Abigail also shows us that she dislikes Elizabeth greatly and resorts to petty insults “she is a cold, sniveling woman”. This makes me wonder whether Abigail only disliked Elizabeth after she kicked her out of the house or whether she has always disliked her and only had the affair with John out of spite.
After this affair with Abigail, John Proctor tries to rebuild his relationship with Elizabeth “I’ll buy George Jacobs’ heifer, how would that please you?” Here it seems to me as if he is trying to but his wife back to bring his relationship back on track and maybe buy her forgiveness.
Abigail really wants John Proctor back and will go to any lengths to get him, even call Elizabeth a witch “ there be a thousand names; why does she call mine?…she thinks to take my place, John”. Here Elizabeth is saying she knows how Abigail’s mind is working and John, though he does not say it, knows it too. Since Abby has done this to Elizabeth, Elizabeth wants John to call Abby a “whore”, even before Abby accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft she wants John to discredit Abby in the courts. If he does then he has broken a promise to Abby and his reputation as an honest man will be ruined and if he doesn’t he might lose his wife. He must know choose between his reputation and his wife.
Since Abby has named Elizabeth a witch there is a court hearing for her. Proctor does not want his wife to die and he goes to the courthouse to try and save her. He tries to bring Mary Warren with him as she could save Elizabeth. ”I cannot charge murder on Abigail”. By this she means that she cannot tell the court that in fact Abby was doing the witchcraft and not Elizabeth. She feels intimidated by Abby.
Proctor tries to build a case up against Abby. He accuses Abby of trying to murder his wife Elizabeth. None of the congregation would believe that Abigail was a murderer and they all saw her as a “child”. To try and make them see her as a criminal Proctor says this ”she were twice this year put out of this meetin’ house for laughter during prayer”. This would make the congregation look at Abby in a different light because to laugh during prayer is to be in touch with the devil.
When the court and Danforth are not convinced Proctor cannot take it anymore and leaps at Abby shouting “whore, whore, whore”. He reveals his infidelity with Abigail. “She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave”. By saying this he is stating that Abby wants to get back with John and laugh at his wife. John confesses that he is a sinner to the whole court “we will burn, we will burn together”. John is saying here that he will burn in hell due to his infidelity with Abby, but Danforth will also burn with him because he has allowed the court to proceed, which is fraud, and in the eyes of god is a sin. John is now accused of witchcraft.
In the final act, act 4; Proctor has a final struggle to overcome. He needs to know what to do whether he should confess and save his life or to be silent and die. Before he decides he has a final conversation with his wife asking her what he should do “I would confess to them, Elizabeth…what say you? If I give them that?” all Elizabeth says is that “it is your soul” and that he should decide for himself.
“I want my life” Proctor says this and by it he means that he will confess to save his life, but his statement is soon withdrawn. The first reason for him changing his mind was his admiration for Rebecca’s strength and faith. She says” why, it is a lie, it is a lie; how may I damn myself? I cannot, I cannot”. The explanation of what she said is a simple one, which I think John Proctor, listened to and agreed with. She is saying that if she doesn’t confess she will die a Christian and will go to heaven and if she does confess then she will live but then when she does die she is damned to go to spend an eternity in hell. Her strength of faith shames her.
The second reason why Proctor changed his mind was he wanted to protect his self worth and good name. “I have given you my soul; now leave me my name” He does not want his name blackened in the community as it represents his identity and self worth. He doesn’t want the whole community knowing his crime and thinking differently of him than how he lived most of his life. Finally the last reason he changed his mind was to be a good Christian. By this I mean if he had confessed he would be “signing himself to lies” which is a sin and he would burn in hell for it, so by not confessing nor lying he will go to heaven. Elizabeth describes how Proctor dies with “peace of mind” like a weight was lifted off his shoulders and a great burden removed because he knew he was going to heaven and that his struggle was finally over.
The second person I am going to analyze is Reverend John Hale. He is a well-educated man from Beverly. He’s a proud, learned man who wants to impress. He is nearing forty and is an expert on witchcraft.
At first Reverend Hale wants to impress Proctor and the other members of the community through his knowledge, but he starts off very pompous. He has a great number of books, which he uses quite often. “Pray you, someone take these”, he is referring to the huge pile of books in his arms.
Hale is uncomfortable with the situation that arises on page 52 because he feels that he is questioning Elizabeth and John Proctor’s faith in the household. “Your house is not a church”. Here Reverend Hale is explaining to John Proctor that his home cannot be used as a church that he must got to church to pray.
He’s worried about the strength of faith in the Salem people all the way through the scene, his worries grow and he seems to be weary. This is due to the fact that some of the Salem people rarely attend church.” I note that you are rarely in church on the Sabbath day”. John Proctor is unable to attend church on a Sunday, as he ploughs his fields on that day. By this point he also begins to imagine the catastrophic consequences of the trials.
