In Act Two, the conversation we see Proctor and his wife Elizabeth engage in makes it clear to us they are in a very strained and cold marriage. Proctor desperately tries to atone for his sin and earn forgiveness from not only Elizabeth, but also himself. Proctor must learn that for Elizabeth to forgive him, he has to forgive himself, he firmly believes that Elizabeth judges him, saying, “still an everlasting funeral marches around your heart”. The metaphorical language here is used to emphasis how much Proctor really is punishing himself, and he cannot learn to forgive himself. Elizabeth makes it clear to Proctor that it is not her who judges him, but himself, she tells him, “the magistrates’ sits in your heart that judges you”.
The Proctors are unaware of how far the witch-hunt has gone until their servant; Mary Warren arrives at their home. She tells them that Elizabeth has been mentioned in the court, but that she had told the court she did not believe Elizabeth to be a witch, claiming to Proctor, “I saved her lift today!” At this point Proctor faces a problem, he knows Abigail is trying her best to get Elizabeth charged for witchcraft, as she knows Elizabeth would hang and die rather then lie and confess. Proctor also realises that he mustn’t pressure Mary into trying to persuade Abigail not to accuse Elizabeth, as she can claim John Proctor is a wizard, and he could face being hanged, however if he does nothing at all then Abigail will get Elizabeth into the court and hanged. Soon after these events Cheever and Herrick arrive at the Proctor’s home to take Elizabeth away, making it obvious Abigail had already convinced the court Elizabeth is a witch. Proctor is obviously desperate for his wife not to be taken away, and in this desperation he grabs the arrest warrant from Cheever’s hand and rips it up, relating to him ripping up his own confession later in Act Four. Despite Proctor’s best attempts to save Elizabeth, she is taken away, and Mary warns Proctor that if he goes to court, Abigail will charge lechery on him. However this does not affect Proctor’s decision to go to the court and stop the trials, he tells he, “her saintliness it done with”. He refers to the fact he may have to sacrifices his own name to save Elizabeth by saying, “We shall slide into our pit together”, as he will need Mary to tell the court that the girls were lying which means she will also be punished for it. Therefore, this means Proctor is prepared to enter the Crucible.
A Crucible is known as a device for heating up metals and burning off all impurities, relating to how John Proctor is burning off his “impurities” (sins) during the court f the play, until he emerges totally pure at the end of Act Four.
As Act three begins, a new character is introduced; Judge Danforth. This is the man hired to run the trials in the Salem Court. Arthur Miller makes Judge Danforth parallel with McCarthy. Danforth, like McCarthy is under a lot of pressure to stop the witch hunt, and will not ruin his reputations by backing down and admitting there is no witch-craft taking place, he is expected to find lots of people guilty, and hang them.
In Act Three the Irony of the witchcraft is revealed as Judge Danforth shows he is doing exactly the opposite to what he believes. He says, “We burn a hot fire here, it melts down all concealments”. What they are doing is the complete opposite, disguising the truth that there is no witchcraft in a shroud of lies and accusations. At first, Danforth is completely unaware of this, but as he listens to Mary and Proctor, he starts to have doubts about the trials, however by this time it is too late for Danforth to back down and dismiss the case, as this would ruin his reputation, and he it not willing to sacrifice his reputation to save these innocent people, showing he is completely different to Proctor.
Shortly after this it is discovered that Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, is pregnant, this therefore means that her life will be spared for a year so she can give birth the child. At this point Proctor could walk out of the court with Elizabeth, and leave the rest of the accused to save themselves, as he realises that one year is a long time, and even Danforth hints that things may have being forgotten. However this is where Proctor’s true character is reflected and we begin to admire him more. He decides to stay and save his friends lives’. This is a contrast to what we would expect Parris and Putnam to do in this situation, Proctor saying, “These are my friends. Their wives are also accused”, shows his refusal to take the easy way out, his intentions are to stop the madness of the trials, and we respect him for this.
