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John Proctor

sympathy essay

introduction

role in the play

Arthur Miller's ‘The Crucible’, is a parable that explores our fluctuating sympathy for the character, John Proctor.

summary

The play revolves around a true story, the witch hunt in a puritan society, Salem, that occurred in 1692 which Miller uses as an allegory for McCarthyism (making accusations without substantial evidence), which was happening at the time he wrote the play in the 1950s. Miller portrays this story through Abigail, a girl who is vengeful and makes false accusations throughout Salem, and Proctor, the one character who stays tied to the truth against the corrupt authority while the town plots against him, unfortunately ending in an execution, which makes him a tragic hero and a sympathetic character.

themes

His character evolves through many themes such as the power of lies versus the importance of truth, corruption versus integrity, religion, forgiveness and loyalty.

description

point

From the outset, Miller highlights Proctor's character as complex,

point

evidence

“He is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time but against his own vision of decent conduct."

evidence

analysis

the characterisation of Proctor straight away is that he knows his wrongdoings and is ashamed of his flaw, to care so much about his name and reputation, and Proctors temptations to Abigail Williams, for which he feels guilt. It may also foreshadow the conflict between his beliefs and Salem’s beliefs, sadly resulting in his death due to the ruling of the court because of his misconduct. It highlights that Proctor is an individual against the society in salem, mainly the court, as they oppress the people living there:

"Proctor, respected and even feared in Salem, has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud"

This suggests, that no matter how many people think of him in high regard, he has still let down himself and sees himself as deceitful. We feel sympathy for Proctor as he knows he has done wrong and is self-aware that eventually leads him to unfortunate circumstances. This intertwines the themes of morals as he is torn between what is right and his temptations, remorse as he feels a lot of guilt towards elizabeth, his own integrity in the town which he deeply cares about. Further in the play forgiveness and redemption.

analysis

act 1

act 2

acts

act 3

acts 1, 2, 3, 4

act 4

Proctor is initially faced with Abigail, the girl with whom he cheated. She is very manipulative and is filled with lies to get her way in Salem. The audience may start to lose sympathy for him at this point as he is showing mixed signals towards her. At first he seems tempted by her, “i may have looked up” indicates that he still has feeling for Abigail and surprises the reader as he is seen throughout the play as well respected. However he regains our appreciation as he defends his wife:

“[angered- at himself as well] You’ll speak nothing of elizabeth”

Proctor’s inner conflict, guilt and remorse are evident and he seems to be trying hard to do the right thing. The stage direction suggests that he knows what he’s doing is wrong and he is annoyed at himself for letting temptations get the better of him. It highlights the loyalty he has for his wife and we feel sympathy as even though his affair is unacceptable it shows that his character has a flaw, a weakness. In John’s ordinariness we can see ourselves: we pity his plight whilst fearing that we could find ourselves in a similar situation. This makes Proctor more relatable and a realistic character and his fight for redemption continues all through the play.

act 1

Our sympathy grows for John in Act 2 which is set in his and his wife, Elizabeth’s home. Their relationship is filled with tension and he is trying to do right but as an audience, we understand that Elizabeth feels betrayed and hurt. As he tastes some of Elizabeth's prepared food it is perceived that he does not like it but as she enters, he praises her, “it’s well seasoned” highlighting the overwhelming sorrow for this couple and that he is trying everything to not hurt her feelings and regain trust, even an insignificant thing like food. Yet, as the dialogue between the pair continues we start to lose sympathy for John. As it unfolds, we see the true strain and conflict in their relationship, he becomes angry towards Elizabeth as he feels he is trying his best and does not comprehend that she is still hurt from the affair in the past:

“Spare me! You forget nothin' and forgive nothin'. I cannot speak but I am doubted, every moment judged for lies, as though I come into a court when I come into this house!”

We are disappointed with Proctor as he cries this as he seems to show no empathy towards his wife and he feels that her melancholy behavior is unnecessary and he seems selfish. His angry tone is shown through the exclamation points to show his cries of desperation to please her and she is not accepting it. The use of the word “court” is significant to show his oppression, even in his own household, as it foreshadows his unfortunate position later on in the play. We do not feel sympathy towards him when he says this to his wife as we understand how hard it must be for her to forgive him. However, we feel frustrated at this point in the play as we still have some sympathy for his position as he knows he can stop the lies in Salem; he does not want to compromise his name as he knows abigail is lying for vengeance. He would have to reveal his affair if he spoke out not knowing whether or not to go to court due to the terrible corruption and lies the girls tell. Yet he cannot believe that his lustful affair has begun a downward spiral of events and we share his horror and difficult position. We have an emotional attachment to their relationship so when Elizabeth is taken away due to Abigail’s accusations, the audience stand with Proctor in his position against the corrupt authorities.

act 2

The climax in the play is when Proctor confesses of adultery and elizabeth-who is always seen as truthful- denies this to the court contradicting his confession. Respect and sympathy grows for John Proctor in Act 3 as he confesses the truth about his affair to save his wife. This makes him very courageous as we know how important he thinks having a good name is and after this is known around Salem he will no longer be respected.

