In Act 2 it starts with Proctor and his wife. His wife is Elizabeth and it is the first time we see Elizabeth. We get introduced to Elizabeth and we can see that Proctor has nothing but the utmost respect for her and he tries to be a good husband even though he has committed a great sin. It seems to me that Elizabeth feels she has to prove to Proctor that she is a good wife. I feel she knows that John wont commit the sin of adultery again but she blames herself her him doing it the first time. It seems to me that compared to Proctor Elizabeth seems less sure of herself and that she thinks she has less power. When she finds out about Proctor and Abby she is not angry but she looses faith and she is dis-heartened, but when she does this Proctor tries to show his innocence and blames Elizabeth for being too suspicious. “ Spare me! You forget nothin' and forgive nothin'. Learn charity, women. I have gone tiptoe in this house all seven month since she is gone. The tension between the two has been fizzing and building for a little while now and we learn how Proctors lechery has affected the relationship between the husband and wife. It has made it difficult for Elizabeth to trust Proctor. She is feeling betrayed and resentful. She feels letdown. But as this is happening she wants to save the relationship and is faithful to Proctor.
In this Act Proctor once again shows his strength. His anger towards Mary Warren is frightening and we remember how strong and fearless a character he is."As soon as he sees her, he goes directly to her and grabs her by her cloak furious." Soon this anger is drained by curiosity, he’s eager to know what has been going on in the Court. Proctor expresses his opinion of witchcraft. He thinks it is rubbish and stubbornly doubts Mary Warren’s claims of people being condemned. Mary is strained by his disbelief and has to persuade Proctor of the goings on. I think Mary Warren is very brave to stand up to Proctor, as he’s the man that he is. I think Proctor feels shocked and feel disgust towards Mary who thinks that she can belittle him. Proctor has a lot of respect for Reverend Hale and he feels quite threatened and nervous although he tries to keep in his good books. "No, no. We are not use to visitors after dark, but your welcome here. Will you sit you down sir?" we now find out about another sin committed by Proctor. He rarely attends church on Sabbath day and when we find this out we wonder why. We discover Proctors disliking for Parris is deeper than we thought. Proctor is speaking as if he is hiding something. He’s put back by questioning of Hale and when he is asked to recite the 10 commandments he struggles to recite “ Thou shall not commit adultery”. We can see this is a task for him and a lot of people would now feel sorry for him. He knows what he has done is wrong and that’s why he finds it difficult to recite this. It reminds him of something he really wants to forget. I think that Proctor is a truthful and honest man. We discover this when he tells Reverend Hale that he knows about the children being sick due to witchcraft and calls it pretence. We see he only wants to do what is best. Even so early on in the play we can see his protection for his friends. He is angered by Rebecca being taken to the jails and is clearly disturbed by this decision. He is trying to stand for her innocence-
“ How may such a woman murder children?” he has the same attitude to when his wife is charged and he cannot believe Abby would do such a thing. He knows she doing it through jealousy and that she wants to take Elizabeth’s place. He tries to get Mary’s help to prove Elizabeth’s innocence in the whereabouts of the poppet. Once again we see Proctors power when he says, “Will you see her taken?” This is directed at Hale. He is blaming himself for the taking of his wife and can hardly see her leave. He promises to bring her home soon and from what we have learnt about Proctor so far we know he is intending to fulfil this promise and keep to his word. To do this he needs a lot of help from Mary Warren and will pressurise her a lot until she helps him.
In Act 3 Proctor arrives at the court with Mary who is in a bit of a state. The other characters seem shaken at his arrival and his powerful sense seems to have an effect on the whole Courtroom. He knows he is up against Danforth and at this moment you really see how brave he is. He knows he must do it no matter how much he feels threatened by Danforth. Danforth goes on to question him about lechery and why he doesn’t attend church very often and why he ploughs on Sunday. Although he is quite for a moment whilst he’s thinking he then replies and explains himself. At this point you can really see Proctors strength of character and what a good man he is. He’s willing to make a fool of himself to save his friends. “These are my friends they are also accused”.
Proctor then goes on to speak about him and Abby and why he believes that Abby is accusing his wife. Abby loves Proctor as we know but she is quick to condemn him through jealousy. She will do anything to be believed by Danforth although she still loves Proctor and you can tell that this really hurts her. He then directs the charge of murder towards Abby and compares her to Elizabeth and speaks well and kindly of Elizabeth. Proctor now seems different, as he’s not so stubborn and distant from the audience. We are now seeing a different side to him. In Danforth’s attempt to prove that Elizabeth is lying and he tests her. Elizabeth lies for her husband and there relationship isn’t exactly perfect and to try and avoid anything else going wrong she lies for him but she doesn’t know that he has already confessed. She does this to try and mend there marriage and because she loves him and cares for him. Its like a tragedy for her when she finds out that he has already confessed.
