thinks of others. He stands up for the other townsfolk, refusing to give the names of innocent citizens. “I
have no knowledge in that line. But it's hard to think so pious a woman is secretly a Devil's bitch after
seventy year of such good prayer.” He saved others, while preserving his own honor. (I speak my own sins;
I cannot judge another.)
Offered the opportunity to make a public confession of his guilt and live, he almost succumbs,
even signing a written confession. His immense pride and fear of public opinion compelled him to withhold
his adultery from the court, but by the end of the play he is more concerned with his personal integrity than
his public reputation. He still wants to save his name, but for personal and religious, rather than public,
reasons. (I have given you my soul; leave me my name!—Proctor) Proctor’s refusal to provide a false
confession is a true religious and personal stand. Such a confession would dishonor his fellow prisoners,
who are brave enough to die as testimony to the truth. Perhaps more relevantly, a false admission would
also dishonor him, staining not just his public reputation, but also his soul. By refusing to give up his
personal integrity Proctor implicitly proclaims his conviction that such integrity will bring him to heaven.
He goes to the gallows redeemed for his earlier sins. As Elizabeth says to end the play, responding to
Hale’s plea that she convince Proctor to publicly confess: “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it
from him!”
Proctor dies as a man of integrity who never sold his soul and stained his name upon confessing to
what God knows and speaks of as heathen. He lived up to be a man who ought to be given the utmost
respect, by his wife and by his fellow Salemites. Nearing to the end of the play, Proctor redeems himself
and provides a final denunciation of the witch trials in his final act.
Elizabeth who respects Proctor deeply and is proud that he doesn’t confess suggests that she too
loves him dearly. Even Mr Hale was not able to instigate Proctor in confessing a false crime and succumb
the false crime of witchcraft.
Hale Woman, plead with him! Woman! It is pride, it is vanity. Be his helper! - What profits him to bleed? Shall the dust praise him? Shall the worms declare his truth? Go to him, take his shame away!
Elizabeth He have his goodness now. God I forbid I take it from him!
Abigail Williams
An antagonist of the play, she beats Parris and Danforth with all the villainy she
possessed. In contrast to her beautiful looks, she is characterless and baseless as bastardy has ever stooped
to be that low.
Being a blatant liar, she is able to twist the situation so well that even the whole of Salem
was sent to its doom due to her hysteria. Her pretty looks can be as deceiving as her character.
Abigail it were sport, uncle!
… (innocently) A dress?
… No one was naked! You mistake yourself, uncle!
… Why, I am sure it is, sir. There be no blush about my name.
These blatant lies came about one after another suggest that Abigail is not only lying but also disrespectful
to those who take care of her by making them believe to whatever she says. In this manner, Parris was half
convinced and had the courage to run the trials and commence a witch-hunt upon
Abigail’s words.
Abigail has a large role in the play as the villain of the play, instigating the downfall of many
innocent townsfolk. While working in the Proctor’s house as a servant, she had an affair with John Proctor,
which led to her being dismissed by the latter’s wife, Elizabeth Proctor. This suggests that she was not only
ungrateful, but also in a way trying to seduce Proctor lest he bend toward Elizabeth. This leads to Abigail
directing hate towards her and targeting her later in the play.
Betty You drank blood, Abby! You didn’t tell him that!.....You did, you did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!
Throughout the hysteria, Abigail’s motivations never seem more complex than simple jealousy
and a desire to have revenge on Elizabeth Proctor. The language of the play is almost Biblical, and Abigail
seems like a Biblical character—a Jezebel figure, driven only by sexual desire and a lust for power.
Nevertheless, it is worth pointing out a few background details that, though they don’t mitigate Abigail’s
guilt, make her actions more understandable.
Abigail was a symbol of defiance. Although she knew that Salem was an entirely religion-based
community, she chose to rebel against the somewhat restrictive customs and sinned again and again. From
giving in to lust and sexual desires, to adultery and finally to lying and murder in a sense, her deeds went
against the very code of religion. A mere accusation from one of Abigail’s troop is enough to incarcerate
and convict even the most well-respected inhabitant of Salem. Whereas others once reproached her for her
adultery, she now has the opportunity to accuse them of the worst sin of all: devil-worship.
