John Proctor's Personality In The Crucible

Overall, Acts One and Two of The Crucible were very well written and achieved the author’s purpose of expressing the unreasonableness of McCarthyism at the time while keeping the audience entertained.One way Miller was able to accomplish this purpose was through developing the individuality of characters. I really liked how he made each character have a very individual personality. Miller developed these personalities through the dialogue between characters and also with authorial intrusions and stage directions. One example of this is when Mary Warren says, “Abby, we’ve got to tell. Witchery’s a hangin’ error, a hangin’ like they done in Boston two year ago! We must tell the truth, Abby! You’ll only be whipped for dancin’, and the other things!”

21). This quote shows the reader about John’s personality and also a little bit about what he looks like, which is hard to do with just dialogue. One stage direction that also helps to develop John’s personality is, “Then he lifts out the ladle and tastes. He is not quite pleased. He reaches to a cupboard, takes a pinch of salt, and drops it into the pot. As he is tasting again, her footsteps are heard on the stair. He swings the pot into the fireplace and goes to the basin and washes his hands and face,” (Miller, pg. 52). This stage direction shows that John doesn’t want to let his wife know that he didn’t like the soup, and fixed it himself without her knowing. This shows that John does care for his wife, despite having an affair. All of these examples help to develop very individual characters which, in turn, add to the story and make the reader see how Miller viewed the absurdity of the Salem witch trials and McCarthyism. They also help to keep the reader entertained, as I know that these characters engaged me in the story and made me want to keep