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Macbeth character analysis
Macbeth character analysis
An eassy about Corruption
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Macbeth and The Crucible are both plays that deal with the social construct of our society. The plays reflect the corruption of a person and of a society and what influences the corruption. The theme of corruption is reflected in Shakespeare's character Macbeth, and Arthur Miller’s character John Proctor. Macbeth and John Proctor are both tragic heroes in famous plays. As a result of circumstances, people are often forced to reinvent their perspectives on life in order to adapt to changed situations. While Macbeth starts as a hero and changes into a villain and becomes corrupted,John proctor starts bad, but changes his moral character by the end of the play. Macbeth starts out as a brave and valiant hero. He fights fearlessly against the invaders and traitors of Scotland for King Duncan. Duncan recognized the heroic qualities of Macbeth and wanted to reward him for his outstanding effort in the battlefield. Many people recognized the greatness of Macbeth and his heroic deeds. However, Macbeth’s moral character was changed when he met the three witches. They foretold Macbeth would be king of Scotland. Macbeth was quick to think if the possibility of playing fate's hand to achieve his desired outcome. His wife was also a big influence to Macbeth because he loved …show more content…
He was portrayed as an honest and upright man with moral values. However, he had one major tragic flaw. He had an affair on his wife with Abigail. John had been having an affair with Abigail for a while. Abigail got jealous of Johns wife so he accused her of witchcraft. John realised that the only way to save his wife and his name was to confess to adultery. His outlook on life changes throughout the story as people he loves are accused of witchcraft. John Proctor started out as a person who committed adultery, but realised in the end that he is willing to sacrifice himself to save his name and his wife who he cares
Firstly, John Proctor is not seen to be a good man because in chapter one is affair with Abigail is exposed. “Give me a word, John. A soft word. (Her concentrated desire destroys his smile.) From this it can be seen that before they did have an affair but now it is over. The personal pronoun ‘me’ shows how she wants him all to herself and that the meeting is held in secret. The word ‘desire destroy’ in the stage directions is then used to contradict her feelings as Miller suggests how their affair is now over but Abigail doesn’t want it to be and that she still loves Proctor. From this quote it is then shown that John Proctor can’t be a good man if he committed adultery. However, John Proctor also speaks to Abigail to mention how their affair is mentioned and how their affair to him was at his moment of weakness when his wife, Elizabeth was ill. As it was a mistake Proctor mentions how Abigail should, “Wipe it out of mind.” This shows that he wants to forget it ever happened and that he also doesn’t want anybody to find out about this. From this it shows that John Proctor is not a good and as when his wife was ill and when he was at his weakest he committed a sin. If the people of Salem were to hear...
Proctor has many character traits that contribute to him being so difficult to figure out. His crime of lechery against his wife, and his willingness to save her, are both intermixed in a tangle of ethics. After committing adultery with Abigail, John clearly has a guilty conscious. When
Proctor, a farmer, has an affair with Abigail Williams, which ultimately leads to his downfall. Abigail mistakes the affair for true love and being the leader of the group of girls that are accusing others of witchcraft; she uses this to accuse his wife, Elizabeth. The affair also causes Elizabeth to distrust John, who for seven months has been trying to get into her good graces and is tired of her suspicion. He bluntly tells her “...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...”(52). This illustrates John's perseverance in attempting to redeem himself for his sin, but because of John's inability to control his desire and resist temptation, his life is being turned upside down by the jealousy and need for revenge of Abigail. This event marks Proctor’s downfall and path to becoming a tragic hero.
In conclusion John Proctor is a man who fought for what he believed in and fought for others. If you look back on John’s role in the story, you see his many emotions.. He goes through feelings of anger, hate, love, justice, and guiltiness because he lusted against his wife. Throughout the book John tries to win back over his wife's favor as well as trying to regain his pride. He did so by sticking up for everyone and fighting the lie of witchcraft. The character of John shows us that you should stand up for what you believe in even though others don’t agree. He also shows us how we should live our life, and if we do something wrong apologize for what we did and make up for it. John did so by paying the ultimate price.
In conclusion, John Proctor is seen as a tragic hero because of his tragic flaw, free choice, and increased awareness. His lust for sex, which was an affair with Abigail, leads her into accusing the proctors due to her jealousy of Elizabeth and her love for John. John had free choice of whether or not he was going to be hanged, but does not admit he is a witch because, it would hurt his family and leave his family name ruined forever. He has increased awareness in the story because he realizes what is wrong in the court and makes a statement of trying to stop it by being hanged so others may live. John Proctor shows characteristics of a tragic hero and will never be forgotten for his brave and sincere actions he showed in the book.
The tragic flaw that john endures during this Salem story is he commits adultery with his servant, Abigail. John tried to pretend the affair does not even happen, saying to Abigail, He wins the battle between himself and Abigail due to his respected reputation. Now, Abigail seeks to force revenge upon her ex-lover. Abigail successfully puts the sin out to the public and Elizabeth Proctor finds out, and their relationship goes downhill. Their connection also gets awkward and they barely link with one another. Elizabeth confronts him about it, and John gets asinine about the whole situation. They end on bad terms and act like they aren’t even husband and wife. This tragic flaw will soon backfire on John Proctor later.