Abigail was also manipulative as she was able to take advantage of her friends, Reverend Parris
and the judges to make them believe her so that she was able to attain freedom and have Proctor to herself
after getting rid of Elizabeth. She only did this for her personal vengeance and benefit.
Abigail could be even merciless if she had the choice, by sending nineteen innocent people to the
gallows for crimes they did not commit. She was a shrewd mastermind who was opportunative, for her
benefits. Although, she is strong and determined, this does not make her a good person. She used her
intelligence in a shrewd yet cruel manner. She was thoughtless of the lives that were taken away, all due to
her. She was the root of all evil. Having Proctor was her only ambition. And when she learns that Proctor,
too, is dead when he was sent to the gallows, her utmost motive in recovering Proctor, her love, was gone.
Her will to struggle was no longer present. So, she too left and never looked to turn back to Salem.
Reverend Samuel Parris
Basically, Reverend Samuel Parris is a paranoid, power-hungry, yet oddly self-pitying figure. Parris
presents himself as a father who cares and worries for his daughter, Betty, who had been supposedly
witched. Trying to hide the fact, he does not believe it.
Parris No-no. There be no unnatural cause here. Tell him I have sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly and Mr Hale will surely confirm that. Let him look to medicine and put out all thought of unnatural causes here. There be none.
Upon deeper analysis, Parris does not actually care for Betty and her friends but is ardent in saving his
reputation.
Parris Now look you, child, your punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it.
Parris is so blinded by lies that he would not be abele to distinguish between truth or lie. He is so
gullible by allowing himself to be convinced by Abigail’s words that he was reluctant in listening to the
townsfolk and get their opinion. Although he questioned Abigail repeatedly, he never had the idea (till the
end) that Abigail could be using him for her personal benefits. But this didn’t mind Parris as he was just a
coward because he guessed that the faction would grab this opportunity and ruin him with it. By blaming
that all abominations began here, in the Minister’s house. And that would be the base of witchcraft and
Lucifer’s den.
Parris is full of greed. This can be proved due to the fact that although he earned sixty-six pounds
(which was a lot at that time), he was not happy with it and wanted more. In addition, he could not bear the
uprising faction which was against him and his authority.
Parris is dogmatic in his opinions, intolerant of opposition, and suspicious of those whom he does not like.
Parris has grown a grudge against Proctor after learning that Proctor was not hesitant in joining the faction
that was against Parris and his authority. (Why, then I must find it and join it!)
His belief in witches and his desire to punish his enemies set in motion the chain of events that leads to the
hysteria in Salem. In my opinion, he is an incapable minister who is not able to take things in his stride but
who listens to others. This suggests that he is more of a follower than a leader, although he has the full right
to make his own decisions.
Proctor You cannot command Mr Parris. We vote by name in this society, not by acreage./
During the witch trials, he pressures Danforth, the chief judge, to punish those who, in his opinion, are
possessed or in league with the Devil.
Mr Hale
Mr Hale is nearly 40, tight-skinned, eager-eyed intellectual. A young minister reputed to be an expert on witchcraft. Mr Hale is called in to Salem to examine Parris’s daughter Betty. His intimate liking toward Proctor actually stuns we, as readers, that a third party could be so understanding and is able to try and console those in need. In this case, Hale actually proves to be a upright citizen who tries to save Proctor from the noose by advising him to succumb to a false crime. His intentions were good like a committed Christian and hater of witchcraft. It is his assurance that ‘we cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise’. His critical mind and intelligence save him from falling into blind fervor. His arrival sets the hysteria in motion, although he later regrets his actions and attempts to save the lives of those accused.
