Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Moral development in the crucible
The crucible arthur miller essay
John proctor character analysis essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Moral development in the crucible
Integrity, the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Most people who read Arthur Miller's “The Crucible” would agree that one of the main characters, John Proctor is a man of integrity.
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
…show more content…
Even though he lies to his wife, which is dishonest, his moral principles of lying to his wife shows that he doesn’t want to make her feel bad, like most married men. Another example would be when Hale goes to Proctor’s house and asks why the Proctor’s haven’t been to church in a while. Proctor tells Hale that he doesn’t like Paris because Paris is a dishonest man and not fit to be a minister. Even though it makes Proctor look bad, he is being honest and that’s what a man of integrity does.
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
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
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
Despite these good qualities, John Proctor had many flaws as well. Lust was a constant struggle for Proctor in many forms. For instance, when Abigail was working for him and his wife, he lusted after her and committed adultery by having an affair. Afterwards, Proctor was extremely repentant and stopped seeing her. “Abby, you’ll put it out of mind. I’ll not be comin’ for you more” (Miller 21). This essentially lead to his demise because of the affair, Abigail became infatuated over Proctor to the point where she went into the woods with her friends and Tituba and practiced “witchcraft” to kill Proctor’s wife. “You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife!” (Miller18). When the girls were caught and the whole “witch” hysteria broke out, people were getting accused and executed, including Proctor, who wouldn’t confess to witchcraft and died because of it. If Proctor never lusted after Abigail and had an affair with her in the first place, accusations of “witchcraft” would have never happened and his death. Throughout the book unlike many other characters, Proctor never accepted the girl's story about witchcraft to be true. He on the other hand knew
John Proctor: “God in heaven, what is John Proctor, what is John Proctor”. John is a man of strong moral beliefs, concerned only for the safety of his family and personal welfare. He cares of nothing for the beliefs of any of the other people in the town and what his supervisor which is the Reverend, thinks either. After trying to avoid involvement in the witch trials he is later prosecuted for witchery and sentenced to hang. John trys to avoid any involvement in the Salem witch trials. His reason for doing so is to protect his image because he is afraid he will be committed of adultery with Abigail Williams. Following these events he trys to save everyone’s lives by admitting to this horrible offense adultery and ends up losing the trial along with his life. He did have a chance to live but instead of signing away his name and his soul to keep his life, he wanted to die honorably with his friends not without a name, a soul, and with guilt. “John Proctors decision to die is reasonable and believable”. Reverend Parris, the Salem minister and Proctors immediate supervisor, which says “ there is either obedience or the church will burn like hell is burning.” “The church in theocratic Salem is identical with the state and the community and will surely crumble if unquestioning obedience falters in the least.” Proctor, on the other hand, “has come to regard his self as a king of fraud,” as long as he remains obedient to an authority which he cannot respect.
There are many sides to John Proctor and they occur at different stages of the play, John is a complex character and is very well respected even though he has done wrong things. Arthur Miller was in the same situation as John Proctor in 1956-57 because he refused to give names of people he saw at communist meetings. There was the same trial system. If you confessed you would stay alive assuming you had turned from the communist meetings, however if you denied that you were seen at communist meeting you would have been hanged because there would be no evidence to show you weren’t there. You get the impression that the character of John Proctor was based on the real life character of Miller.
John Proctor is an honest, though harsh, man who is clearly the protagonist of The Crucible. Before the beginning of the play, John had an affair with Abigail Williams, a girl who worked in his household, which was abruptly ended when Elizabeth Proctor, John's wife, fired her. This event causes Abigail to desire revenge against Elizabeth while she still pines for John. Once the trials are well underway, Abigail accuses Elizabeth of being a witch, which leads to her arrest. John goes to the court in defense of his wife, where he reveals that he did indeed committed adultery with Abigail in an attempt to expose her as a fraud and a liar. Unfortunately, John's appeal falls on deaf ears and he is arrested as well. While his wife manages to get a temporary stay of execution, due to the fact that she is pregnant at the time of the trials, which in the end saves her by insuring her life until the chaos, hysteria, and persecution comes to an end, John is sentenced to death. The play ends with his hanging, but his death puts an end to the trials.
