knows that by doing this he would dishonor his name, but he deems it as the only solution because people were falling into Abigail’s manipulation., John Proctor also fights for everyone not just his wife. John Proctor continues his attempt to voice out the truth even though his wife was exempted from being punished because she was pregnant. He defends other people because he knows their innocence. “The people signing it declare their good opinion of Rebecca, and my wife and Martha Corey...these are all landholding farmers, members of the church, sir- they’ve known the women many years and never saw no sign they had dealing with the Devil” (93) John Proctor protects everyone’s names because he recognizes that they have no reason to be jailed, thus showing his kindness and consideration.
John Proctor is a very friendly man. Everyone likes being his friend. He is open, kind, helpful, upright, blunt-spoken, and just a good, hard-working man. John has lots of faith in God but little in humans. He knows that mankind is good but he also knows that they are weak and imperfect. “Proctor: I’ve heard you to be a sensible man, Mr. Hale. I hope you’ll leave some of it in Salem”.
Arthur Miller has created John Proctor the protagonist of The Crucible to be a 30 year old farmer in Salem, Massachusetts, powerful of body, even-tempered and not easily led. John speaks his mind when he recognizes injustice. He is highly respected, even feared, by some in Salem. His name is synonymous with honour and integrity. He takes pleasure in exposing hypocrisy and is respected for it. However John is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time but against his own vision of decent conduct, he has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud. After admitting to lechery, John is accused of witchcraft, on this charge he is condemned.
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, various characters, whether it is from physical trials or unseen personal struggles, experience some kind of major conflict. There are those who spend every day in fear, wondering whether or not they will be falsely accused of witchcraft. There are others who struggle with more internal trials, such as forgiving those who have hurt them. The protagonist, John Proctor, was a man of strong moral constitution, and held himself to a high standard for the sake of his good name and family. As a result of this, he struggled with a major internal conflict throughout the play.
Despite his being an insignificant and non-status-holding member of society, John Proctor is a much-respected man in Salem. However, in determining his fate, he continues to make several critical and irreversible mistakes that harm his reputation. For fear of being exiled in a town where reputation plays such a large role in their daily lives, Proctor initially tries to hide his crime of adultery, but his affair with Abigail triggers a major series of events in Salem, where simple, unproven accusations escalate to a far larger issue: “Abby—you mean to cry out still others?” “If I live, if I am not murdered, I surely will, until the last hypocrite is dead” (Miller 150). In the end, Proctor decides that for the sake of his desperate circumstances, it would be better to admit to his affair, but by the time he decides to reveal his crime, it is too late to reverse all past actions. He is convicted of witchcraft and doomed to be hanged, later, when given a chance to live, he caves in and confesses to seeing the Devil, only to go back even on this last lie, because he does not have the heart to be freed and saved by a lie.