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John Proctor's Decisions In The Crucible

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The Crucible is a tragedy play written by Arthur Miller. In the play there was a character by the name of John Proctor; Proctor was a family man that made a huge mistake. A character named Abigail lived with proctor and his wife and his two sons. Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, is accused of being a witch and Proctor has to make a moral decision in order to save his wife. Proctor showed a difference throughout the story and those differences also relate to Kohlberg’s “Developmental Stages of Human Moral Reason.” Proctor starts at stage 4 and gradually throughout the story progresses to stage 5. Kohlberg's stage 4 states, “Judging and deciding what to do is based on fixed rules, maintaining order, and obeying authority” (stage 4). Proctor is following …show more content…

In order for Proctor to save his wife he has to tarnish his good name. Proctor says, “Your honor-what good man will cast away his good name?” (72). Proctor has to admit to having a sexaul relationship with Abigail, but in doing so he has to throw away his good name to save his wife from being hanged because of her being accused of being a witch. On the other hand they brought in Elizabeth for questioning because Abigail has refused to answer if he had a sexaul relationship with Proctor. Elizabeth gets brought in and asked if Proctor had a sexual relationship with Abigail. Proctor says worriedly, “(crying out towards her) Elizabeth, I’ve confessed!” (75). Elizabeth says that Proctor has never touched Abigail sexually. This means Proctor is accused of being associated with the devil because they think he had the devil's power to force Mary Warren to go against Abigail and her group. John Proctor shows how much he loves his wife by going through to stage 5. In stage 5 it says,“Moral action in a specific situation is not defined by reverence to a checklist of rules, but from logical application of universal, abstract, moral principles.” (from Kohlberg’s stage 5). Proctor has finally made the moral decision of telling the truth of what he has done in order to save his

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By confessing to his lecherous crime, Proctor tries in vain to prove that Abigail is making false accusations to the court for the sole reason of harming Elizabeth. This is all for naught, however, as Elizabeth eventually damns them both when she unintentionally lies to protect her

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Arthur Miller wrote play The Crucible, which is based on a real story; play begins in a very interesting moment and ends in a very dramatic scene. At the time, when the play was written, witchcraft was a big thing for people. People used witchcraft to accuse other people and take their property, or because they just don’t like them. The story shows us, how do characters have changed from the beginning of the play and until the very end. The Proctor is one of the main characters in The Crucible.

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Elizabeth, who has never told a lie, is aware of the affair and believes her husband should “tell [Ezekiel] what [Abigail] said to [him] last week… She said it had naught to do with witchcraft, did she not?” (53) Proctor chooses to protect his honour instead and sacrifice all the innocent victims. Proctors reputation means more to him then stopping the trials. ultimately he has the power and proof to stop the trials and save all of the innocent casualties but not at the risk of his affair being exposed.

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Proctor’s true feelings are exposed in this quote as he decides that being saved by a lie is worse than dying by the truth. By signing the paper, his name would be tied to witchcraft along with lies. With his wife being pregnant, John decided he wanted his child to remember him as being a good honest man and not a man of lies. Proctor’s decisions made him evolve from the beginning of the play to the end which gives rise to him becoming a tragic hero because he was forced to overcome what society felt was the right thing to do, and do what he felt was the right thing to

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Proctor after a long day of work comes home and has dinner, complements Elizabeth's food, and talks with Elizabeth about her day, and then Elizabeth tells proctor that abigail is the leading accuser in the court, accusing innocent people of witchcraft, and finally tells proctor to confess to the court but he cowardly says, “I know I cannot keep it. I say I will think on it“ (Miller 4.481). Knowing that many people will die the next morning, Proctor, restrains himself of going to the court to confess that Abigail is a fraud, thus he knows that if he confesses, Abigail will accuse him of adultery and his good name in the town will be

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Likewise, when Elizabeth is brought before Danforth to verify Proctor’s confession, she lies to protect her husband, whom she refers to as a “goodly man,” from suspicion (Miller, 113). The affair may have caused Elizabeth to doubt Proctor but both parties still care deeply for each other and try to protect each other from harm. Even in his last moments, Proctor’s last words- “Show honor now, show a stony heart and sink them with it!”- were directed toward Elizabeth and were full of love and care (Miller, 144). Proctor may have sinned but his regret over his affair with Abigail and the trouble he had brought upon his wife justifies his

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Despite the several flaws found through John Proctor's role in Arthur Miller's, "The Crucible" my analysis of Proctor's character reasons him to be a good man in the end. Within the play, John Proctor analyzes his past actions, realizing that his affair with Abigail Williams, deeply wounds his connection with his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. It is explained within the story by the author, that John Proctor's strong personality stems from his guilt. The speaker states, "He is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time but against his own vision of decent conduct" (Miller, 255).

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This affair was never fully proven, but Proctor did say, “Abby, I may think of you from time to time but I will cut off my hand before I’ll reach for you again” (Miller 1140). Abigail was madly in love with Proctor and wanted Elizabeth out of the picture so she could have Proctor all to her self. Abigail was very jealous of Elizabeth. She thought that if Elizabeth would die, she would get Proctor all to her self. She accused Elizabeth of being a “cold, sniveling woman”(Miller 1140).

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The Crucible is written by Arthur Miller, and it is a religious play of revenge, hatred, jealousy and witchcraft. This play takes place in a town called Salem, where people are very sensitive to sin and applaud death as an accurate punishment based on the amount of sins one person contains. By applying the psychological lens to the two characters Abigail and Elizabeth, differences of personality take more value than similarities. Causing opposite effects to the people around them, where one harms and other helps. Both are able to achieve the love of John Proctor through their own ways.

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It becomes obvious that Proctor feels immense guilt for what occurred between them. He wants nothing to do with Abby, but she still loves him and is willing to do whatever it takes to keep him for herself. Ultimately, Abby decides to charge Elizabeth, Proctor’s wife, with witchcraft. This is revealed when Cheever says, “Why, Abigail Williams charge her” (Miller, 77). Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft, in the hopes that Elizabeth will be killed for compacting with the devil.

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Proctor doubts his goodness and constantly seeks forgiveness. This is evident when he says "I cannot mount the giblet like a saint, my honesty is broke elizebeth, I am no good man. When Proctor finally has the bravery to go to court, despite the risk of exposure, he breaks down under the pressure of Abigails power and denounces god in frustration. As a result of this he is arrested. In act four, Proctor's integrity outweighs his will to live.

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Nothing’s spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long before” (Miller 1352). He is ultimately giving up his confession even though he knows it is not the right thing to do. A previous break to Proctor’s Christianity beliefs is when he commits adultery; however, instead of standing up for himself he gives into the court’s desire. When John Proctor confesses, his actions prove a huge weakness John Proctor has. However, his actions of confessing result in a strength.

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Proctor’s guilt is present when he, attempts to pay for his sins by giving his wife materialistic objects, hesitates to obey his wife's suggestion to accuse Abigail of false bewitchment, and breaks out in anger for not wanting to be judged any longer. The romantic relationship between the Proctor’s is undoubtedly extinguished, but even casual engagement cannot exist without tension since everything John Proctor says to Elizabeth is a symbol of repentance. He offers Elizabeth the possession of a cow and expresses “with a grin” that all he

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Proctor understands that he committed the heinous crime of lechery. This is why he denies his fondness of Abigail after his wife forced her out of their home. At the time he could not contain himself and made the decision to disregard his morals, wife and laws for the time being. The second sign of corruption within the society occurs when Mary Warren turns on Proctor and lies about the witchcraft being true. In fear of her life, Mary says, “My name, he wants my name.

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