The Crucible Literary Analysis “The knowledge of sin is the beginning of salvation” quote by, Epicurus. A tragedy play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller is set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 during the Witch Trials. The protagonist, John Proctor, is a tormented individual who has a hard time forgiving himself due to his sin of committing adultery. John Proctor develops throughout the play, at first he is seen as a fearful man then he becomes courageous and lastly he shows his brave side. At the beginning of the play, John only cares about his personal issues and he is afraid of getting involved. John’s fear reveals the theme of, when one conceals one's sins, one leaves one's self vulnerable to one's enemies. When …show more content…
I’ll not give my wife to vengeance” (Miller 77). John means that Abigail is doing this so she could take his wife's place but he cannot tell this to anyone because his sin of lechery would be exposed. Abigail knows that John cannot fight for his wife because he would have to admit to lechery. So Abigail is taking advantage of their sin and using it against Elizabeth because Elizabeth is trying to ruin Abigail's reputation in the town. This situation leaves Proctor feeling vulnerable because in order to save Elizabeth he would have to admit to his sin. In the end of act two, Proctor tells Mary that she will testify with him in the court, however, Mary warns him, “She’ll kill me for saying that Abigail’ll charge lechery on you, Mr. Proctor” (Miller 80). Even Mary knows that Abigail will tell on Proctor if he tries to save his wife. Abigail is holding something huge on John and he knows it, that's why he never tried to get involved. Abigail knows that John is vulnerable, so she is using his fear against him and wants to kill Elizabeth and marry him. If John was brave and admitted to his lechery before, then none of this would have happened which shows his …show more content…
John’s bravery reveals the theme of, it is better to sacrifice one's life than one's principle. When Proctor confesses, he refuses to sign the paper, “I have three children- how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends” (Miller 143). This shows that Proctor does not want his dishonorable behavior to affect his children and he would rather die. If he will sign the confessions then he is basically giving the court the right to hang all the innocent lives. He cannot bear the knowledge that his signature will be used to condemn other innocent lives. Proctor’s bravery prevented him from selling his friends and he disagrees to sign the confession since that will not only ruin his reputation, but his kids reputation as well. At the end, he finds his goodness: “I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs” (Miller 144). This implies that he is satisfied with his decision and he finally finds his goodness. Which proves that he is brave because he refused to sell his friends and sacrifice his principles, instead he sacrificed his life but he died with honor. After committing sins and acting cowardly, he finally shows heroic attributions and finds his salvation. John does not allow them to take his goodness away from him and died with a good name. The results of his bravery is that he was able to find his goodness
Although John Proctor isn’t much of a pious man, he does choose to do the right thing in the end. He doesn’t go down to the level of Danforth, he stays truthful and prideful to himself. Not many people would confess to something if it meant they would be hanged or imprisoned for their actions, John Proctor did. These three personalities of John Proctor prove that he is an overall good man even if he made a few poor choices in his lifetime. He ultimately shows that everyone should be proud of who they are and always tell the truth because if you want to be successful, you must be true to
Abigail is in love with John since they lusted one time. Abigail will never forget that; she wants to be with him. “I have a sense for heart, John, and yours has drawn on to my wind…” page 23 Act One. This quote proves that she has very strong feelings for John. Elizabeth loves John since they are married. Their religion is another reason they are different. Abigail goes against her religion by constantly lying, causing trouble, and lusting. “She comes to me every night to go and drink blood.” Page 44 Act One. This quote proves that Abigail is a lair because she lies on Tituba to save herself. According to the text “… Is your husband a lecher?” Danforth accuses. “No, Sir” Elizabeth responded. Act three page 113. This was the first time Elizabeth Proctor lies; she only lies to save her husband. This proves that Abigail is a wicked Puritan and Elizabeth is
Before the play takes place, Abigail Williams and John Proctor had an affair while Abigail was working as a servant in their home. Eventually, John confessed and apologized to Elizabeth, pledging his faithfulness to her. Nonetheless, at the time the play takes place, Elizabeth still hasn’t fully forgiven him, and gives him a hard time about it. Abigail confessed the pretense of her accusations to him when they were alone, and now he has no way to prove that she’s lying to the court. But because he was alone with her again, Elizabeth becomes angry with him. She still doubts her husband because she feels that if it were any other girl he had to go testify against, he would not hesitate. But, because it’s Abigail, John feels he has to think harder on making a decision. He doesn’t want his name spoiled by a counter-testimony. John feels he is now justified in becoming angry because for the seven months since his confession, he has done nothing but try to please his wife, and she still approaches him with suspicion and accusatio...
Corruption has always existed in our society since the beginning to present time due to conspiracies such as the witch trials and the communism era. The Crucible by Arthur Miller was written during the era of communism to mere the hysteria. The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials in Salem Massachusetts in 1692. It’s a corrupt witch trial in Salem that’s due to false accusations of witchcraft for personal gains. John Proctor is the protagonist in the story The Crucible who goes through the ultimate test by choosing his reputation over integrity. He also had an affair with a young girl named Abigail who is the antagonist and is the main reason the bloodshed is occurring in Salem. Initially, Proctor hesitates to deal with his sin, but as the play progresses, he begins to understand its effects; this ultimately leads him to find goodness in himself as he stands for the truth.
As the play starts off, and John Proctor is introduced, it becomes know that he committed adultery with Abigail, the antagonist of the play. At this point, the play tells that John has gone against his own values by committing adultery, as well as the town’s values. He starts off seeming as though he is a very confused man and does not know what to think about his relationship with Abigail. “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.” (22). This is showing how he still likes her, but he feels he cannot commit adultery with her again.