John Proctor is portrayed throughout the play to be a man who has high moral values that he must abide by. He can spot hypocrisy in others easily and judges himself no less harshly. Elizabeth Proctor says to him in the second act:
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.
In John Proctor’s sudden confession of committing adultery, Miller used strong ethos and pathos to help further his agenda. He used disinterest, a rhetorical ethos device, to show that he reluctantly confessed for the greater good. By casting away his reputation, he made a personal sacrifice to show that his revelation helped the people of Salem more than it helped him. Throughout the play, Proctor concealed his disloyalty to his wife from the public; however, he finally came to terms with his sin to save Elizabeth and other innocent people from the trials. John used a rhetorical tool called the reluctant conclusion during his confession, which is blatant by the uneasiness/hesitancy he displayed. John Proctor lost his credibility and appeared
Proctor is a prideful individual. Pride means everything to John Proctor. his pride for himself, and the pride he has for his wife. He always says that his wife can't lie as if it is programmed into her. you hear him say that in multiple scenes of “The Crucible.” a oride not seen but can be observed is that even through the rockiest parts of his life, she has stayed true and by his side guiding him. Goody Proctor Does not tell him what he should do but guides him in the right direction. When John Proctor was asking Goody Proctor whether he should sign the confession or if he shouldn't, She tells him that it is not her decision and that she wouldn't judge him for confessing or not confessing. Another instant that makes him prideful is that through all the catastrophe is his pride. He knew by sign
Parris- Now then in the midst of such disruption my own household is discovered to be the very center of some obscene practice- abominations are done in the forest-. (crucible page 1131) This shows Integrity for Parris is saying that what Abby did is wrong and that it will ruin his good named. in this it is showing Integrity in a negative way for Parris is only caring for what the towns people will think of him. Proctor- Then how do you charge me with such a promise? that a stallion gives a mare I gave that girl. (crucible page 1162) John is saying that his wife is accusing him of being unfaithful again and he is defining it. So he is keeping his integrity and saying that he is
The most important trait to prove that John Proctor was a good person was his honesty. In every scene in the play that John Proctor is in, his commendable honesty stands out. It didn't matter how much trouble he would bring himself into, his philosophy was "I may speak my heart" (Miller, p.30). Proctor's honesty eventually lead to his downfall and death.
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.
When we are first introduced to John Proctor, we learn of his affair with Abigail Williams, Abigail's involvement in the accusations of witchcraft, and of John's desire to do what is honorable. Because of John's desire to do what is honorable, he ends the affair with Abigail and begins to attempt to repair his broken marriage. Abigail's jealously of Elizabeth and desire to be John's wife leads to Elizabeth's name being mentioned in court. Abigail's mention of Elizabeth's name in court reveals her attempt to get rid of Elizabeth for she knows Elizabeth will claim innocence and be hung if she does. When word reaches the Proctors, about Abigail's mentioning of Elizabeth's name in court, John concludes that Abigail's motive is to kill Elizabeth. Knowing this information, John is faced with his first difficult decision, save his reputation, keep his affair a secret, and let the accusations continue, or ruin his reputation, tell of his affair, and end the girls' accusations. Not wanting to ruin his good name, John decides to hold his tongue and because of this the trials continue and more accusations are made, some of which lead to his wife's and his friends arrest for witchcraft and bewitchment.
Throughout the play John Proctor was an honest man, as was his wife, Elizabeth until she was asked to testify against her husband about his affair. One thing that never changed about Proctor throughout the whole play was his willingness to stand for his beliefs. Time after time, he was bombarded with questions about why he didn't regularly attend church or why he didn't have one of his sons baptized. He answered these questions with integrity and questioned the ministry of Parris. No one in the town of Salem had done that before.