John Proctor Essay

733 Words3 Pages
John Proctor is an honorable man and a good Puritan. He is well respected in the community. Though he is such a a strong-willed and honest man, he has one fatal flaw; this fault is his lust towards Abigail Williams. As a village commoner he is faced with this great inner turmoil. He has commited adultery and this hidden secret unfolds into a mass of accusations, confessions, and madness in Salem. After the affair that John Proctor and Abigail had together, Abigail becomes jealous of John Proctor's wife. She tells him that once Elizabeth is out of their way, they would be free to love each other. John is appalled at this. John makes clear, "Abby, you'll put it out of mind. I'll not be comin' for you more" (176). Even after this statement, John Proctor cannot convince Abigail that he does not love her. Abigail has faith that John Proctor's lust for her was true love. She develops a twisted plot to secure John for herself. She tries to accomplish this by accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft, that ultimately leads to Elizabeth's arrest. Many other good-willed people in Salem also get accused of witchcraft. Proctor realizes that he must end this hysteria in Salem, and to do so, he has to confess to his adultery. Such an admittance would ruin his good name and Proctor is a proud man who, above all, places great emphasis on his reputation. He eventually makes an attempt through Mary Warren's testimony, to name Abigail as a fraud without revealing the necessary information. When this attempt fails, he finally bursts out with a confession, calling Abigail a “whore” and proclaiming his guilt publicly. Elizabeth is brought into the court to confirm this confession. However, she denies that John Proctor ever had any affair with Abigail Williams in order to protect his good name. To turn the suspicion away from herself, Abigail accuses Mary Warren of doing the Devil's work. Mary
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