The Crucible Characteristics Essay
Characters have characteristics, sometimes their characteristics are good and sometimes they’re bad. For example in The Crucible, we learn about John Proctor. The film begins with girls dancing in the woods, doing witchcraft. Abigail Williams is in love with John Proctor and had an affair with him. One of the girls, Betty, is ill with a weird sickness, so the girls start accusing people of witchcraft. The girls pretend to be attacked by witches’ spirits. When John Proctor’s wife is accused of witchcraft, John Proctor tries saving her, knowing that the girls are lying. Which leads to John Proctor being also accused and being hanged. John Proctor is a thinker and he’s a risk taker.
John Proctor is a thinker. In act two, page 80, John Proctor made the decision to take Mary to court with him. He used his knowledge and Mary’s knowledge to make this decision. He knew that Abigail and the girls were lying and he used that against them. He also knew why Abigail accused his wife, Elizabeth proctor, of witchcraft. He had to confess adultery, but it was worth it if he had to save his wife. As a result, John Proctor was hanged but he saved Elizabeth’s life, meanwhile Abigail ran away. There’s many other occasions were John Proctor shows his thinking. He also admitted being a witch to save his life and his friends’ lives, which was the smartest
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In act three, page 110 and 111, he admits adultery with Abigail. He took that risk to not only save his wife but to help people see that Abigail is a liar. He also to the risk of making the decision of going to court with all these information. Not only that, but he also took the risk of signing his confession, so he wouldn’t be hanged. He took big risks while trying to save his wife and friends. He didn’t know what could happen to him since this was an unfamiliar situation, but he did it anyways. John Proctor was a risk-taker and a
“I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Miller 1357). This quote is said by John Proctor, a character in “The Crucible,” who is pleading to keep his name reputable when accused of witchcraft. Arthur Miller writes “The Crucible” to portray the Salem witch trials of 1692. The people of Salem have grievances in which they need a scapegoat.
He trusts himself and goes with his gut even when everyone else is telling him something different. When he is first accused, everyone told him to confess, even though he didn’t do the crime. But he goes with his gut and doesn’t listen to them. Then, when John Proctor is in jail, they try and get him to sign a paper saying he confesses. He signs it, but won’t give it back.
In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the town of Salem is afflicted with hysteria, intolerance, and accusations that lead to death. According to philosopher Aristotle, a tragic hero possesses a tragic flaw, excessive pride, and an inevitable downfall. Protagonist John Proctor illustrates a tragic hero because he is presented as happy, powerful, and privileged, which later leads him to suffer because of his own actions. First of all, John Proctor possesses a fatal flaw, pride, which is a characteristic of a tragic hero. Proctor’s fatal flaws includes honesty and pride.
John Proctor was a man of honor and had a well respected name in the town of Salem. Sadly he died tragically but as a hero. He was hanged because he was accused of doing the devil’s work. He was given the chance to save his life if he admitted on a piece of paper that he was working with the devil but he refused to tell that lie. He wanted his sons to be able to walk the streets without being shunned from the world because they deserved better.
Elizabeth Proctor, John’s wife told John to do what he thinks is best, disagreeing with the ideas proposed by Reverend Hale, to confess to the court. Reverend Hale’s
The Crucible - Conflict Analysis John Proctor Internal: John Proctor’s most eminent internal conflict is over the sin he has committed, adultery. Proctor cheated on his wife with Abigail Williams, and this makes Proctor feel incredibly guilty because in the town, he is “respected and even feared” (19). He tried very hard, and succeeded, with keeping this moral crime to himself. He still walked about Salem as if he was “an untroubled soul,” (21) however, avoiding the sin again would be a difficult task. Abigail flirts with him, in attempt to have him for one last night, and it’s obvious Proctor has an arduous time pushing her away.
John Proctor, Deputy Governor Danforth, and Abigail Williams were worried about their reputation in town, and they were willing to commit many sins and harm others to prevent this from happening. To begin with, John Proctor was seen as a good citizen. He was well-respected among his neighbors and other people in Salem because of his upright morals. He had an affair with his old servant, Abigail Williams. He tried to keep this hidden from the people to keep his good name.
The dictionary defines a crucible as a place or occasion of severe tests or trials. During the late seventeenth century, many places around the world began to have an increased fear of the supernatural. Witch trials sparked by these fears brought great pressure upon all involved. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the people of Salem were placed under a lot of pressure as the witch trials were occurring. With pressure mounting, three men from the story each struggled in a different manner; Parris becoming fearful and cowardly, Hale undergoing a change in character, and Proctor taking a stand for what he believed to be right.
Is John Proctor a good man? From the very beginning of The Crucible, he has shown himself to be a charismatic and powerful man who is not afraid to state what is on his mind. These traits would make him out to be a righteous man to question the motives of those who accuse others of witchcraft. But his affair with the young Abigail Williams taints him because of the facts that he is hypocritical over the same sin he committed. However, in the end, John Proctor proves to be a good man with pure intentions...
Proctor motivates to learn how the truth can still not matter if it is not what the court wants to hear causing people to be killed and put in jail. John Proctor chooses to try to hide the affair between him and Abigail Williams , which causes half of the town of Salem going to jail for witchcraft. John is talking to Mary Warren when she is talking to him about the Devil being in Salem and they must find where he is:"I
The first impressive characteristic of John Proctor is his bravery. Speaking out against the “afflicted” girls in the way he did could cause serious question of him as a person. From the court’s standpoint John could be seen as directly opposing the court, which would have him jailed, or could even have him be accused of witchcraft. Also, he would have had to have known that Abigail Williams would have immediately accused him of being a witch once he spoke out against them. However, that did not stop him from delivering the truth to the court.
John Proctor never settles for keeping his opinion or what he thinks is right to himself. He knows telling Danforth that he is guilty for adultery won’t help his cause but it shows his desperation to win the case in order protect his wife, Elizabeth. John Proctor was sick and tired of watching Abigail win with a lie, in this case he spoke the truth knowing his consequences. John states, “Excellency, forgive me, forgive me. She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave!
If life was judged on the strict categorization of selfish or sacrificial, where would the majority of the people fall? In The Crucible, the character John Proctor can be seen as either selfish of sacrificial, depending on the point of view. He can be seen as selfish because he cheated on his wife while she was bedridden from sickness. Although others argue that Proctor was sacrificial because he revealed himself as a lecher to save those accused of witchcraft and because he died to save his name and the names of his friends. John Proctor was more sacrificial because one selfish action should not define a person’s life as a whole.
When people think of the play, “The Crucible”, they usually picture the witch trials and women being hanged, but Arthur Miller depicts the witch trials in a completely new light. He shows through a story that the witch trials were much more than just people calling others witches. There was deceit, pain, greed, and more. Through the play, we follow the character, Abigail, observe her actions and their consequences. We witness the lives of people she impacts, what happens to them, and how many times she lies to get her way.
John has the conscience of an honest man even though he has committed a severe sin, which he hides, adultery. Because of this his name is tainted, making the reader doubt the goodness in him. When Proctor reveals the truth in court, we are surprised because he has confessed knowing it will blacken his name, and he has done this in order to save his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. Because of this we are able to see that Proctor bears responsibility for what has occurred. However when he confesses, Abigail turns against him and accuses Proctor of being a witch.