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John Proctor's Reputation In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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The prominence of one’s name or reputation in the Crucible by Arthur Miller is a vital one. In the restrictive Puritan society of Salem, one’s reputation is established through the demonstration of their honesty, hard-work and strict adherence to the Christian doctrine.

Reverend Parris is the first character in the play that openly addresses the importance of his reputation to himself. Even though people dislike his personality, they respect him for his strong belief in Christianity. He is unfavourable of his name getting defamed in the town even when he has seen the girls and Tituba attempting to perform witchcraft:
Later in the novel when he suggests a stop on the witch hunts to Danforth, he is afraid that if he reveals too much, he would himself get accused of being associated with the devil. Because he is respected solely for his strong belief in the religion he cannot afford to lose his reputation.

John Proctor is a key character in the play whose reputation gets overshadowed by the extent of his internal conflicts. While he is a man of firm morals and beliefs, his extra-marital affair is the cause of the sin he has to carry upon himself. In addition to his internal conflict which is his guilt of adultery, the fact that he is forced to reveal his affair in order to prove his wife’s innocence, haunts him. He is engulfed by the thought of him having to reveal his crime in front of the court judges. When he finally admits to being an adulterer, he exhibits his
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