Elizabeth Proctor
Elizabeth does not appear until the beginning of Act Two. She is referred to beforehand, notably in a scathing comment by Abigail. When we first hear her, though, she is singing lullabies to her children, giving us the impression of a homely woman. The atmosphere in the Proctor household tells us that she has had difficulty in coming to terms with her husband's brief adultery. She is accused by both Proctor and Abigail of being cold and she confirms this opinion of herself in the last act. But she is no fool and understands well Abigail's intentions, well before Proctor himself does. Her love and understanding of John is crystal clear in the last act when she leaves him to make his own decision over whether to confess. She undoubtedly recognizes that he will not be able to live with a decision to confess, but she allows him to come to his own realisation of this.
Danforth
Deputy Governor Danforth represents both the authority of the Law and the Church within this community. He takes his position seriously and seizes every opportunity to impress the importance of his work upon others. This is reflected in some of the long, serious speeches he gives in Act Three. His determination to enforce the Law is unrelenting. He is not interested in the individual and will not allow the work of the court to be questioned. His manner is inflexible and unemotional. It is impossible to tell why he does not accept the horror of the situation. Does he actually believe all that the girls allege? Or does he think that events have gone too far, but to stop the process would undermine his authority? Proctor has no doubt that Danforth is allowing himself to be fooled, and that he will be damned because of it
Giles Corley
An elderly but feisty farmer in Salem, famous for his tendency to file lawsuits. Giles’s wife, Martha, is accused of witchcraft, and he himself is eventually held in con-tempt of court and pressed to death with large stones.
As the start of the play, Corey is something of a comic character and Proctor deals with his argumentative tendency is a good-natured way. He unwittingly implicates his wife in witchcraft, and whilst protesting to the court refuses to name an informant, and so is arrested himself. The grim manner of his death - being pressed by great weights to try to force an answer - is poignantly revealed to Proctor in jail.
The Putnams
A bitter couple, who between them represent the worst aspects of Salem society such as jealously, small-mindedness and greed, it was Ann Putnam that sent her daughter to conjure spirits in the first place and Thomas Putnam sought to gain from the tragedy of others.
Thomas Putnam - A wealthy, influential citizen of Salem, Putnam holds a grudge against Francis Nurse for preventing Putnam’s brother-in-law from being elected to the office of minister. He uses the witch trials to increase his own wealth by accusing people of witchcraft and then buying up their land.
Ann Putnam - Thomas Putnam’s wife. Ann Putnam has given birth to eight children, but only Ruth Putnam survived. The other seven died before they were a day old, and Ann is con-vinced that they were murdered by supernatural means.
Ruth Putnam - The Putnam’s lone surviving child out of eight. Like Betty Parris, Ruth falls into a strange stupor after Reverend Parris catches her and the other girls dancing in the woods at night.
Rebecca Nurse
Francis nurse’s wife, the elderly and respected Rebecca is a wise, sensible, and upright woman, held in tremendous regard by most of the Salem community, and one of the voices of good sense in the play. Hale has already heard of her good reputation before meeting her. However, she falls victim to the hysteria when the Putnams accuse her of witchcraft and she refuses to confess.The conviction of Rebecca reveals how low the community at Salem has fallen. She goes to her death with dignity and acceptance
Tituba - Reverend Parris’s black slave from Barbados. Tituba agrees to perform voodoo at Abigail’s request
Betty Parris - Reverend Parris’s ten-year-old daughter. Betty falls into a strange stupor after Parris catches her and the other girls dancing in the forest with Tituba. Her illness and that of Ruth Putnam fuel the first rumors of witchcraft.
Martha Corey - Giles Corey’s third wife. Martha’s reading habits lead to her arrest and conviction for witchcraft.
Ezekiel Cheever - A man from Salem who acts as clerk of the court during the witch trials. He is upright and determined to do his duty for justice.
Judge Hathorne - A judge who presides, along with Danforth, over the witch trials.
Herrick - The marshal of Salem.
Mercy Lewis
Servant to the Putnam household. She is a merciless girl who seems to delight in the girls' activities. The threats Abigail uses on the other girls are unnecessary for Mercy. When Abigail eventually leaves town, Mercy goes with her.