The Salem witch trials were an event that made people act in new ways and realize new things about themselves, as we can see through John Proctor, who went from hating his actions to changing for the good, Elizabeth Proctor, who was mad at John for adultery but forgave him in the end, and with Reverend Hale, who went from accusing the good people of the town to fighting for the good.
John Proctor acts as a strong man with good morals. At the beginning of the book John closes himself off and lies to Elizabeth about Abigail. After John cheats on his wife with Abigail Williams, the leader of the “so-called” Salem witches, his morals are tested. John would get mad at Elizabeth not forgiving him shown in this quote, “Spare me! You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’. Learn charity woman. I have gone tiptoe in this house all seven month since she is gone. I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you, and still an everlasting funeral marches around your heart.”(54) John is mad at himself for
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“John you are not open with me. You saw her with a crowd, you said now you”(55), says Elizabeth. Elizabeth struggles to be forgive John when he is alone with Abigail in town even though he has no feelings for Abigail. Elizabeth is reluctant to forgive John because he never told her he was alone with Abigail. Then when the trials began Elizabeth starts forgiving him when he is trying to save her from Abigail and the witches. “Do what you will. But let none be your judge. There be no higher judge under Heaven then Proctor is!”(137), Elizabeth wants John to make his own decision. The final conversation between John and Elizabeth shows that she cared for him the whole time. Elizabeth just had a hard time getting over John cheating on her. When John sacrifices his life to save the Proctor family name Elizabeth finally fully forgives John and sees the good inside of
She had forgiven him for cheating on her and was willing to work things out. John believes he had already ruined his soul by cheating on her, so he thinks it would be wrong for him to lie and try and save his own life. He didn’t have a soul worth saving anymore. Elizabeth understood his decision, but she was devastated. Elizebeth also states, “there will be no higher judge in Heaven than Proctor is”.
Elizabeth Proctor has yet to trust her husband, John, because of the sinful actions he has done with Abigail. “Adultery, John”, Reverend Hale comes into the Proctor home and asks Elizabeth and John the ten commandments. John fails to remember thou shalt not commit adultery, which Elizabeth calls him out on (67). Elizabeth is still not completely trusting of her husband, she has the right to be considering he slept with Abigail. Elizabeth continuously struggles with her husband going anywhere outside their farm because she never knows what he could be doing. “Spoke or silent, a promise is surely made. And she may now dote it on now- I am sure she does- and thinks to kill me, then to take my place.” (61). The ‘promise’ Elizabeth keeps talking
Throughout The Crucible we learn many things about John Proctor. Despite learning about the sins he has committed with Abigail the reader’s tend to agree with his character and support him. John Proctor has committed very intense sins and is clearly not free of guilt which is why his decision to hang instead of falsely confess was noble.
When Elizabeth begins to show her suspicion towards John and Abigail’s relationship, John retorts pleading, ”Spare me! You forget nothing! ... I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you … I cannot speak but I am doubted every moment judged for lies”(54-55). Before committing adultery with Abigail, John was an extremely respected man and had much self- respect. Consequently, after the occurrence the sin began to hang over his head, causing him to lose his self-respect. He also began to be immersed in his own guilt, and struggles to get his self-respect back. When Elizabeth tries to make John believe that she is to blame for him cheating, she pleads, “You take my sins upon you, John”(137). John responds in agony, “No, I take my own, my own!”(137). John refuses to let Elizabeth take the blame for his mistake that he constantly agonizes over. He truly believes that he did a horrible sin and he is the only one to blame. After giving his life for his sin, Proctor is finally able to forgive himself and leave the earth as a good
The characters in the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, have a ton of pride. They are all known as great residents, for some reason, and they all might want to keep their great name. John Proctor might want to be known as the man who sticks up for the little individual and dependably makes the best decision. Reverend Parris is known for being the churchly assume that lives by the book of scriptures and its lessons. Judge Danforth needs to be known as an enduring judge who dependably settles on the right choices. At the point when put in an intense circumstance managing last chance, these characters keep their notorieties instead of make the best decision or sparing their lives. The significance of having a decent name is an extremely unmistakable
He is attempting to demonstrate that he committed an error and it was just a discussion. However, Elizabeth is irate. She is astounded that she did not know about Proctor being with Abigail up until this point and is hurt since Proctor did such to her in the first place. Adultery is an extremely profound wrongdoing, and it impacts the court heavily as a piece of Proctor’s case. Before John confessed about having an affair with Abigail, he was respected heavily in Salem. Now, Elizabeth is scrutinizing Proctor's morality in light of the lies that he has advised her. In this manner, Elizabeth after seeing Proctor, says to him “John, you are not open with me. You saw her with a crowd, you said.”(Miller 55). This quote demonstrates that John, throughout the play, has been changing the stories he has been telling Elizabeth. Elizabeth and the girls decide not to deem John’s stories accurate, as they believe he is a dishonest man that does not stick to his words. Elizabeth also feels as if John may be keeping information confidential from her and is not giving her enough attention as his wife, even though John was confessing to let Elizabeth know of his secret affair with
One way John suffered harsh consequences was by suffering with his dignity and could not figure out how he was feeling about himself. “Proctor: angered at himself as well, You'll speak nothing of Elizabeth!” (202-205). In the beginning of the novel, he suffered with adultery with Abigail Williams. She held that against John throughout the novel. Abigail never let him forget the fact that he had touched her inappropriately. Abigail was the main girl in the witchcraft and dragged all the other girls in
Elizabeth Proctor might be portrayed as only inverse of Abigail. A dependable wife of John Proctor, Elizabeth demonstrated to her group proper methodologies to be more than an observer in life. John thought of her the sweetest, most sure, and legit lady he has ever met. The point when deciding his hanging, John offered Elizabeth to discuss an occurrence that as of late happened on the grounds that he knew she might tell the complete truth, regardless of the possibility that his life was at stake. He said to the judges "Throughout her life sir, she will never lie" (Miller, Act 3). Despite the fact that Proctor submitted infidelity, Elizabeth chipped away at pardoning him due to her kind and religious heart. She never surrendered attempting to get John to concentrate on her again. For instance, she says "You'll tear it free- when you come to realize that I will be your just wife, or no wife whatsoever. She has a shaft in you yet, John Proctor, and you know it well!" (Miller, Act 2).
