Crucible Essay

Essay #2

Of all of the character in the Crucible, John Proctor changed the most. Few, if any, of the other character went through the changes Proctor went through. He went from some farmer trying to fix his marriage, to a symbol of the courts run amuck.

Proctor was described as being in his middle thirties, a powerful man who was respected in the town. But that only describes Proctor's physical appearance, there is a passage in the play that I think describes Proctor's mental state better than I could so here it is. "But as we shall see, the steady manner he displays does not spring from an untroubled soul. He is a sinner,…,but against his own vision of decent conduct. … Proctor, respected and even feared in Salem, has come to regard himself as a kind of a fraud. But no hint of this has yet appeared on the surface…" This describes Proctor very well. In that quote you learn that Proctor has a big secret, that would ruin his reputation in the town, this secret turns out be Proctors main motivation in the beginning of the play. So with that in mind let's examine Proctors behavior through the acts, then see how he changed.

Proctor first makes his appearance in Rev. Parris's house. He has come to town to get the girl working at his house, Mary Warren. On his way to town he hears the accusations of witchcraft, which he himself doesn't believe. When he goes upstairs to find Mary he is left briefly alone with Abigail Williams, here is when you find out his secret. Apparently Abigail used to work at his house. Then one night the had an affair in the barn. Abby still has feelings for Procter, and believes that Procter has feelings for her also, this is Abbys main motivation in the play. Procter insists that he has no feelings for Abby. While alone (except for Betty) Abby reveals to Procter that they were dancing in the woods and Rev. Parris found them. Really this is the only significant event concerning how Procter changes in act one. So basically in act one Procters character is set up. You learn about his secret, and it is sort of revealed that he doesn't want to get too involved in with what is happening in town. The only important thing that happened, and will be responsible for a change in Procter down that road was Abigail revealing that nothing happened in the woods. So with that in mind let's move on to act two.

Procter changes the most in act two; he goes from not wanting to get involved in the witchcraft trial, to promising to save his wife. In the beginning of this act the situation at the Procter house is shown. After the affair with Abby, John has been trying hard to please Elizabeth. Elizabeth is still very suspicious of John though, though she won't admit it. While talking to Elizabeth John tells here that Abby told him about what really happened in the woods. Elizabeth insists that John go tell the court what happened, to stop the madness that is happening in Salem. John is hesitant though, and says he wants to think on it. While talking about this Mary Warren, through her they learn that there are now thirty-nine women in jail, and several are set to hang. Then Mary gives a poppet to Elizabeth. After Mary goes off to bed Rev. Hale comes to speak to the Procters, because Elizabeth's name was mentioned in court. Rev. Hale briefly questions each of them, and they both give answers that could put them under scrutiny. Just before Rev. Hale leaves John tells him what Abby told him. Rev. Hale asks John if he would testify to this in court, John falters slightly when saying that he will, and this seems to put a bit more doubt in Rev. Hale. So Procter has changed a little bit more and is willing to go into court, and testify that Abby is lying when she talks about witchcraft. At this point Giles Corey, and Francis Nurse come barging into the Procter household. They bring news that both of their wives have been taken to jail. This shocks Procter, and pushes him further to testify in court. The last straw, so to speak, comes when Ezekiel Cheever comes to the Procter house with a warrant for Elizabeth's arrest. Cheever tells them that Abigail charged Elizabeth. Procter becomes enraged, and tears the warrant. Elizabeth is taken in the end though. After every one is gone Procter makes Mary promise she will go to court tomorrow, and tell them the truth about the poppet. So ends act two, in which Procter goes from not wanting to get involved, to considering it, to promising it.

Act three takes place in the courtroom; here John has to make two decisions. He must decide if he is satisfied with just saving his wife, or letting the court know that the girls are lying when they say they see spirits. Procter must also decide if he is willing to admit to his affair with Abby. The act begins with Giles, Francis, Procter, and Mary coming into the courtroom. It is very early on in this act that Procter must make his decision. Danforth tells him that Elizabeth says she is pregnant. So if she shows the physical signs, she will be allowed to live another year. Now Procter must decide if he is satisfied with saving Elizabeth, or telling the court what he knows. He decides that the court must know the truth. So he has Mary tell the judges she saw no spirits, Danforth doubts this. When Danforth asks Abby if this is true she begins to say Mary has sent her spirit on them. This is too much for Procter, he then tells the court about his affair with Abby, but Abby denies it. To see who is telling the truth Danforth decides to test Procters statement that his wife will not lie. He has Elizabeth come in and asks her why she threw Abby out. She lies and says she was displeased with Abby. So Danforth believes that Procter has lied, then the girls turn on Mary again. This time Mary caves, she returns to the group, and accuses Procter of being the Devil's man. Procter sort of cracks after that, he says that he, and all of the judges will burn in hell together. So in this act Procter was willing not only to try and save every one who was accused, but was willing to ruin his reputation doing so. This is a complete turnaround from his attitude at the beginning of the play.

In conclusion Procter was the character that changed the most through the play. He went from not wanting to get involved with anything that didn't concern him, to trying to save all of those wrongly accused. He went from keeping his affair a secret, to telling the entire court to save a few. In the end Procter stood up for what he believed (that the girls were lying, and everyone was innocent), and died for it.