The Crucible John Proctor

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Character Analysis of John Proctor The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place during the time of the famous Salem Witch Trials in the late 1600’s. Rumors of witchcraft are among the townspeople all due to a group of girls who are hysterical and are pretending to be under spells of witchcraft. Innocent citizens are being accused left and right for committing some sort of witchcraft and everyone in the small town of Salem feels like they can trust no one. Throughout the play many of the characters evolved in one way or another. In the course of the play, one of the major characters John Proctor, goes through changes and faces multiple challenges. John Proctor is one of the local farmers, and is well known in the town. One of his hidden sins is that he committed adultery with a young girl named Abigail Williams; who was the leader of the group of girls that were pretending to be at the hands of witchcraft. John Proctor knew that he could expose Abigail as being a fraud but he was hesitant to do so because it would reveal his secret to the town. In addition, he and his wife, Elizabeth, are going through a rough time in their marriage where there’s an obvious sense of distance between them. John Proctor evolved most significantly throughout the play because in the beginning his pride and fear of the town’s opinion caused him to keep his sin a secret; however by the end of the play, he is more concerned with his own integrity rather than his reputation. In the beginning of the play, John Proctor is torn between dealing with two different situations; the situation with Abigail who wants Proctor back along with jealousy of Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth; and he is also dealing with his strained marriage with his wife. As Abigail and the other girls begin with the hysterical acts of having hallucinations, Proctor is aware that the girls aren’t under any kind of witchcraft, and
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