One of the most important moments in this Act is the Yellow bird scene. This is important for the audience to get a better insight into witchcraft and to see the relationships between the different people within the court. Proctor plays a most important part in this scene and he only believes what he sees and calls the bird pretence. Abby’s lying angers him and her strange behaviour we know this because he says “ Give me a whip – I’ll stop it! If we hadn’t read the play we would be a bit scared after this line but we know how he is innocent and that Abby is just lying. Also when Proctor says this we can see that he is desperate to prove his innocence even if what he says is a tad inappropriate. Once again Proctor shows everyone how he feels about Abby and her lies when he says, “ Lies, lies!” When Mary Warren turns against him he is very shocked and over reacts in what he says to Danforth. He doesn’t help himself when he speaks badly of Danforth and Heaven. He also mentions hell and in those days to go there you where a devils worker. “ You are pulling down heaven and raising up a whore”. He relates to Abby as being a whore. This part of the play is very tense. The way he expresses his opinion of Abby and what the court is doing is done excellently and he shines when he says this, its very effective. Once again he speaks his mind openly and although he isn’t guilty he makes it out as if he is. He has earned so much respect from Reverend Hale that at this point Hale quite the Court on Proctors behalf as he knows he is being unfairly treated. After he has quit the Court Proctor is sent to the jails.
In Act 4 Elizabeth is carrying a child so she will be kept for a year until it’s born. Danforth sees this as a privilege and thinks that Proctor should too but he doesn’t. Proctor is not grateful and this does not satisfy him. Danforth sends Elizabeth to talk to Proctor and soften him up and talk him into confessing to save his own neck but Proctor will not be persuaded by anyone as he is such a strong man and once he has an opinion it is difficult to change it. He’s not willing to live the rest of his life being a dishonest man. He knows lying is wrong and would rather die a truthful, honest clean man. This is a very emotional point in the play. Proctor in not such a powerful man now and we see him as a weaker man. The sight of Elizabeth is heaven to him. He wants to do the right thing and he wants his 3 sons to be proud of him and look up to him. He wants his wife and family to be proud of his decision. Elizabeth convinces Proctor that she has faith in him and when he asks her if he should lie and confess to witchcraft or tell the truth and die for it she tells him that the decision is his to make and she sets him free of her judgement. This then gives him the strength to make a decision with confidence, because his wife believes he will make the right decision. When Proctor says "I cannot mount the giblet like a saint. It is fraud, I am not that man." He means he will not lie and that he is not a man that could or would lie just to save his life. He knows it’s wrong even though everybody else would think it’s the saintly thing to do- confess. He won’t confess when he is innocent. He won’t hear herself put her in the wrong and puts the blame on himself to protect her. Proctors want and love for life is passionate and he confesses to Hathorne. Proctors tired of fighting for what is right and feels he cant do it anymore. He’s ready to give up but with his last bit of dignity he refuses for the confession to be written. He really doesn’t want it to be written. He admits seeing the devil yet he will not mention anybody else who was involved in doing the devils work. He will blacken his name but he won’t blacken the names of others. We are really seeing a truly great friend and a loyal man. “I speak my own sins, I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it”. Although there is a lot of pressure on Proctor he refuses to sign his name on paper. He says to Danforth that he cannot have his confession and name nailed on the church door because it would betray his friends who have already dies for the truth. He doesn’t want to deny it when he’s free but he knows it the only name hell have in his life and he doesn’t want to blacken it with lies. He feels he has given the Courts his dignity, pride and soul but he just can’t give them his name. He is incredibly brave and thinks of himself better than to give lies to dogs. He tells his wife to stand proud and not weep for him. Elizabeth knows this is Proctors final decision but will not do anything to make him change his mind. She will let him doe a truthful man, as he wants who will be remembered to his strength of character, loyalty and honesty.
I think my essay shows how I feel about Proctor. He was a brilliant man. He was a truthful man and he was an incredibly strong man. He stood up and said what he believed was right even if it meant his own death. This was an amazing thing to do and took a lot of courage and a lot of people would not have the bottle if they were in the same situation. He earned a lot of respect from the other characters in the play and by in Act 4 Reverend Hale shows his respect for him as well. He really believed what Proctor was saying and he didn’t believe in what the Court was saying so he quit it. In some ways these to characters are alike. Hale stood up for what he believed in just like Proctor. In recent times there was a man called Martin Luther King. Proctor and King can be compared, as they were very alike. They both believed in something and fought for it. King stood strongly for his beliefs in Racism. He had a brilliant understanding of Racism and its effects. He didn’t just fight for Racism but freedom and social change and harmony. This is exactly what Proctor did. He stood up for what was right. He was a very brave man and fought for thee freedom of himself, his friends and Salem. Throughout the play Proctor changed from a more timid character feeling restricted by his sin to such a strong possessive man that would die rather than lie. The faith his wife has a big part in his honesty. His great friend Giles Corey also died for the truth. He was a great man with so much courage. I would definitely not choose to die just for the truth I don’t I think I have so much strength. It takes so much will and I don’t think I would be able to do that. Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Corey and Hale all stood by their principles even if it meant death. I think maybe because at the beginning he makes such a big mistake he wants to be a truthful and honest man and that may be why he dies for what he believes in and doesn’t want to make another mistake. He has experienced many emotional changes throughout the play, which have made him a much stronger man. His pride and selfishness vanished and his humble side came through at the end. He’s willing to admit and live up to his mistakes so he makes the decision to die. Proctor has a lot of my respect for his courage. He in incomparable to most people. He’s such a strong and courageous man.