“[trembling, his life collapsing about him]: I have known her, sir. I have known her.”

The stage directions expresses how immensely difficult it is for Proctor to admit what he has done and how much he thinks it will ruin him. The pace of the scene is fast and frantic and it builds tension through the passionate conversation between Proctor and his wife as they know his confession will ruin his life completely.We feel intense sympathy after he confesses something so terrible as the court still chose not to believe him. This highlights the corrupt authority because why would anyone say that they have committed adultery if it was not true. This links to the corrupt authority that Miller experienced while writing the play in the 1950s during Mccarthyism. At the end of the act he cries, ”you are pulling down heaven and raising up a whore.” This was Proctor's last desperate attempt to change Danforth’s mind as Proctor explains to him that he is giving power to vengeance. The juxtaposition between danforth and proctor is highlighted through the truthful yet frantic attempts and danforth's composed yet crooked mindset. Now Proctor is finally broken as there is no other hope. He has destroyed his last shred of respect in order to unveil the truth. He doesn’t believe in God anymore which shows the utter disbelief he has in the court. This highlights the importance of reputation and bravery in Proctor's character and the contrast between Proctor’s voice of reason and the corrupt, blind court.

act 3

The play reaches a point in the final act where we see a whole different view of Proctor as he has not been given the opportunity to confess before elizabeth arrives. We see the downfall of his character as he is desperate and his stubbornness is eating at him as he cannot decide whether to lie and demolish his good name in Salem and betray his friends but live or die a respectful and honest man. As an audience we feel sympathy as we see his inner conflict and debate as we know he is right yet everyone around him is hysteric and believe that he is the devil:

“He is another man, bearded, filthy, his eyes misty as though webs had overgrown them”

This statement displays the unfortunate change in Proctor's character and the lengths he has gone to save his wife. He is a completely different man which was once powerful and well respected, but now, the court wants him hanged. The stage directions, “in great pain”, “in great agony”, “with a cry of his soul” indicates his impossible decision and the terrifying position he has put himself in deciding on whether to confess. This creates deep sympathy to the audience as we see his distress in deciding what to choose as we know that there is no happy ending for Proctor no matter what he chooses. We are torn, we want Proctor to live and confess, but we desire that he remains a virtuous man so he would have to compromise his honour, therefore he chooses instead dying a hero's death. John’s weakness is his inability to accept his fate if it would reduce the dignity of his character and his wife knows this as she says, ‘I cannot judge you John’, implying that she understands what he has to do and she accepts it. Ultimately, his flaw is not his sin with Abigail, but instead his incompetence to sacrifice something as seemingly small and insignificant such as his name and honour in return for his life. His tragedy is made more poignant by the impossibility of victory as he is up against superior corrupt enemies working against him and the importance of proctor who symbolises truth and goodness versus danforth and the rest of the court whom symbolises powerful evil and lies.

act 4

Miller defines the tragic hero as an average man who must have a flaw that leads to a catastrophic downfall, which is exactly the part that John Proctor's character plays in ‘The Crucible’.

conclusion

His final decision makes his friends and the audience admire him, as he tears up his confession which would have given him the chance to live on: “I have three children- how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends” his final cry is upsetting as a reader because he is talking about his family and friends as though he will see them again that we know will not happen.

Our sympathy for John Proctor has fluctuated during the play and he has weaknesses and temptations which makes us frustrated, but his final decision shows that he is good and true man. The contrast between the integrity of Proctor and the corrupt court embodies what was happening with Miller during his writing of the play in the 1950s and the importance of mccarthyism in society as he was in the same position as Proctor when being accused of Mccarthyism in court. It depicts the hysteria surrounding communism in 1940s/50s America. He wrote this purposely as an allegory to display the power of mccarthyism and why it should not be happening again like it did in the late 1600s. His celebration of Proctor’s admirable heroic struggle indicates how he wants to inspire people of modern day America to have recognised the absurdity of the communist witch hunt and stand up to it, in the same way that Miller himself and Proctor did.

key words

key words

Tone

Tragic hero

Allegory

dramatic irony

direct/ reported speech

Respected

Truth

Redemption

Determination

Flaw

Moral

Parable

Admirable

Rational

Honourable

Integrity

juxtaposition/contrast

Loyal

Family man

Stern

Strong

Intellectual

No amount of power you have can stop peril when mass accused

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