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Elizebeth proctor character analysis in the crucible
John proctors reputation in the crucibles
John proctors reputation in the crucibles
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Proctor by using pathos. Proctor truly wants the best for Elizabeth, and since his reputation is ruined he doesn’t want to further the hurt he has inside from confessing. He wants to keep his name because he already gave them his soul. Abigail was the main antagonist within the context of the story, she made many decisions that decided many outcomes, one being her reputation. She accused Elizabeth of witchcraft and it gave Abigail a bad reputation. Especially with Proctor, he thought that she was the worst person in the world. Not only did Proctor think she was a bad person, so did Elizabeth because she states that, “And she may dote on it now-I am sure she doesn’t-and thinks to kill me, then to take my place” (Miller, 2003, p. 58). Elizabeth
Secondly, Abigail acts like a villain when she tries to continue the affair with John Proctor. John Proctor visits Reverend Parris's house to see what the chaos is about. He then begins to talk to Abigail alone and she tries coming onto him “Give me a word, John. A soft word”. (1139) Abigail is telling John Proctor to be more kind towards her. John Proctor seems tempted but he passes up Abigail's offer. Abigail is a villain because she tries to force herself onto John Proctor to receive kindness that John is not giving to
...“confessed [himself]! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need [his] name nailed upon the church! God sees [his] name; God knows how black [his] sins are! It is enough!” (Miller 142). Johns refusal to give up his name represents the catastrophe of the play, as he tears the paper and seals his fate. Proctor was obviously unable to live a normal life know that he has given his name, pride, and reputation to the false accusations of those who are trying to free their souls of all their sins, know that there are those who gave their life away to stand up for what is right. At this final tragic moment, Proctor has at last found peace with himself. Elizabeth is resigned to the fact that she cannot stop him, as "he [has] his goodness now" (Miller 145). John Proctor finally dies as a symbol of pride and dignity for other people in society to follow.
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.
Abigail Williams is manipulative and wants everything to go her way. She is the main character and causes trouble everywhere she goes. The Salem Witch Trials is about hearings and prosecutions of people who were accused of witchcraft. In The Crucible Abigail is a no good villain. Abigail first commits adultery with Elizabeth’s husband.
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.
Elizabeth: I think she sees another meaning in that blush (59).” Elizabeth knows that there may be something going on between Proctor and Abigail. But proctor feels like he has to keep honor to his household and so he keeps everything that he feels inside and tries to hide it from his wife. Proctor does redeem himself by the end of the book. Where he refuses to have his name be used as a flag to be displayed as a symbol of the trials. This is most prominent when he is telling the judge, “
When Proctor is put on trial, Danforth brings in Elizabeth to questions about the affair. Elizabeth must feel her heart racing because his life is in her hands. The words that came out of Elizabeth’s mouth is taken seriously. When Danfourth questions Elizabeth he says “Look at me! To your own knowledge, has John Proctor even committed the crime of lechery?”(Miller 105). Elizabeth answers faintly and says “No, sir”(Miller 105). At that moment, things went terribly wrong. Elizabeth tries to protect Proctor’s name, so she does not tell the truth. Little does she know, Proctor confesses beforehand. Obviously, she does this because no matter what, she still loves him. After the trial, Elizabeth talks to John about the situation. When Elizabeth soothes John about the situation, she says “John, it come to naught that I should forgive you, if you’ll not forgive yourself” (Miller 126). Elizabeth’s forgiveness makes John want to keep lying. If he knows she is okay with it, he will deny it to others. Her opinion is so important to him because he wants the best for her. Although, he decides to confess. This proves Elizabeth does not want him to die. Finally , after everything Proctor has been through, she lies to the court, so they do not hang him. This proves Elizabeth is a loyal
In puritan society men were revered and respected where woman were second class citizens. When the town congregated for church the men sat on one side and the women sat on the other and were not allowed to talk while in church. With this information in mind it is easy to see how Abigail must have felt while working in the Proctor household and can be assumed since she was a young unmarried woman she was envious of the life she didn’t have and lusted for John. After Elizabeth learns of the affair she fires Abigail. When Abigail’s uncle confronts her on the rumor of the affair she states, “She 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
The play contained many scenarios of good versus evil, and the characters that generally possessed these feelings and intentions. But it must be understood that there were the intentions, the incentives, and then the actions taken out on a person or a group of people. Every character could either be placed in the intentions under good or bad intentions. After that, almost every character has mixed feelings of evil or good actions. The fight between the center of evil and the center of good is the foremost important of the points. Abigail Williams is the nucleus of all evil in the story. She is the one who triggers off this sense of hate in the play. She tempts Proctor into lechery, and commits unlawful acts which all are against the Puritan religion. To escape punishment for dancing, she deflects the actions and blames them on someone else, and does not care how many lives she ruins. Later when she grows into power and influence, she seems to enjoy sending these innocent people to their deaths. She takes pleasure in her lies, and thrives on the attention and power that they bring her. All these are the aspects of being the evil character, power, attention, and acts of wrongful doing. Therefore she can...
