John Proctor's Reputation In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play written off the tragic, horrific events that took place in the town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The play takes place during the end of the Salem Witch Trials. Throughout the story, Miller accepts his characters based on the severity of their reputations. In The Crucible the characters are so concerned with their reputations that it causes them to lie, go to the gallows, and exert unnecessary authority in Salem. Abigail Williams showed the importance of her reputation by lying and threatening during difficult situations. When Abigail’s uncle, Parris, a powerful man in the Salem church, found the group of girls dancing and practicing “abominations in the woods: where the witchcraft hysteria

Before his confession, Proctor had brought Mary Warren to plead against her previous accusations of seeing the devil. John knew by having Mary Warren confess it would prove his wife innocent. Only his whole plan ended up backfiring due to the exaggerated acting being played out by Abigail and her followers. Mary then begins to play along, making the acting from Abigail look even more believable. “Once the court sides with Abigail, Proctor is out of ideas and begins to act himself. He pleads that he has seen the devil and sees him in the court. Proctor even goes on to compare himself to the judges, “God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together (Miller 111). Proctor is then thrown into jail. He is sentenced to visit the gallows just like the rest of the innocent people who were accused of witchcraft had experienced. Although his plan to release Elizabeth from the death sentence had been accomplished, he was now in her place. Proctor puts his reputation and life on the line to release Elizabeth from suffering for his mistakes. Proctor “chooses to die rather than destroy the reputation of people who are innocent” (2). Proctor is then sentenced to death and is hung for witchcraft. Setting his beloved Elizabeth free and home to their

The Salem Witch Trials are notorious for the abundance way accused people were handled. Meaning, if you were accused of witchcraft, you most likely got hung as a consequence. Arthur Miller does an amazing job by displaying this through the characters, especially Danforth. The Salem court had already sentenced countless people to death and now just before John Proctor brings Mary Warren, Danforth and a few of his collies are arguing about overloading issue of witchcraft. Danforth, as a defence mechanism, begins to brag about all the people he has thrown in jail and sent for hangings. He begins to ask Francis “Do you know that near to four hundred are in the jails and seventy two condemned to hang by my signature” (Miller 81). Danforth uses his powerful authority to exert unnecessary power upon the townspeople of Salem that are condemned of witchcraft. He does this to keep his hold on his powerful reputation he has in Salem. A reputation he wants to keep powerful and in