The Salem witch trials were an event that made people act in new ways and realize new things about themselves, as we can see through John Proctor, who went from hating his actions to changing for the good, Elizabeth Proctor, who was mad at John for adultery but forgave him in the end, and with Reverend Hale, who went from accusing the good people of the town to fighting for the good. John Proctor acts as a strong man with good morals. At the beginning of the book John closes himself off and lies to Elizabeth about Abigail. After John cheats on his wife with Abigail Williams, the leader of the “so-called” Salem witches, his morals are tested. John would get mad at Elizabeth not forgiving him shown in this quote, “Spare me! You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’. Learn charity woman. I have gone tiptoe in this house all seven month since she is gone. I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you, and still an everlasting funeral marches around your heart.”(54) John is mad at himself for …show more content…
“John you are not open with me. You saw her with a crowd, you said now you”(55), says Elizabeth. Elizabeth struggles to be forgive John when he is alone with Abigail in town even though he has no feelings for Abigail. Elizabeth is reluctant to forgive John because he never told her he was alone with Abigail. Then when the trials began Elizabeth starts forgiving him when he is trying to save her from Abigail and the witches. “Do what you will. But let none be your judge. There be no higher judge under Heaven then Proctor is!”(137), Elizabeth wants John to make his own decision. The final conversation between John and Elizabeth shows that she cared for him the whole time. Elizabeth just had a hard time getting over John cheating on her. When John sacrifices his life to save the Proctor family name Elizabeth finally fully forgives John and sees the good inside of
Within the community of Salem, John Proctor is a well known member of the community who has a reputation of always doing what’s right. When he is confronted by Abigail about their affair, she insults his wife, Elizabeth, by calling her “a cold, sniveling woman…”(I.202-205). He does what is right by defending his wife’s honor by snapping back, “You’ll speak nothin’ of Elizabeth!” (I.197-198). Even
In act II John Proctor is told by Mary that Elizabeth was accused and the court has come to her to take her to jail. John shows a lot of tension with Elizabeth in the beginning of act II. “I am wondering how I may prove what she had told Me.” said John, “You were alone with her?” retaliated Elizabeth. (1116) Elizabeth suspected John of adultery and is still worried about it. John is worried if he calls out Abby then their secret of Adultery will be out. “Spare me! You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’. Learn charity, women…” (1116) In this quote it shows what John thinks about his wife after 8 months of not having Abby in their house. John’s attempts to save Salem has failed and he and his wife are sent to
However, John just becomes angered when Elizabeth does not want to forgive him for his betrayal. This makes his feeling of guilt worse, and forgiving himself harder. “I see what I see John...Spare me you forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’...I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you and still an everlasting funeral marches around your heart, every moment judged for lies.” (55) Proctor becomes desperate for Elizabeth’s forgiveness but her distant behavior makes his feeling of guilt worse, and forgiving himself harder. Elizabeth’s heartbreak causes her to think that John and Abigail are not over yet, and is stumped on the thought of whether or not to forgive him. John’s goal of making amends with Elizabeth were not going as planned. He didn’t really care for Elizabeth’s thoughts he just was in need of her forgiveness and his goodness back. This specific piece of textual evidence proves the claim because Elizabeth was telling John that she sees the way Abigail looks at John. However, John becomes determined to prove to Elizabeth that the what happened is over, but she does not believe this. John tries to be a good husband by telling her that all he tries to do is please her and make her happy. The piece of textual evidence shows that John states that whatever he does there is still heartbreak and sadness around Elizabeth’s heart. She still believes that there is more that John has not said that has happened before him and
In Act 3 you see that he is doing his best to fulfill his promise to
In the beginning of the play, John and Elizabeth’s relationship was awkward and strange. A quote from the story “Spare me! You forget within and forgive nothin” (Miller 54) which means, John Proctor to Elizabeth is explaining how she doesn’t forgive him, but in reality he doesn’t forgive himself. This quote shows his true guilt and how he hasn’t forgiven himself. Another quote that he says “You were alone with her” (Miller 53) means the lack of trust in the Proctor marriage after John’s affair with Abigail. John is upset that Elizabeth won’t forgive him and move on past the affair and Elizabeth is upset and suspicious of the fact that John was alone with Abigail. The suspicions between John and Elizabeth’s relationship, weaken and drives them apart.
Elizabeth still questions John’s loyalty throughout the play. Elizabeth comes off as an outspoken women and that isn’t really supported in the Puritan society. When convicted of witchcraft she doesn’t fight with the men because she knows she hasn’t done anything wrong. Even though she tries to do what she thinks is the best for John, she ends up saying the wrong thing and Abigail isn’t punished. Elizabeth ends up being pregnant and the trials end before she has her baby so she survives.
Elizabeth Proctor might be portrayed as only inverse of Abigail. A dependable wife of John Proctor, Elizabeth demonstrated to her group proper methodologies to be more than an observer in life. John thought of her the sweetest, most sure, and legit lady he has ever met. The point when deciding his hanging, John offered Elizabeth to discuss an occurrence that as of late happened on the grounds that he knew she might tell the complete truth, regardless of the possibility that his life was at stake. He said to the judges "Throughout her life sir, she will never lie" (Miller, Act 3). Despite the fact that Proctor submitted infidelity, Elizabeth chipped away at pardoning him due to her kind and religious heart. She never surrendered attempting to get John to concentrate on her again. For instance, she says "You'll tear it free- when you come to realize that I will be your just wife, or no wife whatsoever. She has a shaft in you yet, John Proctor, and you know it well!" (Miller, Act 2).
