The Crucible Argument

proctor tries to completely deny the affair he tells Abigail they “Never touched.” Abigail tried to argue and bring out the truth but Proctor keeps on denying it. Proctor will do anything to keep his affair undercover. Throughout the play Proctor realizes

Even if Proctor did not want anything to do with Abigail, he still made Abigail obsess over him which caused her to believe she was destined for him, and Elizabeth was stopping them from being together. Proctor should have spoken about the accusations about falsely admitting to being

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

The Crucible by Arthur Miller In the play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, the play took place during the real Salem Witch Trials between 1962 and 1963. The play is similar to the real event, however in some parts in the play there was exaggeration of the characters and a few parts were changed. In Salem there was major conflict brewing and John Proctor is caught up in it. In the beginning of the play, Proctor is introduced as a husband who has committed an affair with an extremely younger girl by the name of Abigail.

Proctor fell in love with Abigail’s persistent attitude and would come join her at night. Elizabeth knew something was wrong as she felt him distance and casted Abigail out onto the streets since she was their maid at the time. Abigail lied and told people it was because she did not want to be a servant for the Proctors. She became furious with Elizabeth Proctor so much that she went against her own religion and danced in the woods while drinking chicken blood in hopes Elizabeth would die. Proctor told Abigail “Abby, you’ll put it out of mind.

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.

In Act One of the play, Abigail says to Proctor “I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I come near!”(Page 470). Then, Abigail mentions “Abigail (with a bitter anger). Oh, I marvel how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be-”, referring to Elizabeth, Proctor’s wife and the playwright writes “Proctor (angered-at himself as well). You’ll speak nothin’ of Elizabeth!”(Page 471). Proctor responds the way he did because the reader knows that Abigail is telling the truth referring to the affair, and he is denying everything she says to keep his reputation and not let the secret get out.

( Miller 23). If Proctor hadn’t had an affair with Abigail this scene would not have happened. Abigail is jealous she can’t have Proctor and is trying to convince him that he still has feelings for her. Abigail is putting thoughts into his head, trying to control him, which John decides to ignore and tell her it's over. This decision doesn’t agree very well with Abigail, turning out to be bad news for Elizabeth.

In Act 1, Abigail says “...let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word about the things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a point reckoning that will shudder you…” (20) This quote shows how evil and psychotic Abigail really is. To get Proctor back, she gets his wife convicted of witchcraft. But, after all she went through; she did not get Proctor because he was hanged. She managed to use the fear of others as

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).

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.

(p. 3) During the time Arthur Miller was writing the Crucible, the fears of Communism was a big problem in the United States. Many people, including Arthur Miller himself, were questioned and suspected of being a Communist. John proctor may have inspired Arthur Miller with that problem of the hunt for Reds enough that he wrote the Crucible. In the biography of Arthur Miller it says, “The Crucible was not successful in its first productions.

It is discovered earlier in the play that Abigail and John Proctor had an affair while she worked under him. She still remains to be in love with him although he has lost all feelings and decides to stay loyal to his wife. This leads to Abigail wanting to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor and she is willing to do anything to do so. In act two after Hale visits the Proctor home to question their relationship with God, Cheever walks in with a warrant for Elizabeth’s arrest. After John asks who charged his wife with witchcraft, Cheever responds with “Why, Abigail Williams charge her”(Miller).

He cared greatly about his family and wife even though Elizabeth was often distant towards him. In the end of the play, Proctor chooses to die rather than sign his confession, ratting out his friends and ruining his good name in the town. He did this to protect the reputation of his children so they won’t have to grow up with a lying father. Lying went against Protctors’ views and that ideal is prevalent throughout the entire play. It is revealed that as soon as he had an affair with Abigail, he confessed to Elizabeth the next day because of the guilt he was carrying around.

Proctor feels bad about his affair with Abigail, but Elizabeth still has a lack of trust because of it. Arthur Miller allows this quote to be very powerful, because it gives the reader insight as to how their relationship is going in regards to the affair. This is the main example of one of Proctor’s major flaws, because he feels terrible about it and eventually leads to his death. If John Proctor never mentions his affair with Abigail Williams in the courtroom, he would have never gotten to the point of hanging. John Proctor clearly trusts Elizabeth, and believes that she is a good woman.