However, as Proctor is trying to get Mary to testify that the girls were pretending, the other girls, including Abigail continue to convince Danforth that Mary is sending out her spirit upon them, they repeat Mary’s words in an attempt to show Mary has possessed them. This is affecting Mary so bad that she starts to scream, as she reaches the point where she cannot take it anymore. Danforth and the girls are “horrified by this evident fit”, and Mary sees this as an opportunity to go back with Abigail against Proctor. She goes ahead with this and accuses Proctor of making her sign her name to him, and telling her they “must overthrow the court”.
Proctor is now in a very dangerous situation as a result of this drastic turn of events, as he has being accused of witchcraft therefore he could risk being arrested, which will minimize his attempts to stop the trial, Proctor’s last hope is to confess to the court his affair with Abigail. He knows this will ruin his name and reputation, and metaphorically in Proctor’s mind, giving up his life. It is the end of his respect and honour in the village in a final attempt to save his friends’ wives. Proctor is now in the heat of the crucible as he claims, “I have made a bell of my honour.” However, Proctor’s solution did not go as planned, because Danforth does not believe Proctor’s confession and even brings Elizabeth into the courtroom, tricking her into saying John is no adulterer, she says this because she does not know John Proctor has confessed to his affair with Abigail. It is likely that Danforth knew Proctor’s confession to be true, but he was afraid to admit so far into the trials that no witchcraft has even taken place, and that this is a personal vendetta between Proctor and Abigail. As Proctor realises his attempts to stop the trials have failed, he now uses his final technique; to speak his mind, he says, “I see his (devils) face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth!” He says it is Danforth’s face because he has let the trials continue, even though he was fully aware the girls were frauds, and he says it is his own face because of his sin.
Act Four is the final act, and this is where Proctor redeems himself, where he atones for his sins. When Proctor is brought on state from the jail, Miller describes him as “Another man, bearded, filthy”. Parris and Danforth have being trying to make Proctor confess to witchcraft, as they need a person of high-status in the village to confess, otherwise they fear the villagers will start to disbelieve that there was any witchcraft at all, and may think the trials are all false, But, if a high-status member of the village does confess, the villagers will be inclined to believe their confession; therefore they will believe the trials.
At this point Proctor has the opportunity to speak with Elizabeth, this could be the last time he does this, as he it due to be hanged if he doesn’t confess by dawn. Through Proctor’s initial conversations with Elizabeth, he learns that Rebecca Nurse, another well respected figure in the village, is going to hang, and Giles Corey suffered a painful death. This news upsets Procter as he realises one of his closest friends is already dead, and another one will be soon. Proctor takes the opportunity to ask Elizabeth what she thinks he should do, should he confess and live, having his reputation ruined, or die with his reputation and respect intact? He is thinking, “He would confess to them”, but he wants Elizabeth’s views on this. Elizabeth is adamant that she cannot influence his decision to live or die, saying “I cannot judge you John”, meaning she wants John to do what HE feels is right, not what other think. This shows to us that Elizabeth trusts Johns’ judgement, and that she is willing to trust him.
After many attempts from Proctor to get an answer from Elizabeth of what she thinks he should do, he finally comes to his decision, and tells Danforth, “I’ll have my life”. Proctor feels that it will not do him any good if he doesn’t confess and die, as he has already sinned in his life, and he feels another sin will make no difference now. Danforth, expectedly is ecstatic at this, him and Parris have been waiting for a high-profile villager to confess. However Danforth still isn’t happy at what he has, and tries to make Proctor accuse Rebecca, his close friend, of witchcraft. Proctor refuses without hesitation, as did Miller when he was asked to name his friends for engaging in left-wing activities. As Danforth realises Proctor will not accuse anyone else, he makes Proctor sign a confession to put on the village church door, so everyone can see Danforth found Proctor guilty of witch-craft, and that it was not all a “hoax”. Proctor signs the paper, and then almost as soon as he has given it to Danforth, he snatches it back. Proctor cries, “You have my souls, leave me my name!” Proctor, at this point realises the unavoidable, the inevitable; he must hang. As John Proctor emerges from the Crucible, he is now purified; he has confessed his sins and burned down all concealments. Danforth now sees “A shred of goodness in John Proctor”, as we come to the end of the crucible.
