We are introduced to John Proctor early on in act one. The very detailed introduction of the character we are given is a perfect example of the extremely informative stage directions for which Arthur Miller was renowned.
“Proctor was a farmer in his middle thirties. He need not have been a partisan for any faction in the town…”
This paragraph is effective as it helps us to understand more about the character and so helping us to relate to their actions and behaviour. However if we were seeing “The Crucible” as a production on stage, as it was intended to be we would be lacking all of this information. Because of this Arthur Miller has used the dialogue and body language of characters to reinforce their personality and beliefs.
Even at this very early stage in the play we discover more about the characteristics of this strict Puritan society. Most leisure activities such as reading, singing and dancing were all strictly forbidden. This was obviously back in the times when men were the strong dominant figure and the women were weak and submissive. Furthermore we can tell that the gap between the social classes was very wide as the residents have servants. In these times people were either good, and associated with God or bad and associated with the devil.
A clear example of this is the way John speaks to his housekeeper, Mary Warren.
“I’ll show you a great doin’ on your arse one of these days. Now you get home; my wife is waitin’ with your work.”
Arthur Miller spent a fair amount of time researching the language of 17th century America before choosing to write the play how the inhabitants of Salem would have spoken at that time. He uses fairly simple language with some dialect slang. This is effective as it makes the story more realistic and sets the scene as well as being very direct at getting points across. Miller also however uses a lot of biblical sounding language. An example of this is in John Proctor’s conversation with Hale.
“Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God’s fingers?”
This is effective as not only does it sound very dramatic and strong but it also hints at the important role that religion played at this time.
In Act one John Proctor begins as a likeable character, with a good reputation and common sense. It is clear that he is a figure of respect within the community of Salem. Within the extract on page 17 the dialogue between him and Abigail Williams make it clear that there is some history between the two of them. Abigail is behaving very flirtatiously towards Proctor. Abigail’s desire to be with John is the fury that fuels her dissembling. Rightly John spurns her advances by saying “No, no Abby that’s done with.” He is being very straight with her. The effect of this is that he gains the audiences’ trust as they admire him and respect his honesty.
A second revealing extract is towards of the end of Act one. Once again Abigail is being very deceitful, on the surface she appears to be doing the right thing by “taking courage” and giving the names of those who practised witchcraft. She appears evangelistic even. This is the event that provoked the mass hysteria and psychosomatic behaviour that burned the bridges for the girls. The stage directions on the page include many powerful adjectives such as “ecstatic” and “hysterically” this makes for a very dramatic ending of revelations.
Arthur Miller appears keen to stress the injustice of the situation. If someone told the truth and stated that they have not compacted with the devil they were hanged, if they lied and said they had they would have spent time in jail or the charges even dropped. We have already learnt that people’s reputations and the way they are seen is very important in Salem. The term “blacken my name” is used frequently within the play and the fact that John Proctor is willing to “blacken his name” and destroy his good reputation by confessing to adultery emphasises just how passionate this character is about his beliefs.
Proctors marriage. At first we perceive another key part of the play is the development of the characters’ ever changing relationships with each other. A good example of this is John and Elizabeth their relationship to be a rather cold and distant one. The adultery has forced a wedge between them and made relations strained. However as the play goes on the relationship tightens. Arthur Miller expresses the strength of John Proctors character by showing his determination at trying to bring justice to the courts when his wife is imprisoned. This also helps to show the strength of the community in Salem.
The ending involving Proctor is very tragic. It appears Miller focuses on the effect of this on the audience. He wanted the viewers to be deeply affected by the unfairness of it. It would have been easy for John to confess, as many others did, but for Proctor it would have been the ultimate defeat. In this way, he is a hero as he stood firm in his beliefs and gave up his life for them. It is apparent that John Proctor is a selfless man of integrity; his motives are not to benefit himself but to save his wife and his friends. He is also a very inspirational character because his death as well as those of people such as Rebecca Nurse sparked the protest that ultimately resulted in the end of the witch trials and the clearing of the names of the accused. If he and the others had confessed, it is likely that the trials would have gone on much longer and many more innocent people would have been accused. Miller wanted the audience to empathise with John Proctor who unlike many of the other characters, stays true to his beliefs and is not moved by greed or jealousy. At the end of the play, however, Proctor’s desire to keep his good name leads him to make the heroic choice not to make a false confession and to go to his death without signing his name to an untrue statement. “I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” he cries to Danforth in Act IV. By refusing to relinquish his name, he redeems himself for his earlier failure and dies with integrity.