What Elizabeth says also leaves proctor with a very difficult dilemma about the innocent people about to die at the hand of Abigail. Proctor’s sense of guilt begins to eat away at him. He knows that he can bring down Abigail and end her reign of terror, but he fears for his good name if his hidden sin of adultery is revealed. The pressing knowledge of his own guilt makes him feel judged, but Elizabeth is correct when she points out that the judge who pursues him so mercilessly is himself. Proctor has a great loathing for hypocrisy, and, here, he judges his own hypocrisy no less harshly than that of others.
We can also learn a lot about proctor here in the way that he and Elizabeth relate to each other after Elizabeth discovers proctors lie. They seem to have a very cold relationship as the way that they speak does not seem like the way a normal loving couple would. The talk seems very sterile, formal and unloving. The biggest example of this is when john goes to kiss her but instead of letting him kiss her on the lips as a normal couple would, Elizabeth turns her cheek and makes him kiss her there. After this fiasco the proctor household is visited by hale who is trying to find out if the they are innocent of witchcraft. Proctor tries to prove the upright character of his home by reciting the Ten Commandments. In forgetting to name adultery, however, just as he “forgot” it during his affair with Abigail, he not only exposes the deficiency of his Christian morality but also suggests the possibility that his entire household has succumbed to the evil influence of the devil and witchcraft.
Towards the end of act 2 a vital twist in the plot happens when Elizabeth is arrested by Herrick and is accused of witchcraft by Abigail. Proctor sees here that it is because of him that Elizabeth has been accused because of the fact that Abigail is jealous of Elizabeth and wishes to usurp her position as proctor’s lover by getting rid of Elizabeth by any means possible. It is because of Proctors affair that Abigail feels this way. As Elizabeth is led away, Proctor loses his temper and rips the warrant. On the surface this shows his guilt of the fact that it is his fault that she is being arrested and he is trying to make up for it know by using any means possible to stop the arrest of Elizabeth. But underneath this meaning is the fact that Proctor is losing his wife and lover, it is pure love that is enraging his list for vengeance on the court and his wanting for justice for his wife. We see the desperation of a man who is losing the one true person he loves. This is a huge opposite to the proctor that we see in the beginning of the act who seems to treat Elizabeth simply as a family organiser and shows little love to her what so ever. This is proctor realizing his love for her and we see the progression in his character from loveless husband to passionate lover.
In act 3 we see proctor attempt to get his wife back in a more legal way then attacking the Marshall as we see him take on the court and try to undermine Abigail’s newfound authority. He uses marry warren as a witness to the girls lies of being able to see the devil and how they only used this to manipulate the court to do what they wanted. Proctor is then successful in his attack and is allowed to have his wife back as she is with child she is allowed another year to live with out prosecuting as the child will need to be born. This means that proctor has now achieved what he set out to do as he has got his wife back for a year at least, he could leave now and live happily with his wife back but instead he chooses to continue his action to prove the court as wrong and injust. This shows great courage on his part and defines him as a hero as he has given up what he wanted and his life in a way to keep fighting for the justice of Salem and to keep fighting for his friends who have also been wrongly accused. This is the very definition of a hero: someone who gives up everything he has to fight for justice or his friends. This surely is a good quality in proctor.
The court then continues to prod and probe Proctor for his information and proof that the girls are liars. They then start to ask Mary Warren to prove this and when she cannot Proctor makes one desperate bid for this authority by finally overcoming his desire to protect his good name, exposing his own secret sin. He hopes to replace his wife’s alleged guilt with his own guilt and bring down Abigail in the process. Unfortunately, he mistakes the proceedings for an actual search for the guilty, when, in fact, the proceedings are better described as a power struggle. He exposes his private life to scrutiny, hoping to gain some authority, but he does not realize that too many influential people have invested energy into the proceedings for him to be able to stop them now. Too many reputations are at stake, and Proctor’s revelation comes too late to stop the avalanche. This shows the lengths that proctor was willing to go to. He was ready to commit social suicide by dirtying his good name to save the town of Salem from this great injustice and to slay the monster that he created in Abigail. This is a completely selfless act as Proctor will gain nothing from this he had already achieved his goal.
“A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. I beg you, sir, I beg you—see her what she is . . . She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance”
This quotation is taken from Act III, when finally breaks down and confesses his affair with , after trying, in vain, to expose her as a fraud without revealing their liaison. knows from the beginning that the witch trials constitute nothing more than a “whore’s vengeance”—Abigail’s revenge on him for ending their affair—but he shies away from making that knowledge public because it would lead to his disgrace. This scene, in the Salem courtroom, marks the climax of the play, in which Proctor’s concern for justice outstrips his concern for his . This re-prioritisation of values enables him to do what is necessary. But he finds, to his horror, that his actions come too late: instead of Abigail and the witch trials being exposed as a sham, Proctor is called a liar and then accused of witchcraft by the court. His attempt at honesty backfires and destroys him.
After this proctor is thrown into jail waiting to be hanged for rising up against the court and for witchcraft which Mary accuses him of. He then is pleaded with by hale to admit to being a witch even though he knows it to be a lie so that he can save his own life and life with his wife Elizabeth. Proctor does not speak to answer Hale so the court decides to bring in Elizabeth to convince proctor to change his mind and confess. After deliberating with Elizabeth whether he should he finally does and puts it down in writing. Danforth then asks for the paper to show to the rest of the town as propaganda. Proctor then sees what he is about to do and refuses and gives this answer as to why he does.
“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”
utters these lines at the end of the play, in Act IV, when he is wrestling with his conscience over whether to confess to witchcraft and thereby save himself from the gallows. The judges and Hale have almost convinced him to do so, but the last stumbling block is his signature on the confession, which he cannot bring himself to give. In part, this unwillingness reflects his desire not to dishonour his fellow prisoners: he would not be able to live with himself knowing that other innocents died while he quaked at death’s door and fled. More important, it illustrates his obsession with his good name. is tremendously important in Salem, where public and private morality are one and the same. Early in the play, ’s desire to preserve his good name keeps him from testifying against . Now, however, he has come to a true understanding of what a good reputation means and what course of action it necessitates—namely, that he tell the truth, not lie to save himself. “I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” he rages; this defence of his name enables him to muster the courage to die, heroically, with his goodness intact.
Proctor’s refusal to take part in the ritual transfer of guilt that has dominated the play—the naming of other “witches”—separates him from the rest of the accused. His unwillingness to sign his name to the confession results in part from his desire not to dishonour his fellow prisoners’ decisions to stand firm. More important, however, Proctor fixates on his name and on how it will be destroyed if he signs the confession. Proctor’s desire to preserve his good name earlier keeps him from testifying against Abigail, leading to disastrous consequences. Now, however, he has finally come to a true understanding of what a good reputation means, and his defence of his name, in the form of not signing the confession, enables him to muster the courage to die heroically. His goodness and honesty, lost during his affair with Abigail, are recovered.
In conclusion I think that john proctor is a good man as the evidence for him being a bad an evil man is made to look miniscule compared to the good he has done, especially towards the closing of the play. I think the heroics and courage that he shows and the fearless way he protects his view of justice and stands up for what he believes in shows what and honest and good man john proctor really is.