Salem was a town where status was everything, filled with mass proportions in devout Puritan belief, that created a terrible mix that eventually led to the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria. The Crucible, a play based on the events of the Salem Witch Trials, included several scenes filled with irony that involved John Proctor, proving crucial to the overall story. Ironic events throughout the story that were crucial to the outcome were: when John Proctor failed to name the ten commandments to Reverend Hale, when he told the truth about his affair with Abigail which had a reverse effect of what he wanted, and when John Proctor ultimately redeemed himself by solidifying his future; death. The Crucible was an exceptional play that shined light on the …show more content…
John Proctor, when interrogated by Hale about his Christian knowledge, is asked to recite the 10 commandments that every Christian knows by heart. He names all but one, having forgotten it. Elizabeth has to remind him that it is the one against adultery. “Proctor: … Thou shalt not bear false witness. (He is stuck. He counts back on his fingers, knowing one is missing.) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. Hale: You have said that twice, sir. Proctor: (lost). Aye. (He is flailing for it.) Elizabeth: (delicately). Adultery, John” (199). The above quotation is a direct excerpt from the play that showcases this crucial and ironic scene. This scene is also crucial because at the time, any form of sin or the slightest infraction of Christian knowledge could lead to the belief that one was a witch. When John Proctor forgot one of the commandments, this left an opening for a presumption that he wasn’t truly Christian, especially combined with the knowledge of his late attendance and un-baptized son. “Proctor: There be no love for Satan in this house, Mister. Hale: I pray it, I pray it dearly. (He looks to both of them, an attempt at a smile on his face, but his misgivings are clear.) Well, then-I’ll bid you goodnight” (199). The above quotation is a direct excerpt from the play that showcases the importance of religion in their …show more content…
Pride has kept John Proctor from coming forward with the truth, as adultery is a sin. Social status is everything in the town of Salem and if John came forward with the truth, his status would be ruined During his questioning in court, John Proctor, fed up with Abigail 's lies, admits to the affair in front of the entire town. He has come clean, but at what cost? When Elizabeth enters and is questioned, not allowed to look at her husband, she denies the allegations of the affair for him, which ends up condemning them both. “Proctor: … 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” (220-221). The above quote is an excerpt from The Crucible that shows John Proctor has finally cast aside his want for social status and has chosen honesty to save his wife. The reason this scene is so crucial is because it changes the course of events that would have followed if John Proctor had kept quiet about the affair. Elizabeth also played a key factor in the event, since she lied about the affair for him, mistakenly condemning both her and him from what would follow. If John and Elizabeth both admitted to the affair, they could of
In The Crucible, John Proctor is a good man with a deadly secret. He has a wife, children, and a good name in the Puritan society. However, his lust for Abigail Williams leads to their affair, which could potentially ruin Proctor’s status in Salem if anyone were to find out. Proctor is, above all, a proud man who places great emphasis on his reputation. Proctor regrets his past actions, and dislikes Abigail for continually provoking him to love her. Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, is suspicious of his relations with Abigail, which causes tension in their marriage. His negative feelings toward Abigail grow stronger and stronger as the
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.
The Crucible is a famous play written by Arthur Miller. This play centers around the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts. In Act II, Abigail and her friends accuse several innocent people of witchcraft. Once they leave the court, Reverend Hale goes to John Proctor’s house to inform Elizabeth Proctor that people in the court have mentioned her name. Then officials of the court, Herrick and Cheever, arrive at the Proctor’s house. They claim to have a warrant for Elizabeth’s arrest because the court declares she practices witchcraft. After, Herrick and Cheever take Elizabeth to jail. Injustice in Act II prevails because of the inability to see the truth. Reverend Hale and John Proctor illuminate the theme that closed-mindedness
When the play sets in to 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 caused the start of chaotic witchery and accusation. After the affair, Abigail became 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 confess his sin of adultery. Although he knows he should, he continues to be determined not to confess. Also in the beginning Reverend Paris is new to town, and John insist continually that he is only speaking of hell, and hardly ever of God, as Proctor goes on to say to Parris, "Can you speak one minute without we land in Hell again? I am sick of Hell!" (Miller 30). In the drama, Mary Warren places a needle in a poppet she gave to Elizabeth; John firmly demands that Mary Warren tell the courts that she really put the needle in the poppet that day. Proctor says to her, "You're coming to the court with me, Mary. You will tell it in the court." (Miller 80). Furthermore, at the end of the play Proctor is persistent by saying that no matter what anyone says to convince him differently, he would rather die an honest man and save his name. John Proctor took pride in his thoughts, feelings, values, and his name. It took persistency to make his intent clear to others.
Purist Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 suffered from a rapidly increasing phenomenon: witchcraft accusations and trials. The Crucible is a play that recounts the times of this incident. For the most part, it follows a man known as John Proctor. He is a sensible, honest, and hardworking man who made the mistake of succumbing to lust which sets off a chain of events that leads to the witch trials, and to his own demise. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible’s protagonist John Proctor proves to be a flawed human being who struggles to make sense of his past relationship with Abigail, his love for his wife, and his pride.