However, John just becomes angered when Elizabeth does not want to forgive him for his betrayal. This makes his feeling of guilt worse, and forgiving himself harder. “I see what I see John...Spare me you forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’...I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you and still an everlasting funeral marches around your heart, every moment judged for lies.” (55) Proctor becomes desperate for Elizabeth’s forgiveness but her distant behavior makes his feeling of guilt worse, and forgiving himself harder. Elizabeth’s heartbreak causes her to think that John and Abigail are not over yet, and is stumped on the thought of whether or not to forgive him. John’s goal of making amends with Elizabeth were not going as planned. He didn’t really care for Elizabeth’s thoughts he just was in need of her forgiveness and his goodness back. This specific piece of textual evidence proves the claim because Elizabeth was telling John that she sees the way Abigail looks at John. However, John becomes determined to prove to Elizabeth that the what happened is over, but she does not believe this. John tries to be a good husband by telling her that all he tries to do is please her and make her happy. The piece of textual evidence shows that John states that whatever he does there is still heartbreak and sadness around Elizabeth’s heart. She still believes that there is more that John has not said that has happened before him and
In act II John Proctor is told by Mary that Elizabeth was accused and the court has come to her to take her to jail. John shows a lot of tension with Elizabeth in the beginning of act II. “I am wondering how I may prove what she had told Me.” said John, “You were alone with her?” retaliated Elizabeth. (1116) Elizabeth suspected John of adultery and is still worried about it. John is worried if he calls out Abby then their secret of Adultery will be out. “Spare me! You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’. Learn charity, women…” (1116) In this quote it shows what John thinks about his wife after 8 months of not having Abby in their house. John’s attempts to save Salem has failed and he and his wife are sent to
In Act 3 you see that he is doing his best to fulfill his promise to
It was a moot point though, because Elizabeth did the same thing for him, damning him to be tried for taking part in black magic. Only in the end did John Proctor feel any forgiveness towards himself. In his mind, he deserved the punishment he was going to endure and wasn’t going condemn anyone else in the process. All in all, John was a noble man but, warped by temptation, was made a man of slander.
The character is John Proctor, John is a local farmer who lives just outside of the village. In the begin John confronts Abigail about the situation between all the witchcraft talk in Salem. Abigail had mentions about how John was having an affair on his wife Elizabeth Proctor with Abigail. As a man John is he declines everything Abigail had said. On page 32 Proctor and Abigail are having a conversion and this is when brings up when her and John had touched and h had replied by saying” Aye, we did not.” Later on in the play in Act 4 Elizabeth is being asked questions about John in the court. They had asked her that if John had ever been dishonest or lost interest in her whatsoever. Therefore Elizabeth had answered the question and she hdad said “My husband-is a goodly man, sir.” on page 87 in act 3. Furthermore, when the conversation was over John had told Elizabeth when they were taking her away that he had confessed and it is okay to talk about his sins and how he had turn on Elizabeth. Which really shows how John really had enough time to change and point out his bad actions. Some might argue about how he did not really changed that much, as well as he had to confess to protect Elizabeth. But John did not ever fixs her actions before hand so he really did change or switch throughout the
Elizabeth still questions John’s loyalty throughout the play. Elizabeth comes off as an outspoken women and that isn’t really supported in the Puritan society. When convicted of witchcraft she doesn’t fight with the men because she knows she hasn’t done anything wrong. Even though she tries to do what she thinks is the best for John, she ends up saying the wrong thing and Abigail isn’t punished. Elizabeth ends up being pregnant and the trials end before she has her baby so she survives.
In the beginning of the play, John and Elizabeth’s relationship was awkward and strange. A quote from the story “Spare me! You forget within and forgive nothin” (Miller 54) which means, John Proctor to Elizabeth is explaining how she doesn’t forgive him, but in reality he doesn’t forgive himself. This quote shows his true guilt and how he hasn’t forgiven himself. Another quote that he says “You were alone with her” (Miller 53) means the lack of trust in the Proctor marriage after John’s affair with Abigail. John is upset that Elizabeth won’t forgive him and move on past the affair and Elizabeth is upset and suspicious of the fact that John was alone with Abigail. The suspicions between John and Elizabeth’s relationship, weaken and drives them apart.