Proctor's Contribution to the Effectiveness of Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible'

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Proctor’s Contribution to the Effectiveness of Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’

By Jeffrey Li

The name ‘John Proctor’ resembles a man of utmost character and dominance. From when he first enters the scene of the play, he instantly makes a huge impact on the atmosphere on stage before he even mutters a word. No matter where you are in the Salem, there is no way you can ignore or disregard his presence. John Proctor is the heart of this play and is the key contributor to the striking effectiveness of Arthur Miller’s dark and mysterious drama.

Due to his extreme authority and command on the stage, Proctor always seems to be at the centre of conflict within the play. Whenever he appears, he is always liable to create a sense of insecurity. He is the source of tensional conflict and because of this, he has a very distinct effect on the characters that surround him. Proctor’s attendance is always made incredibly obvious and this alone gives people difficulty feeling comfortable when he is around.

One of the best examples of this is expressed when he first enters the play, giving Mary Warren quite a serious fright:

“Enter John Proctor. On seeing him, Mary Warren leaps in fright.”(p16)

As said before, he has not even muttered or said a word. His reputation and personal conveyance is enough to disturb others.

“Be you foolish Mary Warren? Be you deaf? I forbid you to leave the house, did I not? Why shall I pay you? I am looking for you more often than my cows!” (p16)

“I’ll show you a great doin’ on your arse one of these days. Now get you home, my wife is waitin’ with your work!” (p16)

These quotes emphasise that this man’s bite is just as bad as his bark. Not only does Proctor have a strong and powerful appearance, his speech also expresses his rash and rough personality. Once again – his image is enough to shatter the confidence of others surrounding him. It’s as if he is surrounded by an impenetrable aura that has the power to demolish and destroy anyone who opposes him.

Aside from his appearance and antagonistic ways of speaking, Proctor also bears an iconoclastic figure throughout the play. He is one of the few people in this story who has the courage to stand up against authority. This is probably another reason why he is the source of a large proportion of the play’s conflict.

“I may speak my heart. I think!” (p24)

People who stand high upon the social hierarchy (such as Parris) are easily irritated by the idea of someone opposing them; thus instantly creating a rivalry between the two figures. The fact that Parris is just as proud a man as Proctor creates even more tension between them.

Normally a character as powerful and threatening as Parris would have no match when it came to an argument, a person would normally whimper and surrender in fear. For Parris to find a man lower down in the social hierarchy who was willing to stand up to him was unthought-of. The conflict between Parris and Proctor was like a tug of war between two giants of equal strength with neither one of them gaining any major advantage.

What makes a drama good is conflict, there is no way a play can be good without any clash or disagreement between individuals. This is one of the main contributions that Proctor brings to this theatrical production. He is the centre of all conflict, he is the one who stirs up tension on stage and he is the one who plays the role of the ‘public enemy’ that the people generally despise.

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He is always battling it out with others in Salem, he has problems with Abigail in terms of their previous affairs (“Do you look for a whippin’?” p19); he has problems with Elizabeth over their marriage (“You will not judge me more Elizabeth.” P45); he despises Hale to begin with in the play (“*flushed with resentment but trying to smile* What’s your suspicion Mr Hale?” p54); he even has personal conflictions with himself (“I’ll cut off my hand before I ever reach for you again.” P18).

His biggest confliction is probably with Danforth, the judge of the high ...

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