We are introduced to the awkward relationship between Proctor and Elizabeth. Miller cleverly uses the stage directions to illustrate the tension building up between them. Proctor; He gets up, goes to her, kisses her. She receives it. With a certain disappointment, he returns to the table. This conveys a definite lack of intimacy between them. We can also see that Proctor is thoroughly striving to obtain Elizabeth’s trust after his affair. He says ‘I mean to please you, Elizabeth.’ Although he is sincerely attempting to gain her forgiveness she is not reconciled; her distrust of him is evident and as a result of it their intimate relationship is frail. They seem quite distant and the atmosphere between them is quite cold, although there is a sense of love. Elizabeth doesn’t want friction, and yet she must, this creates a sense that she loves him dearly but she can’t forgive him so easily, she says ‘you come so late I thought you’d be gone to Salem this afternoon.’ Although it is obvious to the audience that she loves her husband, it is perceptible that her suspicions of him linger due to his affair. Miller conveys Proctor as quite selfish and frustrated that she won’t forgive him quicker. He says ‘…your justice would freeze beer!’ here Proctor is being hypocritical and oblivious to the hurt he has caused his wife, therefore resulting in them growing further apart.
Miller uses pathos at Elizabeth’s arrest; although she is innocent, she is being arrested as a consequence of Proctor’s infidelity and deception. Proctor feels a need to go and testify in Salem in order to save his wife; he is full of remorse, ‘my wife will never die for me.’ He is now certain that he must expose Abigail as a manipulative liar in his testimony. Elizabeth’s arrest brings out the goodness in Proctor; he says ‘Oh, it is a black mischief.’ This depicts a turning point for him as he can see that this silly pretence holds an element of danger for his friends and his wife; therefore the audience get to see Proctor’s moral strength and loyalty. Although Proctor has reservations about standing up in court as it can destroy his reputation; similarly to when Miller testified at the McCarthy trials, Proctor is now prepared to sacrifice his reputation for the truth. He was hesitant about this before but now he sees the jeopardy in these lies he decides to be righteous and testify, Proctor says ‘… now crazy little children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!’ Proctor sees that he must confess the lechery so that the court will see Abigail’s vengeance and motives for lying, in order to save his wife. Mary is Proctors new servant who is replacing Abigail; his relationship with her is quite bullying. Proctor forces her to tell the truth; getting her to expose the girls who are pretending to the courts. Proctor is moving menacingly towards her… Proctor continues towards her. He is showing his strength and power to intimidate Mary into a confession in the courts.
Miller creates dramatic tension when Abigail further manipulates the court by accusing Mary of compacting with the devil, Proctor realises he must risk his reputation and expose their intimate relationship in order for the courts to believe his testimony. ‘I have known her sir. I have known her… She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave!’ This confession and accusation showing Abigail’s vengeance shocks the people of the court; Francis was horrified and Danforth was dumfounded. The audience is relieved that Proctor has admitted to the lechery and they feel satisfied that Abigail’s wickedness has been exposed. Miller produces a build up of dramatic tension; Danforth makes Abigail and Proctor have their backs to Elizabeth so she can’t see their facial expressions. She enters the room with a lot of hesitation; she is questioned about Abigail, Slight pause. Then Elizabeth tries to glance at Proctor. She is trying to get inspiration and guidance of what to say from him; not knowing what to say, sensing a situation, wetting her lips to stall for time. She is asked if Proctor has committed lechery; she doesn’t answer the question properly as she is defending her husband, ‘My husband- is a goodly man, sir.’ Miller uses persistent stalls and hesitation to delay Elizabeth’s lie; this creates dramatic tension for the audience who are willing her to say ‘yes’ as they know Proctor has already confessed. The climax of tension in the scene comes when Elizabeth says ‘No, Sir.’ The audience are left feeling flat and frustrated. The audience feel complete remorse for Proctor as he cries out ‘Elizabeth, I have confessed it!’ The audience know it’s too late because earlier in the play Proctor says ‘That woman will never lie, Mr Danforth.’ Hale and Danforth react differently in the desperate situation. Hale has become empathetic towards the Proctors; we notice Hale’s change of attitude as the play progresses. Hale starts to question the rights of the court, ‘We cannot blink it more. There is prodigious fear of this court in the country.’ After Elizabeth tells the lie it is clear to him that Abigail has set them up and manipulated the courts, he says ‘It is a natural lie to tell…I believe him now.’ Danforth wants to believe the girls who are pretending. He says he has ‘…not the slightest reason to believe that the children may be deceiving me.’ He is being persistent in saying that the children are telling the truth. Danforth is corrupt from his years of being in the court; ‘She has spoken. Remove her!’ Therefore in this intense situation he cannot show empathy towards Elizabeth and Proctor. This scene expresses Danforth’s corrupt, remorseless and arrogant character in contrast to Hale who is a man of integrity and a person who can see the goodness in people.