In act three Hale begins to make a stand against Danforth. “ Your honour, I cannot think you may judge the man on such evidence”. Here Hale is questioning judge Danforth as Hale realizes that Proctor is a good man and that he doesn’t deserve to be condemned to death. He also does not want a man's death on his conscience. Hale attempts to save Proctor “ I cannot say he is an honest man, I know him little but in all justice sir a claim so weighty can not be argued by a farmer”. Hale makes a good point by saying that Proctor should have the benefit of the doubt, but he does not convince Danforth. Also he could be saying that someone with experience should represent Proctor.
On page 91 Hale defends John against Abigail and calls her false. “ I came to think that he fancied her so one night I lost my wits I think and put her out on the highroad”. After all that Reverend Hale quits the proceedings as he is overwhelmed by the madness that has gripped Salem. “I denounce then proceedings I quit the court”. He is not strong enough to face the effects that will come in the future.
Hale returns and tries to get people to confess and therefore save their lives. “I’ve come to do the devils work I’ve come to council Christians they should belie themselves”. By this statement Hale is trying to say that he is trying to get good Christians to lie, as he does not want them to die and have their deaths on his conscious. Hale wants Proctor to sign a confession and not hang; also he does not appreciate proctors battle with his conscience. “ Proctor you mistake me I am not empowered to trade your life for a lie.
Proctor signs the confession much to his dismay, then Proctors conscience takes him over and his confession is torn up. “Because I lie and sign myself to lies because I’m not worth the dust of the feet of them who hang”. At the end of the scene Proctor is hung and Reverend Hale believes he has failed the people of Salem.
Hale’s motives for trying to get the people of Salem to sign a confession are controversial. Did he do it because he wanted to save their lives or did he do it to save himself from his conscience? I’d say it was a mixture of both but is more to save himself from his conscience than anything else.
The last person, which I am going to analyze, is Goodwife Elizabeth Proctor. She is a calm, even-tempered and honest woman, but since her husband’s affair with Abigail Williams she has become cold and remote. She has isolated herself from her husband slightly and the warmth in their relationship has been extinguished.
Elizabeth’s first struggle with her conscience begins in act three. Abigail has accused her of being a witch and as a result she is in court up on trial. Her husband John Proctor tries to save her by resorting to revealing his infidelity with Abigail. Once John has revealed this he calls upon Elizabeth to see if John is telling the truth. Before Elizabeth enters Danforth Tells Abigail and John to face away from where Elizabeth was to stand. “Now let neither of you turn to face Goody Proctor”, he does this to stop John and Abby intimidating her and to also stop them bullying her into saying something with their facial expressions.
Once Elizabeth is in the courtroom Danforth interrogates her to try and get the truth. He asks “For what cause did you dismiss her?” he is referring to Abigail when he says “her” and is asking this question to try and find out if Proctor is telling the truth, that Abby was sacked due to her infidelity. Her Elizabeth has to make a hard decision for she does not know that John has already revealed his infidelity, so she must make the choice of lying to save his reputation, as she thought, or tell the truth to save herself. This choice was very hard to make and she tried stalling for time to think “she____dissatisfied me…and my husband”. Here she is not lying nor telling the truth to cover all ground.
She comes up with many comments like the one above and is facing one big battle with her conscience, but eventually lies to save her husbands name “ is your husband a lecher?….no, sir”. By doing this she has shown her husband to be a liar even though he is not.
John tells Elizabeth that he has confessed it. Her reaction to this is “oh God” showing that she has lied, but it is too late to put things right. She thought she was doing right by protecting him from moral scandal but she ruined John’s attempts to have Abigail dismissed as a whore.
Elizabeth is also faced with a final struggle of her conscience when John asks her which direction he should take and begs her forgiveness. “ I would confess to them, Elizabeth. What say you?” Here Proctor is asking Elizabeth if he should confess and live but spend an eternity in hell or whether he should tell the truth by not confessing and die a Christian and spend an eternity in heaven. Elizabeth tells him that she cannot judge him meaning that he is to make his own decision as she does want more weight on her shoulders nor her conscience.
Conclusion
During this play many struggles are faced by each of the characters I have studied. There are other characters beside the ones I have studied that face a battle with their conscience. These people are Mary Warren and Danforth. Danforth faces a struggle with his conscience as he has to make the decisions of who dies and who lives and each death is on his conscience for the rest of his life. Miller wanted a conscious hero central to his drama because he thought that it related to his own life and the events going on around him at the time
There are a few people in The Crucible that appear to have no conscience at all. These people are Abigail and The Putnams.
Deep down I think the play The Crucible is all about the battles people face with their conscience and the different ways in which people deal with it. It is the central story line, upon which the entire play is based around.
