Elizabeth sees his inner goodness shine when he refuses to lie about being involved in witchcraft, and she realizes how unfair she has been. John Proctor saves the lives of the others who are accused when he unselfishly declines to save his own. He acts as a martyr when he places others before himself. He would rather die an honorable death than live a dishonorable life, which is what precedes him to be the tragic hero of the play. John Proctor, being a very complex character stuck in a world full mischief, madness, and chaos shows a major change as the play unfolds.
Blow!’ Although the play is set in a pagan setting, Lear prays to the gods to expose criminals and later throughout the play, for the wellbeing of Cordelia and it is through these cries of help that we can notice that no matter how much the king prayed for righteous justice to be served that his prayers remained unanswered. Proof of this is how he calls his daughters ‘pernicious’ in Act III Scene i and in Act III scene iii; also called ‘The Mock Trial Scene’, where Lear states: ‘I here take my oath before this honourable assembly, she [meaning Goneril] kicked the poor King her father.’ It is ironic how Lear thought that he was all-powerful in the first Act whereas now he is making an oath in the name of the gods that what he is stating is true and this shows the resignation he has towards the previous life he led. Meanwhile the gods’ injustice is also present in Gloucester’s subplot. Gloucester has always been a great believer of the gods and in the first act, when he reads Edmund’s forged letter he demonstrates this ‘these late eclipses in the sun
For Edwards this included his view on religion. He believed that “There is nothing between you and Hell but the air; it is only the power and the mere pleasure of God that holds you up.” (41) He wanted to convince to repent, to be reborn in Christ. Last but not least, he wanted to save sinners from a decent into Hell’s fury. The moral of his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was therefore that if sin is committed, a persons tie with God is broken and they will fall into the hands of Hell. Edward’s diction and tone gives his listeners and readers an eerie feeling, a fear for sin, and an awakening for the wrath of God about to come.
Hale is also at the Proctor household because Elizabeth’s name was mentioned in the court and Hale decided he would notify them and take precautions. Hale asks John to say his commandments to prove that he is a Christian man who loves god but when John says his commandments he forgets one. His wife Elizabeth reminds him it is the commandment of adultery. Even though John forgets this commandment and he is guilty of adultery with Abigail Williams,
We must stop running after the accumulation of worthless religious "things" and find our satisfaction in the Person of Christ. Nee claims that this proves we miss the point of Christianity altogether in our prayers for "gifts" as if they were something separate from the Person of Christ. He writes, "Christianity is not reward, neither is it what Christ gives to me. Christianity is none other than Christ himself." The Person of Christ is what we really seek.
He confesses his sin of adultery, all with the intention to save the lives of those he knew to be innocent at the expense of his innocence before the court of Salem. At the end of the play however, John himself is accused of witchcraft, and is faced with another moral decision. He must either must lie, and confess to a sin that he did not commit (that of witchcraft) and have this lie posted on the church door, or die for the sin of witchcraft that he did not commit. John wrestles with his conscience over this choice, and in the end, chooses to die telling the truth - that he is an honest man who did not commit witchcraft and told the truth no matter the consequences. He says, “Because it is my name!
However it does not end there, in Act 4 a further change occurs in the behaviour of Reverend John Hale. Hale begins to visit those who will not confess and persuades them to lie to save themselves. He turns completely against the Puritan rules and persuades people to do something that they know, to be good Christians, they must not do. When he tells Elizabeth to persuade Proctor to lie he puts forward his main argument: “God damns a liar less than he that throws his life away for pride.” This point in “The Crucible” shows how just how Hale has changed from the cold strict scholar, to the worried man looking only for what he believes to be right. Eventually Elizabeth persuades Proctor to confess and Hale encourages Danforth to speed up the process of the confession: “(quickly to Danforth) Let him sign it,let him sign it” showing that Hale wants to get it over with to prevent Proctor from getting too annoyed.
When the witch trials begin, Reverend Hale questions John and asks him to recite the Ten Commandments and misses one Commandment (ironically, the Commandment regarding adultery), and thus begins Proctor’s quest to prove himself not to be of the devil. Later on in the play, Proctor makes a false confession to save his life, however, he tears it up stating “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another name in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies!” (Miller 143). The previous quote is important to Proctor’s crucible because it proves that he has failed his quest and has given in rather than continuing to try and prove he is not an associate of the
Proctor signs the confession and when the Judge tells him it will be hung publically on the church door, Proctor grabs it and tears it in half. Proctor is inspired by the noble behavior of Rebecca Nurse and others who refuse to falsely confess to witchcraft nor will they falsely implicate others. Proctor refuses to lie and takes a step backwards, he says, “I have given you my soul; leave me my name”(Miller 133). Elizabeth understands that Proctor has to do what he thinks is right. By refusing to confess and implicate others, John Proctor acts with personal integrity.
He was so quick to blow off the idea that witchcraft caused her sickness because he was too worried his reputation would get shot with that possibility. In the court while Mary was being questioned about fainting Paris was looking for the first chance to accuse her of witchcraft and he eagerly said, "Then you will confess, will you not?" Mary Warren had no relation to Paris therefore he would not hesitate to point his finger at her. Paris was like Danforth in that he also could not realize his hypocritical ways because of his