Proctor is grappling with his conscience, trying to resolve his dilemma of whether to confess or hang. He thinks of himself as a sinner, therefore he feels that confessing to save his life is an option. Proctor is seeking inspiration and guidance from Elizabeth; when he is suggesting to her that he could confess and save his life he says ‘I would confess to them Elizabeth. What say you? … Good, then – it is evil and I do it!’ This infers that he feels guilty and like a sinner, he senses the theocratic environment; these men are using religion to take his life, as a result he is tempted to confess. The audience now have conflicting emotions; there is confusion as although we know he has made a mistake, he doesn’t deserve to die for it, we also feel disappointed that Proctor has given into Danforth showing a weakness rather than power and bravery. The courts are relieved that Proctor decides to confess and they want him to sign a confession, Danforth explains why it needs to be signed ‘Why, for the good instruction of the village…’ Proctor first shows signs of changing his mind ‘You have all witnessed it- it is enough’ Proctor is adamant that he doesn’t want to take his verbal confession any further. He says ‘I have given you my soul; leave me my name!’ he is in a desperate situation as although he has confessed to impiety he doesn’t want everyone in Salem to see the evidence of it. Proctor …tears the paper and crumples it, but he is weeping in fury but erect. He has resolved his dilemma and has made his final decision to hang. The audience feel empathy for Proctor however we are glad he has made the righteous decision, redeeming himself in the end. His final words convey his good sense of morals and his courage. He says ‘…I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor.’ The audience agree with his decision as it separates him from the hypocrisy of others. It also expresses his honesty in direct conflict with Danforth who is completely corrupt and irrational; Proctor says ‘Show honour now, show a stony heart and sink them with it!’ It is a heroic end for Proctor showing his strength and dignity.
By the end of the play some of the characters hold different views on Proctor. At the beginning of the play when Hale first arrived in Salem he was very enthusiastic about the witchcraft but throughout the play his views swayed towards Proctor’s explanation of the accusations. He realises that the witch-hunts are a consequence of dangerous pretence caused by a young girl’s vengeance. ‘It is a lie! They are innocent!’ Hale is certain that this is fraud and he feels guilty for his earlier actions. ‘Let you not mistake your duty as I mistook my own…. And where I turned the eye of my great faith, blood flowed up.’ Hale knows he has done wrong and he is sincere and honest enough to admit his errors. As the play progresses we see a change in Elizabeth’s attitude, at the very end of the play a lot of the tension between them is resolved. Elizabeth admits that she was also to blame for their difficult marriage; ‘It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery’ she has now fully forgiven him and they both realise their love for each other. Moments before Proctor hangs they share a loving, affectionate kiss He has lifted her, and kisses her now with great passion. Now that Proctor feels a genuine love and forgiveness he can die with an easy mind and with dignity. Hale’s condemnation and pleading with Elizabeth to save Proctor is a point of high dramatic tension as he knows that she is the only one that can change his mind. Hale pleads, ‘Woman, plead with him! Woman! It is pride, it is vanity.’ Elizabeth knows that she can’t take Hale’s advice as she knows her husband has made the morally right, honourable decision for himself. Miller uses Elizabeth’s final statement to confirm that Proctor is a tragic hero. ‘He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!’ This demonstrates that she cannot intervene because she can’t take away his honesty and make his imperative decision for him. This proves that Proctor is a tragic hero as he chooses to die with an honest conscience. Proctor refuses to collaborate with the evil of the courts. ‘God does not need my name nailed up upon the church!’ He will not agree to his signed confession being shown to the people of Salem because he doesn’t want there to be any significant evidence of the lie he is giving. When Proctor reflects on himself, he is quite harsh. ‘I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is fraud.’ He is blaming himself for the situation he is in now as it is a consequence of his affair with Abigail. As he realises his mistakes he begins to see himself as a fraud. The witch-hunt shown in The Crucible has a strong link to the McCarthy trials in the early 1950s, as both occasions created a vast hysteria. Both Danforth and Abigail are closely linked to John McCarthy as they are trying to gain power. Abigail was constantly manipulating the courts; therefore a consequent fear and hysteria is created and innocent people like Mary Warren, who get frightened and intimidated, start to betray friends. Millers’ message is trying to tell the audience to be aware of, and stand up to people like Danforth and Abigail and expose things before it’s too late. Also, that we should beware that a petty pretence can become extremely dangerous.
As we observe, Proctor comes across as very self-centred at the beginning of The Crucible and he doesn’t seem to be aware of his mistakes- he is hypocritical and angry at Elizabeth for not forgiving him straight away for his affair, ‘You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’. Learn charity woman.’ However as the play progresses the audience experience a new, moral and powerful Proctor who notices his faults. He now understands his errors and thinks of himself as a sinner ‘I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint... My honesty is broke. Elizabeth; I am no good man.’ I do not completely agree with the statement ‘What is John Proctor? I am no saint; for me it is fraud. I am not that man.’ Although he has sinned by lying and committing lechery with Abigail he doesn’t deserve to die as a consequence of Abigail’s vengeance. I feel that Proctor is being quite harsh on himself because even though he makes mistakes that put him in this situation, he redeems himself in the end by telling the truth and dying with dignity. ‘…for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor.’ To conclude, I consider Proctor as more of a saint than a sinner. He is not a complete saint but I do believe that his courage, good sense of morals and power should be honoured and respected as he was a decent, noble man.