In spite of John being an honorable man, his affair does lead him to his downfall. The affair between John and Abigail leads to serious chaos in Salem. In the court, John had already confessed that he committed adultery. When the court brought in Elizabeth Proctor to say that he had confessed, she lied to save his name. “She only thought to save my name!” (p 195 line 964). Elizabeth wanted to save his name and his life even though she knows he had an affair, even though she does not lie. However, John was a genuine man for confessing that he did commit
While most are opposed of John Proctor's idea of being a man of integrity, some may view John Proctor as a man who has motives for protecting his name. At the end of The Crucible Proctor is in the court to free his wife for a false accusation of witchcraft, which seems like he loves his wife, and he does. But when faced by Judge Danforth on bringing up evidence of the false accusation, John Proctor claims that Abigail, a seventeen year old girl is a liar and a whore. Abigail is the one that accused John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth of witchcraft to have her hanged and have a chance to be able to marry John Proctor after an affair between John and Abigail which sets the
Elizabeth Proctor is used in The Crucible to illustrate the powerful strength of what manipulation has over any living mortal. Typically an honest person under their religious faith would believe in telling the truth, but not while having an evil thoughts being whispered in your ear disguised as manipulation. Already knowledgeable of her husband’s previous affair with Abigail Williams, Elizabeth fears of ruining the Proctor name in the town of Salem, Massachusetts due to John’s affair and since John is a high authority figure in the church, it would ruining his name and people would not respect him as a preacher anymore. So in the process of saving the Proctor name, regardless of John admitting the truth by making the court aware of the recent affair he had with Abigail, Elizabeth denies those allegations because she fears that John will be upset to the utmost point, so she sacrifices herself to protect the Proctor name, even though she fears that she hopes that she made the right decision, as shown when she tried to clarify all statements be...
Proctors on his own account to alert them that Elizabeth's name was mentioned in court. Deep in the conversation, Hale asks John to recite the Commandments with the intent to prove he is a covenanted Christian man.
To admit to adultery takes integrity. To tell the truth no matter what the consequences takes integrity. To stay true to one's morals and be able to accept any punishments to keep one’s integrity, is a genuine trait. During the Salem witch trials many were unable to keep their integrity, but there were some who did. The Crucible written by Arthur Miller takes place during the Salem witch trials, when many people were forced to lie in order to live. John Proctor is looked at in the play as an adulterer, and sinful man. Nevertheless, John Proctor's public and private selves differ dramatically, but overall Mr. Proctor is truly a honest and integrity filled man.
Salem citizens in general were afraid of all ungodly things with their Puritan views. They had no trouble believing that, because Parris had called Reverend Hale, (known for his studies in demonic arts), there must truly be witchcraft within the town. The play progresses and certain characters begin to develop: here is a community full of underlying personal grudges. Religion pervades every aspect of life, 'A man may think that God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now.'; but it is a religion that lacks the ritual of confession. Here and throughout the play we see how this affects John Proctor, a man so proud of his name that guilt eats at his very heart, as he will not let out his secret pain in a vain attempt to keep his integrity.
Nearing the end of The Crucible John Proctors position on his relationship has changed a good deal. He has realized how evil Abigail really is, and he has rejected their relationship. But now he must decide if he will lie about being a witch or not, and is questioning his wife on what to do. “Would you give them such a lie? Say it. Would you ever give them this? You would not, if tongs of fire were singeing you you would not! It is evil. Good, then it is evil, and I do it!” (128). At this point Proctor is unsure as to his position on whether or not he will lie an say he is a witch. Proctor’s values are being questioned. Will he lie and save his life, or die and tell the truth? On this question hinges the values and beliefs of John Proctor.
The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations. The confession of Proctor would convince others in the town to confess to their
The statement,“The Crucible is essentially about courage, weakness, and truth,” is proven true numerous times, throughout the play. The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller, about the true events that happened in Salem, Massachusetts, between the years 1692 and 1693. The Salem witch trials consisted of many hangings, lies, and complete mass hysteria. The citizens of Salem followed the religion of Puritanism, and the ideas of predestination. The root of the mass hysteria comes from their belief in the sense that in something happens then it must have been planned by God. In Miller’s portrayal of the story, Abigail Williams was the ringleader of the witch trials, and she used the idea of predestination to cover up her own sins. Abigail was a very manipulative girl and ruined many lives. John Proctor, Mary Warren, and Elizabeth Proctor were just a few of the victims in Abby’s game. John, Mary, and Elizabeth exhibit the traits courage, weakness, and truth, whether it was in a positive or negative way.
In this act he finds the goodness in himself to take responsibility for something he did not do just to make up for his sins. He says to Elizabeth, “Spite only gives me silent. It is hard to give a lie to dogs…” (4.136) He wants to confess, but he has to find the courage in him to confess it. He has to swallow his pride in order to confess of something he did not do. After he finds the courage to confess, Danforth makes him sign a confession statement, but he cannot. In support of this Proctor says, “I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are! It is enough!” (4.142) Proctor has already confessed and he feels as if that is already enough, but he has to sign the confession or he will be hung. He finds the courage to sign it but then rips it apart before it is hung upon the church, and he could not build up the courage to re-write it. This leads him to being executed. Henry Popkin once again helps support my sources by stating, “The real, the ultimate victim in this play is John Proctor, the one independent man, the one skeptic who sees through the witchcraft "craze" from the first…This is a climactic moment, a turning point in the play. New witches may continue to be named, but The Crucible now narrows its focus to John Proctor, caught in the trap, destroyed by his effort to save his wife, threatened by the irrationality that only he has comprehended.” (143) Abigail’s idea did not go as planned because Proctor rebelled against her. Therefore Proctor was accused and died because he was not going to let Abigail ruin the pureness of his