The play erupted near the beginning with many people getting ill and the accusations of people being witches beginning. Though many may not see this, I personally view Abigail Williams being the one mainly at fault. She is responsible for the young girls getting together with Tituba to conjure up spirits. To put her further at fault, though not quite so much as being a witch, she had an affair with the respected citizen John Proctor. This affair however causes her to make many brash decisions which condemn many people. She feels that Proctor loves her and wants to be with her, but can’t do so because of Elizabeth, so Abigail plots to get rid of Elizabeth in an attempt to get Proctor to marry her so she can fulfill her crazy hallucinations. When she talks to Proctor, she tries to make him see that his wife is an evil woman. “That jab your wife gave me’s not healed yet, y’know… I think sometimes she pricks it open again while I sleep” (P...
She does everything that is physically possible to get rid of her. She drinks a charm to kill Elizabeth, she stabs herself with a needle to accuse Elizabeth of a crime, Abigail also accuses Elizabeth of being a witch. The whole play, those were the only intentions that Abigail had, exterminate Elizabeth Proctor. Even though John decided to attempt to make the court look differently at Abigail and see what she has done to many people in the city of Salem. The misleading trait that Abigail has, helps her get out of a rocky situation without harm. The threatening of the girls, drinking a charm, stabbing herself with a needle, and accusing Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft are all the reasons that Abigail is also an evil individual. Abigail was the most misleading and evil character in the play written by Arthur Miller.
Her selfishness is evident when Abigail and her friends accuse the innocent people of Salem of witchcraft. She puts the blame on others, so she does not get punished for dancing in the woods. Abigail shows her anger towards John Proctor when she tries to accuse his wife and ultimately gets John killed. Her anger leads her to make the poor decisions of getting John killed, even though he did nothing wrong. She is a coward when she puts the blame on innocent people and runs away before John gets hung. Her craven attitude is the last flaw that ultimately leads her to run away from Salem. Abigail’s flaws eventually bring her to her downfall by the end of the
Proctor knows he is not going to Heaven because of his past sins. Proctor believes nothing can change by telling one more lie: “Nothing’s spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long before” (126). Proctors fate is sealed when he had the affair. There is no chance at being saved because once someone tells a lie, they are going to go to Hell according to Puritan belief. Knowing that he can never go to Heaven, Proctor would rather live his life with the town believing he is a witch than say he isn't a witch and die now. Even though Proctor has no hope for his future, he does not want to hurt the future for others. All the others condemned are good people and do not deserve to have their goodness taken away from them: “They think to go like saints. I like not to spoil their names” (130). Proctor does not have the power to seal others fate. He can only speak about himself and whether he is a witch or not. He cannot tell a lie for himself which also tells a lie about others. By lying about the others, he will change how the town views them. If the town believes the others are witches, then their families cannot live peacefully. Proctor wants them to be able to go out with their names intact. He feels hopeless about his own fate but can only decide his fate, not
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.
The true antagonist of the play is the town of Salem itself, because of the judgemental and self concerned peoples, and its oppressive views. Abigail;s outrageous actions are due to her desensitized views on death and actions otherwise viewed as unethical. From her youth ABigail recalls: “ I saw indians smash my dear parents’ head on the pillow next to mine and i have seen some reddish work at night” (Miller 20), because of this Abigail is numb to death and suffering and is in fact quite morbid. There is no problem in condemning other to death in Abigail’s eyes because she doesn’t see the issue with it. Abigail does not seem to comprehend that it is unethical to let people be hanged and stoned to death and has no issue telling others that she “ can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down” (Miller 20). Not only is Abigail desensitized to murder and death, she is also numb to other unethical dilemmas. Abigail is desensitized to corrupting the Proctor’s marriage because of her childish lust and obsession for John Proctor. Such desires can be seen through her encounters with Proctor. In regards to their so called “relationship” she says: “it’s she put me out, you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out, and you loved me then and you love me now!” (Miller 22). Abigail does not view her behavior t...