John Proctor felt so bad for the way he acted and the things he had done in the past and would not give up until they were made up for. John made his sin right by convincing Abigail that their relationship was over and he could no longer have any contact with her because it was such a wrong thing (Miller 22). He was devastated and embarrassed after admitting this situation to the court but begged them for forgiveness because he knew how wrong he was. “A man may think God sleeps, but god sees everything, I know it now” (Miller 110). John himself was way too harsh on his situation, punishing himself far worse than he needed. He told the court he was not worth the dust of the feet on all of those who were hanged because he does not think he deserves as much as others due to his sin (Miller143). Even his wife Elizabeth knew it was not her who needed to forgive him, but it was he himself. “I do not judge you. The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you” (Miller 55). John carried his sin with him until the very last scene of the play. As a hero, John made up for his bad ways. Towards the end of the play, when John had confessed to seeing the devil, he denied seeing anyone else there with him. John stood his ground, pleading to them that it was only him who was there (Miller 140). John made up his sin to his wife, Elizabeth, by fighting hard for her safety and for the court to let her go. He told them how much of an honest women she was, how their accusations were completely wrong (Miller 92). All of John’s heroic actions were to make up or the sin he knew he committed, which was the only way he could think to forgive himself. As readers could see, John’s self-assessment of himself was very wrong, he never saw how good of a person he really
The character is John Proctor, John is a local farmer who lives just outside of the village. In the begin John confronts Abigail about the situation between all the witchcraft talk in Salem. Abigail had mentions about how John was having an affair on his wife Elizabeth Proctor with Abigail. As a man John is he declines everything Abigail had said. On page 32 Proctor and Abigail are having a conversion and this is when brings up when her and John had touched and h had replied by saying” Aye, we did not.” Later on in the play in Act 4 Elizabeth is being asked questions about John in the court. They had asked her that if John had ever been dishonest or lost interest in her whatsoever. Therefore Elizabeth had answered the question and she hdad said “My husband-is a goodly man, sir.” on page 87 in act 3. Furthermore, when the conversation was over John had told Elizabeth when they were taking her away that he had confessed and it is okay to talk about his sins and how he had turn on Elizabeth. Which really shows how John really had enough time to change and point out his bad actions. Some might argue about how he did not really changed that much, as well as he had to confess to protect Elizabeth. But John did not ever fixs her actions before hand so he really did change or switch throughout the
It was a moot point though, because Elizabeth did the same thing for him, damning him to be tried for taking part in black magic. Only in the end did John Proctor feel any forgiveness towards himself. In his mind, he deserved the punishment he was going to endure and wasn’t going condemn anyone else in the process. All in all, John was a noble man but, warped by temptation, was made a man of slander.
Throughout The Crucible we learn many things about John Proctor. Despite learning about the sins he has committed with Abigail the reader’s tend to agree with his character and support him. John Proctor has committed very intense sins and is clearly not free of guilt which is why his decision to hang instead of falsely confess was noble.
One way John suffered harsh consequences was by suffering with his dignity and could not figure out how he was feeling about himself. “Proctor: angered at himself as well, You'll speak nothing of Elizabeth!” (202-205). In the beginning of the novel, he suffered with adultery with Abigail Williams. She held that against John throughout the novel. Abigail never let him forget the fact that he had touched her inappropriately. Abigail was the main girl in the witchcraft and dragged all the other girls in
John Proctor’s love for Elizabeth helps him tell the court about his affair with Abigail. John Proctor says, “My wife is innocent, except she knew a whore when she saw one.” (111) Abigail William accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft and John Proctor begins to fear for Elizabeth’s safety. John Proctor goes to court and tells the officials that Abigail is lying about people being witches. In order for the court to believe him, he tells them that he had an affair with Abigail when Elizabeth was sick. John Proctor wants to keep Elizabeth and her baby safe from the harshness of the court. His love shows because once he tells the court the outcome for execution may change for Elizabeth. John Proctor knows the outcome but he does not care because all he
Despite Abigail’s huge role in the Salem Witch Trials, John Proctor is a person who is clearly not innocent. Proctor himself is a smart man who can sometimes just make stupid decisions. He could have easily charged Abigail with fraud at a part in the play, but decides not to. John had an affair with Abigail when Elizabeth was ill which started Abigail on a wild fantasy. She strategically eliminated people to work her way up to Elizabeth to get her out of the way. Proctor always feels guilty about sleeping with Abigail and he is one who will never forgive himself. He feels it is his fault that the Witch Trials are occurring and that God is angry with him for being unfaithful. Despite the
Throughout the story tension between Elizabeth and Proctor are very evident. This atmosphere of apprehensiveness lasts until the end of the story, until Proctor is on his way to the gallows to hang. Elizabeth utters this iconic line before Proctor’s death in response to Hale begging her to go to her husband to plead with him. What Elizabeth means in this quote, is that for the first time in a long time, John is at peace and she will not interfere with that. John believed that if he self righteously stood up at the noose, touting his honesty before the world, it would be hypocrisy; a lie, because of the fact that he is not a good person. By the end of act IV, Proctor has made up with his wife, and has been forgiven for the adultery he committed.