The Crucible: The Transition Of John Proctor's Character
In The Crucible, John Proctor initially portrayed a sinful man whom
had an affair, struggling to prove to his wife that he should be trusted
again. The dishonesty of the betrayal of Elizabeth and his marriage to
her changed, though, by the end of the play. This transition in Proctor's
character showed he transformed from a deceitful man and husband, to one
whom was true to himself as well as his beliefs. This paper will discuss
Proctor's change in character and his struggle with getting to the point in
his life where he was finally at peace with himself.
In Act I, John Proctor displayed his guilt about having an affair with
Abigail Williams, a young girl of seventeen "with an ...
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her any longer. She said to him,
"I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a
stallion whenever I came near! Or did I dream that? It's she put me out,
you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out, and
you loved me then, and you do now." In all of Abigail's persuasion to try
to get him to admit his love for her, Proctor replied, "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."
Proctor saying to Abigail that they never touched was his way of trying to
get through to her that the relationship between the both of them had to
end here. In Proctor's mind, saying that to Abigail was a finalization of
their affair and gave him the closure that he needed to truly forget what
he and Abigail had.
The affair between Proctor and Abigail also had made his love for
Elizabeth grow stronger. The guilt of the affair made him ...
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Proctor noticed this hesitation, and later came to realize that
something was bothering her. He also sensed their separation when he said
with a good feeling, "...On Sunday let you come with me, and we'll walk the
farm together; I never see such a load of flowers on the earth Lilacs have
a purple smell. Lilac is the smell of nightfall, I think. Massachusetts
is a beauty in the spring!" and she merely replied with, "Aye, it is."
It is her suspicion of Proctor and Abigail that had Elizabeth troubled.
When Proctor mentioned speaking to Abigail alone, Elizabeth questioned him
about it, and in reply to his excuse for being alone with her, she said,
"Do as you wish, then," losing all ...
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"The Crucible: The Transition Of John Proctor's Character." Essayworld.com. September 6, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Crucible-Transition-John-Proctors-Character/89514.
"The Crucible: The Transition Of John Proctor's Character." Essayworld.com. September 6, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Crucible-Transition-John-Proctors-Character/89514.
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