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literal and symbolic meaning in the crucible'
the crucible literary analysis
essay on the crucible symbolism
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A man in Salem have died tragically, although some might consider this heroic; nevertheless it was his actions that have saved the town; this man is John Proctor. Salem is known for having Puritans, a conservative religious and Puritans value their privacy as well. John Proctor is one of the main characters in The Crucible, made by Arthur Miller. Since John Proctor is motivated by his honor his decision to refuse confession in the court creates a catastrophe by the end of the play.
While John Proctor is a very honorable man, to himself he feels a tremendous guilt for committing adultery with Abigail and cheating on his wife, Elizabeth. Throughout the entire play, Elizabeth is very cold and bitter to Proctor, while Proctor wishes that she may forgive him for what he had done. At that moment, Elizabeth's name was called to court, for she was suspected of being a witch. To restore his guilty conscious, Proctor decides to testify in court to prove that Elizabeth is innocent. His loyalty to his wife encouraged him to stop the
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In order for him to do so, he had to sign the written confession that would be release to the public. Proctor at first, was willing to sign the confession until he was overtaken by his pride and had refused to give it up, for his name would be insulted. "No more! I should have roared you down when first you told me your suspicion. But I wilted, and, like a Christian, I confessed. Confessed! Some dream I had must have mistaken you for God that day. But you're not, you're not, and let you remember it! Let you look sometimes for the goodness in me, and judge me not."(Act II 77-82) Proctor being a righteous Puritan had also had a part in this, for his personal life would be blasted to the public. It was his vanity that had doomed him, he couldn't turn back from this point forward, progressing his fate even
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
John Proctor and Reverend Hale are similar as they have both detected the corruption beneath the witchcraft accusations and attempt to prevent false testimonies and innocent people being hanged. John Proctor easily realizes the truth of the witchcraft trials because of his affair with Abigail Williams, one of the leading culprits of the hysteria in Salem. Abby exclaims that “Elizabeth hates me, uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave. It’s a bitter woman, a lying, cold, sniveling woman, and I will not work for such a woman” (Miller 12). Abigail feels this way, not because Elizabeth has mistreated her, but instead because Elizabeth is Proctor’s wife, a nuisance to Abigail and Proctor’s relationship. Additionally, after Elizabeth found out about the affair, she fired Abigail, thus ridding Abigail
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is set in Salem in a Puritan community. John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend Hale, Reverend Paris, and Abigail are the main characters. The book is about witchcraft or what the town thinks is witchcraft. John Proctor is the tragic hero because he is loving, loyal, authoritative, but his tragic flaw is his temper.
John Proctor plays the leading role in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. He was persistent, honest, and full of integrity. He was simply, a man with pride. A wise woman once said, "Do what you feel in your heart to be right--for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't." (Eleanor Roosevelt). Proctor was the protagonist of the dramatic piece of literature.
By making a false affirmation, John Proctor would be “signing the book of the devil” (Popkin 318). For John Proctor to sign the sheet, he would be assigning himself to the dark acts of witches, which would have been false. By confessing to witchcraft John Proctor would be destroying his family name by associating it with the Devil. John Proctor would rather die a truthful, honest man that his children could look up to than one who lied to save his own skin. This contrasts a man such as Reverend Parris, a church establishment figure, whose only desire is to stay as the head of the local church. John Proctor would take death before he would associate himself with
Early on in the play, the reader comes to understand that John Proctor has had an affair with Abigail Williams while she was working in his home. Abigail believed that if she got rid of Elizabeth Proctor, then John Proctor would become her own. John Proctor had an affair with Abigail, but for him it was just lust, while Abigail believed it to be true love. She told John Proctor that she loved him, and once she destroys Elizabeth, they would be free to love one another. John is horrified at this, but can do nothing to convince Abigail that he is not in love with her. Because of Abigail's twisted plot to secure John for herself, Elizabeth is arrested. John Proctor has to wrestle with the decision of what to do. He knows that he has sinned; yet he does not want to hurt his beloved wife. This is partly why he is willing to die. He knows he has already sinned.
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.
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.
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
John Proctor a well-respected man in the city of Salem has a deep secret that plays a major role later on in the story. He had an intimate affair with a younger single girl named Abigail which he regrets greatly. Proctor shows his disgust when he argues with Abigail by insisting, “Abby I never give you hope to wait for me” (page168). Proctor exclaims that he surely regrets his sin and doesn’t want Abigail to think that he loves her and not his own wife. Although Proctor may still have feelings about Abigail he reassures her that he will never have emotional relationships with her ever again. He had the ultimate opportunity to get back at Abigail and stop the witch trials from happening when he meets Abigail alone in the woods; upon their encounter she confesses to John, “We were dancing in the woods last night and my uncle leaped in ...
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.
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.
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.
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...
Proctor’s confession to having seen Satan is fake, and without the confession he must be executed. Proctor’s confession is soon to be revealed false when he states: “ You will not use me! I am no Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor! You will not use me! It is no part of your salvation that you should use me!” ( Act 4 Lines 281- 283). John’s decision to keep himself honest, while at the same time, wanting to confess, leaves him with a magnitude of frustration aimed at himself. With the option to save himself by lying and confessing about having Satan visit him, John feels that this is his chance to prove to himself that he is not a fraud. John’s decision to destroy the signed confession causes him to forgive himself and not to think of himself as a