The Crucible Quotes

“I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!”

(Abigail Williams) (Act I)

Abigail utters these words in a conversation with John. This conversation informs the audience of her affair with John. The audience soon realizes that for John, the affair is an incident from the distant past, that he is not willing to reignite his romance with Abigail. However, Abigail does not feel the same way. She hopes to convince him to rekindle their affair and even makes a sexual advance on him, which John rebukes. As she begs him to come back to her, her anger overflows, and the audience sees the roots of what will become her targeted, destructive romp through Salem. One can also discern her jealousy of Elizabeth Proctor and her belief that John would be hers if she could dispose of Elizabeth.

“I want to open myself! . . . I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!”

(Abigail Williams) (Act I)

These words are from Abigail’s outburst toward the end of Act I. When Tituba confesses to attempting to summon the Devil, Abigail worries that her confession will convince others that she had attempted to cast a spell on the other girls. However, the confession allows her an escape. She confesses to having consorted with the Devil and goes on to subsequently claim that by doing so, she has absolved herself of all sins. She then names other people she suspects of having practiced witchcraft. By doing so, she shifts the burden of shame from herself to others. Seeing Abigail’s success, the other girls follow suit, and with this pattern of hysterical, self-serving accusations, the witch trials get underway.

“You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between. This is a sharp time, now, a precise time—we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. Now, by God’s grace, the shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it.”

(Judge Danforth) (Act III)

“A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. 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. . . .”

(John Proctor) (Act III)

This quotation is taken from Act III, when John finally reveals and confesses to having had an affair with Abigail. Before confessing, John had tried in vain to expose her as a fraud without revealing details of their affair. In John’s words, the witch trials are driven by a “whore’s vengeance”—Abigail’s desire to avenge him for ending their affair. Initially, he hesitates to admit that he is an adulterer because he fears that it would lead to his disgrace. This scene in the Salem courtroom marks the climax of the play in which John’s concern for justice outstrips his concern for his reputation. This re-prioritization of values enables him to do what is necessary. However, much to his horror, he realizes that his actions have come too late: he has failed to expose the witch trials as a sham, and is called a liar and later accused of witchcraft by the court.

“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”

(John Proctor) (Act IV)

John utters the aforementioned lines toward the end of the play when he is unable to decide if he should confess to witchcraft in order to avoid being sentenced to the gallows. The judges and Hale nearly convince him to do so, but he hesitates to give his signature on the confession. This unwillingness partly reflects his refusal to dishonor his fellow prisoners by naming them and converting them into pariahs as well. More importantly, it illustrates his preoccupation with his reputation.

Reputation is of paramount importance in Salem, where public and private morality are the same. Early in the play, John’s desire to preserve his good name keeps him from testifying against Abigail. Now, however, he has come to a true understanding of what a good reputation means and what course of action it might necessitate—namely, that he tell the truth, not lie to save himself. “I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” he rages; this defense of his name enables him to muster the courage to die with his goodness intact.

“We vote by name in this society, not by acreage.”

(John Proctor) (Act I)

“I labor the earth from dawn of day to blink of night, and I tell you true, when I look to heaven and see my money glaring at his elbows—it hurts my prayer, sir, it hurts my prayer. I think, sometimes, the man dreams cathedrals, not clapboard meetin’ houses.”

(John Proctor) (Act II)