John Proctor Ethos In The Crucible

The speaker John Proctor, in the playwright The Crucible by Arthur Miller, is portrayed as a noble, and well respected Puritan man. However, it is later revealed that he had an affair with Abigail Williams, as she turns the whole town to chaos to be with him. When Elizabeth Proctor is accused of witchcraft by Abigail, Proctor uses logos to convince the court especially Danforth, that his wife is innocent and the girls were lying about their accusations. Yet, the mass hysteria has engulfed the court, making any use of logic useless. So, he uses pathos to appeal the court, tarnishing his name. To his discontent, none of these tactics work leaving his main purpose a failure. As Proctor is defending the life of his wife, he utilizes Mary Warren, to logically explain what is happening in Salem and supporting it with his credibility. As Mary Warren testified she swore ¨that she never saw Satan;... And she declares her friends are lying now¨, attempting to reason with Danforth, nevertheless

He finally admits to Danforth that he has known Abigail “in the proper place where my beasts are bedded” , ultimately stating his confession about the affair he had with Abigail, committing a major sin in Puritan ideology (Miller 110). Proctor in confessing about his affair, he astonishes the court and making Abigail furious about what he had admitted to. However, Abigail attempts to lie to the court, denying any claims of any such event.Yet , Proctor exclaims “I have made a bell of my honor. I have rung the doom of my good name - you will believe me, Mr.Danforth!” (Miller 111). As he tarnishes his name and reputation, he tries to relate it to Danforth as he himself has a mighty reputation he wouldn't want to lose, as he just did. Ultimately, his attempts were futile and his wife was not freed from their