John proctor is an honest man who regrets breaking his marriage vows. John knew with all his heart and mind that adultery is wrong. Elizabeth, John’s wife, had no way of finding out what had happened, but John Proctor still told her. This shows that John took responsibility for his actions and acknowledged that he had sinned against her and God. In Act 2, he had to season his wife, Elizabeth’s food behind her back. When she gave him his food he said that “It was well seasoned.” (pg. 50) He did this to make her feel better about herself, showing that he loved her. It is at the end of the play when Proctor is most honorable because although he was going to admit to witchcraft, he still refuses to accuse any other people in Salem. He says, in act 4, "I have three children-how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?" (pg. 143) He also tears up the paper that he signed, admitting to witchcraft. He says, “I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (pg. 143) John Proctor chose to be truthful and deny the untrue accusations made against him, sentencing himself to a hangman’s death. John Proctor is not a perfect man, but he has a good heart. His good part of his personality relates to his name the “Tragic Hero,” and also lead to his downfall at the end of the
John Proctor faces many decisions in response to his moral dilemma to try to save his life. One of the difficult decisions John makes is to reveal that he had an affair with Abigail Williams and thereby has committed adultery. If the local court convicts him of this crime, he faces being jailed. Also by admitting this crime, John reveals a weakness in his character. This flaw in his personality will make it harder for him to stand up in the community as an honorable and believable person. In trying to convince others that witchcraft does not exist John’s dishonesty with his wife will make him less convincing to the community.
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a trusted soldier, who is honest and noble. Unfortunately, he meets three witches who tell him three prophecies; that he will become thane of Cawdor, that he will become king and that Banquo’s sons will become kings. These three prophecies slowly change his opinions on life and turn him into a greedy, dishonest, tyrant, full of ambition. Lady Macbeth’s thoughts change as well when she is told about the three prophecies that were told to Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is ambitious, controlling and domineering. She is the one who encourages him to kill the king, she not only encourages him, she makes all the plans herself, which shows her determination and persistence."Yet I do fear thy nature, it is too full o’th milk of human kindness. To catch the nearest way thou wouldst be great. Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it." (Act 1, scene 5). Lady Macbeth is the force behind Macbeth’s sudden ambition and she tries to manipulate him into feeling guilty and unmanly for not following through with the murder, by using her husbands emotions, she manages to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan.
He is decently respected and honored around town. He is married to a woman named Elizabeth. Proctor cares dearly about his reputation, although there is one fatal flaw. You could call this the tragic flaw of this tragic hero. He is caught cheating on his wife and the thought makes himself sick and dampens his pride. He also gets condemned into the Witchcraft drama that is concerning the town of Salem in 1692. First, his wife was accused of the witchery and was framed by Abigail. John then becomes furiated and tries to end the madness. That’s when he gets himself into the mess. He is accused and instead of running off with Abby, he chooses
For John Proctor one of his most notable flaws is his over heightened sense of pride. It hinders him in almost every aspect. Proctor being a man held in high regard to the town he cares deeply about his ‘name’ and reputation. While in court Proctor attempts to defend and free his wife through Mary Warren’s confession. Claiming that the girls and specifically Abigail to be frauds and merely faking their symptoms of witchcraft. He does so without giving up information that would soil his ‘good name’ leaving him without a strong claim on why Abigail is untrustworthy. As a dynamic character in the story however he will change and react to the situations around him. That taken into account John Proctor then reaches a realization that the only way to protect and
He is a farmer in Salem who has an affair with Abigail which ultimately changes his life. There are only a few people that know about the affair. “Proctor thinks that in lying to the court, he will be only adding a lie to the sin of adultery” (Sundstrand). This quote shows that John has guilt and believes speaking up about the truth will have the best outcome for him. Therefore, Proctor confesses to the court about the affair. The reason he does this is to save his wife Elizabeth, who lies for John in order to save his name. This works in the fact that Elizabeth is saved, but John is scheduled to be hanged. His decision is the climax of the play because the deaths start to add in numbers. The choice is smart because people would have found out sooner or later that John had committed adultery. John knew the consequences would not be good for his choices. He did not want his name to be ruined across the town for his kids and did not want to be on the confession list on the wall of the church. John is eventually hanged and dies because of the decision to have his life taken because he feels like it is better to die than to lie anymore. His choice affected the lives of other people not just his own. John’s name gains more honor and self-respect since the hanging because he chooses his wife’s life instead of his
At the beginning of the play, we all see John Proctor as a bad guy for cheating on his wife, but as we continue to read we see that he is not that bad of a guy after all. Yes, he may have cheated on his wife, but we all make mistakes; we are all human. After his affair with Abigail, we see John fight really hard to try and save his wife. He pleads with Abigail to set his wife free after Abigail falsely accused her of witchcraft. “My wife goes to trial this morning, Abigail” (Miller, 50). Here John is telling Abigail that his wife goes to trial the next day because of Abigail’s wrongdoing against Elizabeth. He goes on to tell Abigail that he will fight for her, and he will do and say anything to try and save her, even if that means destroying his reputation. John made a mistake, but he tried and did everything he could to fix it. What we sometimes fail to see is that families do
John Proctor had a very great life till Abigail came along. He is proof that if someone is unfaithful it can cost them everything, maybe even life. In the beginning of “The Crucible” John Proctor is angry, cold-hearted, and unfaithful. This eventually turns into faithfulness to his wife.
In the beginning of the play, John Proctor, the main character of the story, found to have been associated with a tragic flaw. Proctor and Abigail met each other and she tried to convince him to be with her. "I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I came near…” (Act 1). Proctor and Abigail had sexual relations because of the physical attraction that resided within them. Even with his three children and a faithful wife, he committed adultery; which was extremely sinful in Puritanical society during those times. Through this, Proctor has an urge to do good to compensate for the evil deed he has done. He eventually confesses to Elizabeth, his wife, and slowly leads to saving the town from the ‘witches’.