The whole theme of Proctor’s affair adds a dramatic twist to the plot. Affairs are stereotypically exciting and the deceitfulness, lust and lies that come into play with this particular example make it especially interesting for the audience. The wrong things done here in the name of lust have a certain attraction – it is almost intoxicating.
One of the things that makes Proctor such an important character in the Crucible is the fact that he stands for the truth and fights for the innocents. His strongest weapon in this fight is his powerful speaking. His speeches and comments don’t just have an effect on the other characters in the play but on the audience too. “You are pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore!” – this is a very strong statement as Heaven is the symbolises highest good and is a force of God. To pull it down and so denounce God and place a whore in God’s place is very dramatic because of the extremes, it’s almost absurd to the Salem society. Persuasive techniques are even used in his lines, by presenting his opinions as statements it seems as though they’re facts and unquestionable; “God is dead” and “they’re pretending” are good examples of this. This techniques involve the audience as they make the audience develop opinions about issues in the play and care about what happens to characters. Proctor’s use of emotion when he speaks is very dramatic and can, with the right actor be very moving. It would seem that Arthur Miller is trying to provoke feeling in the audience.
John Proctor is also important to the play as he gives it a moral structure distinguishing different characters as good or evil. John fights for the innocents and for truth and because these are seen as good forces and Proctor is fighting for them this makes him a ‘goodie’ or good force. The fact that something which opposes good is evil means that anyone who opposes Proctor and so goodness is a evil force (a baddie). This means that Abigail is an evil force or ‘baddie’ because she opposes Proctor and Proctor is a ‘goodie’ even though Abigail is almost a victim because she could be seen as trying to get her love back and Proctor may have just lead her along.
Another role of John is to add more human motives to the plot of the play. He fights against the court for his love (Elizabeth). Abigail tries to use the court to kill Elizabeth so she can be with Proctor. John fights against his himself about whether or not to tell the court about Abigail and himself. Elizabeth fights with her sense of duty and love for John Proctor to tell the truth about John and Abigail. All this stems directly from John. These ulterior motives add lust, love and duty to name but a few to the plot making the play more interesting to the audience.
In fact the whole story of the Crucible stems from Proctor. It starts with Abigail dancing in the woods because she wants Proctor and it ends with Proctor dying. This is ironic because Abigail ends up killing John Proctor instead of them being together which was her goal. The fact that the Crucible play actually ends with Proctors death indicates to me that he is a very important character as there is no play with out him.
Arthur Miller also tried to add McCarthyism issues to the play. The Drama which surrounds John and trials which he has to take concerning the court (not his love life) are similar to the ones which happened in the 1950s. One of the main points McCarthy set out was to make the convicted give a public confession and give names of other communist sympathisers – just like in the Salem witch hunt. And when, in the 1950s, the Rosemburgs didn’t confess they were killed, just like those who didn’t confess in Salem were killed. Millers compares these two events to make a point that the truth was killed in the McCarthy trails just like in Salem because of the hysteria. The character of John Proctor is Millers main tool in showing this. This could be another of Johns functions. Maybe the main one in Millers point of view.
The similarity between McCarthyism and the Salem witch hunts adds drama and excitement for the audience because it relates the story to modern times. This would shock the audience in the 1950s because they think, “Wow, this is almost happening now” But this does not have as much potency in the 21st century as few people, especially in England, know about McCarthyism and those that do think that it has no relevance to them.
John Proctor is the character which the audience relate to and have opinions about the most. They see him fight although he stands to loose everything and admire his courage. They see him battle against himself to sign a confession or tell the truth about Abigail and respect his conviction. They see him become almost a martyr or tragic hero as he dies for his belief in the truth and his pride in his name. These things add drama, excitement, structure and interest to the plot of the Crucible. He has a fatal flaw, whether it be his pride, attraction to Abigail or trust in Elizabeth, but this means the audience can relate to him. The Crucible is a story of Proctor’s personal tragedy but it also a story of the Salem witch hunt, and of McCarthyism. Miller strikes a balance between these things to get the plot which makes up the Crucible. 1281
