Essay †Analyse of John Proctor from Crucible Essay

John is a flawed man. How, in spite of this, does Arthur Miller develop his character so that we admire him more and more as the play progresses? ‘The crucible’, by Arthur Miller, is a play that clearly shows many human struggles. Many of these come about as a result of the strict puritan society, in Salem, Massachusetts, in the 1660’s witch trials. The first factor that the audience come across that start the hysteria is when some girls are caught dancing hiding in the woods. Because of how sinful it was to be seen doing ‘unchristian’ things, one of the girls, Betty, got so scared of what could be the consequences that she just lied down on a bed for 13 hours without moving. Miller shows through the play, how people would comment on this fact referring to witchcraft, leading everyone to believe in the false accusations. One of the main roles on the play is that of John Proctor. He initially gets involved on Betty’s case for his authority and respect from the others. Then, Miller presents Proctor as a lecher who abused the love of a 14 year-old girl, Abigail Williams, who would, later on, charge on the court Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, of witchcraft imagining to get her out the way to Proctor. John Proctor, a farmer and a village resident in his middle thirties, ‘He was a kind of man of a powerful body, even tempered. In Proctor’s presence, a fool felt his foolishness instantly. ‘ (Stage directions, Act One, page 16). Since Reverend Parris is appointed to the church in Salem, John Proctor starts to create empathy against Parris’ superior attitude and greed. As well as Parris, Putnam is also an obtuse figure. Proctor clearly leaves this message on act one: ‘There is a party in this church. I am not blind; there is a faction and a party. ‘ (Parris, Act One) ‘Against him and all authority. ‘ (Putnam, Act One). Proctor uses this suspicion to provoke anger in Parris even further. ‘Why, then I must find it and join it. ‘ (Proctor, Act One). In the beginning, John truthfully tells Parris why he has not been at church recently. ‘I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church because you hardly ever mention God anymore. ‘ (Proctor, Act One). Proctor exceedingly allows the fact that he cannot associate with Parris go on across his religious side. ‘Tell me, you have three children? How come only two are baptized? ‘ (Hale, Act Two) ‘I like it not that Mr. Parris should lay his hand upon my baby. I see no light of God in that man. I’ll not conceal it. ‘ (Proctor, Act Two) John Proctor became a very guilty man with a troubled conscience, because of his affair with his servant Abigail. ‘Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby. ‘ (Proctor, Act One). Proctor has his mind set that he will not confess to anyone else about Abigail, in fear of ruining his good name and reputation. Once past the affair, Abigail became extremely jealous of Elizabeth Proctor. At the court, Abigail accused Elizabeth of witchcraft, by planning a way to look like Elizabeth watched Mary Warren make a doll and then she would have put a needle in the stomach of it, with the intention that the puppet would represent Abigail, herself. Abigail even stuck a needle into her own stomach to represent evidence. By the time Elizabeth was being arrested, Proctor, furious, accused Abigail and Parris’ revenge to be linked to his wife case: ‘If she is innocent! Why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God’s fingers? I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem – vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, common vengeance writes the law! This warrant’s vengeance! I’ll not give my wife to vengeance! ‘ (Proctor, Act Two). It is obvious that Proctor cares and respects his wife Elizabeth when he decides to bring to an end his adulterous relationship with Abigail. The caring and respectful feelings are renewed into loving devotion when Elizabeth is unjustly charged as a witch. He promises her, ‘I’ll bring you home. I will bring you home soon! ‘ (Proctor, Act Two), as she leaves. With the idea of getting his wife released, Proctor threatened Mary Warren to confess the truth to the court. She was one of the girls that got caught dancing in the woods, and because of it was helping the court to find the supposed witches. In desperation, he acted in a brutal way even physically, until she would accept to stand by him on the court and, controversially from all the things that she had already said, confess that the witchcraft accusations were all pretence. ‘I will bring your guts into your mouth but goodness will not die for me. ‘ (Proctor, Act Two)