In the play “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller several characters risk their reputation in many different ways. One specifically, standed out the most. According to dictionary.com, “reputation” means “the estimation in which a person or thing is held, especially by the community or the public generally; repute.” In this town, reputation plays a major role. With lies bashing from left to right it is quite difficult to believe someone who is confessing without evidence to prove he or she is not guilty.
As the whispers grew louder in the town of Salem, the accusations grew as well. John Proctor was a man who stood up for what he believed in. Throughout the play we see fingers being pointed at each other trying to see who can be blamed for witchcraft.
…show more content…
In many cases, the love can not be restored or ever looked at the same. It takes a lot of courage to own up to one's mistakes and forgive that person and soon that person forgive themselves. From start to finish, John Proctor was reminded of his mistakes. Tough he was well aware of his mistakes he always felt guilty and hated himself. Proctor: “On the last night of my joy, some eight months past. She use to serve me in my house, sir. A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. I beg you, sir, I beg you see her what she is. My wife, my dear wife, took this girl soon after, sir, and put her out on the high road” (Miller 110) Proctor confesses of lechery. He also explains why Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft so at the end of the day Proctor and Abigail can be together. Once again Proctor goes above and beyond to prove his wife is innocent, despite his good name being stepped on. Proctor: “ 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) By Proctor confessing his sins, his reputation goes down the drain. He lost the respect he had from his dear old town, but gained the goodness of his dear
John Proctor is a witch who participates in adultery. John Proctor was the very sole reason for the hysteria in Salem. If it were not for him, the witch trials would have never happened. He could have ended the mass hysteria in Salem by coming out about everything sooner, ending things with Abigail who was, in fact, a minor, and being a man and putting a stop to it all since he had the power to do so. Proctor was initially a well-respected member of the community.
Characterization John Proctor: John Proctor is an old farmer who is the protagonist of this play to be the one to resolve the conflict of the story. In the beginning of the play, John is very conservative as he firmly denies the possibility of witchcraft and tries to stay away from being part of it. He has a round personality, for he has multiple sides such as high self-esteem and short temper, described as that he “cannot refuse to support to partisans without drawing their deepest resentment” (69). When he is discussing possible approach to address the wrongfully accused people of Salem, he is faced with an external conflict of standing against the radical court to prove that his wife Elizabeth his innocent of being part of the witchcraft.
Now he shows integrity for his mistakes. To prove John Proctor words, Danforth asks Cheever to bring Elizabeth to the court. When Elizabeth start to lie about adultery, we see John Proctors feeling about what he was done, he fills very bad and on responsible for things that he did in the
In “The Crucible,” John Proctor has faced situations that can risk his name and reputation. He has built up a lot of respect for his name, which makes it difficult for him to give
Reputation was a constantly reoccurring theme in The Crucible throughout all the characters. John tries to tell the truth without telling the truth to protect his
John Proctor displays major feelings of guilt throughout the play. In the play “The Crucible” the author says “Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby”(Miller 450).
Matthew Raeter LA ll Honors Mr. Novak December 5 2022 The power of Reputation Throughout the historical fiction story “The Crucible” we see Arthur Miller uses difference in ideas Mr. Proctor’s world crumble, from the outside while he can do no more than just watch. Nearly everything we see Proctor cares for gets hurt or damaged in some way, First his wife begins to distrust him and hate him because of an affair he had with Abigail Williams. In The Crucible Proctor deals with the guilt of the affair he had with Abigail and how this sparks Abigail's control of Salem through her Manipulation and her given power of the people by them because of their misguided trust.
Proctor says, “In the proper place - where my beasts are bedded. On the last night of my joy, some eight months past, she used to serve me in my house sir” This act of confession shows how much he loves Elizabeth and what he’s willing to do to protect her. Abigail had told proctor that she had never seen any spirits, but she had told him when they were alone. Proctor had to confess in order to prove that abigail would want to hurt Elizabeth and she had been lying about the witches and the devil.
John Proctor here is reinstating that he wants to continue if he has his name and if Danforth and the court cannot provide that to him he does not know how he could possibly go on. Based on the quote John’s quality of life would eventually prove to be dreary if he did confess as he would feel like he no longer had a soul. Although John knew it would be a risk for him to confess his wife helped convince him that life was worth living, but it’s his own choice. Elizabeth sorrowfully states to John “Do what you will. But let none be your judge.
By looking at The Crucible by Arthur Miller one can see that the characterization of John Proctor reveals the theme of reputation and integrity, which is important because refusing to tell lies to protect his reputation and stop delirium from spreading throughout Salem. John Proctor states that the woman of Salem who have been locked up for witchcraft:”Excellency, does it not strike upon you that so many of these women have lived so long with such upright reputation”(3.1.305-309). Proctor represents reputation because he would rather die than have his reputation downed to a victimizer. Protecting his reputation motivates John Proctor to deny that witchcraft exists in the village. All he hears is crying out of screams and wailing which is a cause of the Devil 's work: “What 's she doing?
He realized that he didn’t need the support from his wife to make the most honorable decision. John was hung for not confessing. Yet, his legacy of fighting for what you believe in still prevailed. Proctor’s death displayed great perseverance, which is an attribute, reflected in the American
John Proctor never settles for keeping his opinion or what he thinks is right to himself. He knows telling Danforth that he is guilty for adultery won’t help his cause but it shows his desperation to win the case in order protect his wife, Elizabeth. John Proctor was sick and tired of watching Abigail win with a lie, in this case he spoke the truth knowing his consequences. John states, “Excellency, forgive me, forgive me. She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave!
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
Reputation is the beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something. Reputation can directly correlate with pride, which is a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one 's own achievements. Reputations are very important to the characters in The Crucible and if they want to preserve their reputation, through pride, they do whatever is necessary to keep it. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the characters John Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Judge Danforth all show dramatic actions to preserve their reputations, each of these characters either hurt themselves or others by being prideful and dishonest for the sake of their good name. There are several ways that Abigail Williams shows her objective of preserving her reputation in the book.
At the beginning of the play, John Proctor is depicted both as a proud man who kept his affair a secret from the public to protect his name, and an honorable man who built the Salem church. Before Elizabeth Proctor was accused, John Proctor tried to distance