When the play sets in action, John has had a past affair with his servant, Abigail Williams. His wife, Elizabeth Proctor, is very forgiving of his sin, but John has his mind set that he will not confess to anyone else, in fear of ruining his good name and reputation. The affair between John and Abigail causes the start of chaotic witchery and accusation. After the affair, Abigail becomes horribly jealous of Elizabeth Proctor. Proctor realizes there is only one way to stop all the witch hysteria in Salem, and that would be to admit to adultery which is considered a sin. . Also in the beginning R...
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.
In the crucible, I believe reputation and respect was interwoven in the term of the play the ‘‘crucible’’. Reputation and Respect can also be a theme or a thematic idea in the play, reputation is very essential in a town where social status is synonymously to ones competence to follow religious rules. Your standing is what enables you to live as one in a community where everyone is bound to rules and inevitable sequential instructions. Many characters for example, john proctor and reverend parris, base their action on the motive to protect their reputation which is only exclusive to them. People like reverend parris saw respect as what made them important or valuable in a town like Salem, this additionally imprinting to his character as a very conventional man.
John Proctor committed lechery with Abigail Williams. Abigail Williams wants John Proctor to love her, but he is married to Elizabeth, and he doesn’t want to leave her for Abigail. Abigail knows that John doesn’t want to leave his wife, so she tries to get rid of her, first by drinking a charm to kill her, and she then accuses her of witchcraft. John knows that Abigail is trying to get rid of his wife so he knows that he has to tell the courts about what happened between the two of them so that they will realize why she is making the accusations on his wife. When he admits his fault to the court the girls turns around and accuse him of witchcraft in order to save themselves. John is put in jail for three months because of this accusation. After all of this time he nearly decides to admit to it, but he then realizes what it would do to himself and his name.
At the beginning, he is concerned with his reputation, but at the end, he risks his life to save others. While this is true, changes occur on a much deeper level for John Proctor. Although he is just an ordinary sinner, his changes are important because he improves himself in an effort to overcome the internal and external dilemmas he is faced with. Externally, John is faced with a town and a legal system that is intolerant and unforgiving. Through his process of making a mistake, he not only has to try to face the unjust legal system, but he faces an internal conflict. John is out of line with the accepted belief of the town, and he is unable to forgive himself or to repair his relationship with his wife. These are problems that he does not know how to face at the beginning of the play, but as the play goes on, he adapts and learns. Elizabeth helps him understand the importance of forgiving oneself and is then able to do this. Furthermore, by forgiving himself, and having the confidence to admit it, he learns that there are more important things than life. This conflicts with Hale, who learned that life is more important than anything else, even one's beliefs. These conflicting ideas are important because they show that there is contention in the world. Ultimately, John and others can learn that conflicting ideas and contention should exist in the world, but would fail to do so without tolerance, and the ability to
Written in the 1950s, Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible delineates the situation of the McCarthy conflicts in America while the plays’ events revolve around the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692. In the play, two major characters are Reverend Hale, an expert on witches sent to Salem for investigation, and John Proctor, a man known for his leadership and hard work. Proctor and Hale, in addition to both being Puritans, are alike in their actions and motives since they both see the depravity of the court and seek to protect people from it. However, they have major differences in their characters as they have contrasting dedication to Christianity and the values that they live by.
Overall John Proctor is a man of integrity because of his honesty when confessing about the affair with Abigail, when he gets the 91 signatures, and his honesty about not going to church. Integrity, the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles is what John Proctor
John starts interacting with a younger member of the town, Abigail Williams. The two spend time with each other which eventually leads to John having an affair. John and Abigail kept this from the whole town, even after Elizabeth finds out because she realizes that his name will be affected if the word does get spread. “Spoke or silent, a promise is surely made. Elizabeth Proctor to her husband…” “She tells him that by sleeping with her, he made a commitment to her, at least in her eyes. (Elizabeth) After he has the affair with Abigail, Elizabeth has trouble holding the trust she has for John. Abigail also loses faith in John due to the fact that he told her false ideas that he sensed that he had something for her, but then later in the play he admitted that he only did such a thing because of the tension in his
John Proctor is a good man. He is a puritan, a husband, a citizen, and an all around valuable member of the community. All of this is represented by his name. The name of John Proctor could be considered his most prized possession. It is his most priceless asset. Proctor is very strong-willed and caring. He does not set out with any intentions of hurting anyone. He is a farmer and village commoner who is faced with incredible inner turmoil. He has committed adultery and had absolutely no intentions of joining in the witch trials. After his wife got involved and eventually was set free due to the fact that she was pregnant, he feels that he can't sit back and accept what is happening to the town. John Proctor is a good and noble man and because of this he believes that he can't be hanged and die a martyr when he has this sin blooming over him every waking moment.
Elizabeth Proctor has many moments which show how she is changing throughout the play. When she is trying to persuade Proctor to tell the court that Abigail said the girls were not practicing witchcraft, Elizabeth blurts out, "John, if it were not Abigail that you must go to hurt, would you falter now? I think not." Elizabeth is confessing that she believes Proctor had an affair with Abigail. She is giving him no mercy by showing that she will never forget what happened. When Elizabeth is being accused of stabbing Abigail, she instructs Proctor to go to court, and tells him "Oh, John, bring me soon!" Elizabeth is gaining trust in John. She is forgetting his act of adultery and now has faith that he will defend her. At the end of the play, when Proctor is sentenced to death, Elizabeth says that "he [has] his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!" Elizabeth is admitting that John was righteous to confess his sin of lechery, and she should have pardoned him. She considers herself impure for not showing mercy, and does not want to take away from his glory. Elizabeth has transformed from an ignorant victim of adultery, to a forgiving, loving wife.