The Crucible is a tragedy play written by Arthur Miller. In the play there was a character by the name of John Proctor; Proctor was a family man that made a huge mistake. A character named Abigail lived with proctor and his wife and his two sons. Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, is accused of being a witch and Proctor has to make a moral decision in order to save his wife. Proctor showed a difference throughout the story and those differences also relate to Kohlberg’s “Developmental Stages of Human Moral Reason.” Proctor starts at stage 4 and gradually throughout the story progresses to stage 5. Kohlberg's stage 4 states, “Judging and deciding what to do is based on fixed rules, maintaining order, and obeying authority” (stage 4). Proctor is following …show more content…
In order for Proctor to save his wife he has to tarnish his good name. Proctor says, “Your honor-what good man will cast away his good name?” (72). Proctor has to admit to having a sexaul relationship with Abigail, but in doing so he has to throw away his good name to save his wife from being hanged because of her being accused of being a witch. On the other hand they brought in Elizabeth for questioning because Abigail has refused to answer if he had a sexaul relationship with Proctor. Elizabeth gets brought in and asked if Proctor had a sexual relationship with Abigail. Proctor says worriedly, “(crying out towards her) Elizabeth, I’ve confessed!” (75). Elizabeth says that Proctor has never touched Abigail sexually. This means Proctor is accused of being associated with the devil because they think he had the devil's power to force Mary Warren to go against Abigail and her group. John Proctor shows how much he loves his wife by going through to stage 5. In stage 5 it says,“Moral action in a specific situation is not defined by reverence to a checklist of rules, but from logical application of universal, abstract, moral principles.” (from Kohlberg’s stage 5). Proctor has finally made the moral decision of telling the truth of what he has done in order to save his
By this point in the story, Proctor has achieved the conventional stages of Kohlberg's Moral Development. He is trying to follow the law and is righting his wrongs by accepting the internal punishments of his
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
Arthur Miller wrote play The Crucible, which is based on a real story; play begins in a very interesting moment and ends in a very dramatic scene. At the time, when the play was written, witchcraft was a big thing for people. People used witchcraft to accuse other people and take their property, or because they just don’t like them. The story shows us, how do characters have changed from the beginning of the play and until the very end. The Proctor is one of the main characters in The Crucible.
With accusations of witchery and his guilt of lechery, Mr. Proctor feels he has a duty to save his name for his children. He can 't stand the idea of his family suffering for the mistakes he has made now and in the past. John 's initial reaction to his wife being accused based off the lust Abigail has, he says, "My wife will never die for me! I will bring your guts into your mouth but that goodness will not die for me!" (Miller 80) John knows he 's done wrong and will do anything to save Elizabeth 's reputation.
He admitted to this to try and save his wife Elizabeth’s life since Abigail tried to accuse her of witchcraft. Proctor also believed this would have made the court realize what is happening in Salem. Which would have made them realize the mass hysteria of witchcraft that needs to be stopped. John Proctor is willing to do anything to save his wife’s life therefore when it says "His determination to expose Abigail's false accusations eventually leads him to admit his own adultery to the court. He is at his most self-aware in his final speech when he realizes the importance of maintaining his integrity.
Nothing’s spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long before” (Miller 1352). He is ultimately giving up his confession even though he knows it is not the right thing to do. A previous break to Proctor’s Christianity beliefs is when he commits adultery; however, instead of standing up for himself he gives into the court’s desire. When John Proctor confesses, his actions prove a huge weakness John Proctor has. However, his actions of confessing result in a strength.
Guilt is emotional torture that transforms one's psychological operation. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, before the Salem witch trials emerge, John Proctor cheats on his wife Elizabeth Proctor, with young Abigail. Causing him to live with an eternal shame that generates dispute. Proctor’s endeavour is to elude from his wrongdoing, but he cannot because of the disgrace he feels himself to be when around Elizabeth. Miller shows that John Proctor's emotional and behavioral conflict rises from his guilt.
By confessing to his lecherous crime, Proctor tries in vain to prove that Abigail is making false accusations to the court for the sole reason of harming Elizabeth. This is all for naught, however, as Elizabeth eventually damns them both when she unintentionally lies to protect her
Proctor’s case is ultimately not believed by the court because Elizabeth did not tell the truth, therefore he will pay the consequences of his actions according to the court. The morning before his conviction, he speaks to his wife Abigail and confesses by saying “I cannot mount gibbet like a saint, it is fraud, My Honesty is broke, Elizabeth, I am no good man, nothing's spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long before.” (Miller 126). By this quotation in the text the reader is able to tell that Proctor, who knows is going to die, expresses his disappointment in himself and asks Elizabeth for forgiveness for his crime of adultery. This in turn shows the sporadic change of proctors situation.
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 doubts his goodness and constantly seeks forgiveness. This is evident when he says "I cannot mount the giblet like a saint, my honesty is broke elizebeth, I am no good man. When Proctor finally has the bravery to go to court, despite the risk of exposure, he breaks down under the pressure of Abigails power and denounces god in frustration. As a result of this he is arrested. In act four, Proctor's integrity outweighs his will to live.
Proctor demonstrates his selfish behavior through his passion-based affair, withholding the truth his mistress bestowed upon him, and also when he choose to tear apart his confession which allowed him to remain alive to tend to his children. First thing first, in act one, scene three, the writer of The Crucible, Arthur Miller, introduces the affair between Proctor and his former house servant, Abigail Williams. Paraphrasing Proctor's own words , the affair was designed of only passion and lust (…). Proctor himself simply stated that the affair had nothing to do with love.
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
Proctor understands that he committed the heinous crime of lechery. This is why he denies his fondness of Abigail after his wife forced her out of their home. At the time he could not contain himself and made the decision to disregard his morals, wife and laws for the time being. The second sign of corruption within the society occurs when Mary Warren turns on Proctor and lies about the witchcraft being true. In fear of her life, Mary says, “My name, he wants my name.