John Proctor

John Proctor

1. Proctor can be seen as the traditional Tragic Hero

   • Honest upright, blunt. Proctor is a good man with morals. But he has one fatal flaw. His Lust for Abigail which brings about his affair
     • In a sense proctor's fatal flaw is the cause of the hysteria of the play as his affair causes abigail to be extremely jealous of goody proctor causing her to try to kill her
     • He realises that the only way he can stop Abigails rampage throughout Salem would be to confess his adultery
       • When doing this it would ruin his name. Proctor is a proud man to cares much about his name
         • Damn the village! I confess to God, and God has seen my name on this! It is enough (pg.123)
         • I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are! It is enough!
         • Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!
         • You are the high court, your word is good enough! Tell them I confessed myself; say Proctor broke his knees and wept like a woman; say what you will, but my name cannot—
       • When he does confess, NOT EVEN THE TRUTH CAN BREAK THE FRENZY ABIGAIL HAS CAUSED

2. Protoctor knows his role in cuasing this frenzy and that adds to his inability to forgive himself

   • I am not worth the duct on the feet of them that hang

3. His Immense pride compelled him to hold his adultery from the court, but by the end of the play is more concerned about his personal intergretory than his public opinion. He still wants to save his name but for personal and religious reasons rather than public ones

4. Proctor Redeems himselft at in the final act with a denuciation of the witch trials

   • Him not signing the confessio potsitions the audience to see that Proctor though has his flaws is a man with morals and thus is written as the tragic hero
     • He did sign it and go through with the lie it would prove that he is weak compared to those who are willing to die with their true testimonies, eg Rebecca
       • Him dying is an act of God repenting his ealier sins and the rejuvination of the good moraled man he was before his fatal flaw
         • You will not use me! I am no Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor! You will not use me! It is no part of salvation that you should use me!
           • I have three children—how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?
             • Beguile me not! I blacken all of them when this is nailed to the church the very day they hang for silence!
       • I can. And there’s your first marvel, that I can. You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs
       • Give them no tear! Tears pleasure them! Show honor now, show a stony heart and sink them with it!
       • Be his helper! What profit him to bleed? Shall the dust praise him? Shall the worms declare his truth? Go to him, take his shame away!
         • Hale Saying no change will come if he dies, but it will he is the represneation of the hero
           • He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!

5. He is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time, but against his own vision of decent conduct

6. A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud—God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!

   • He is calling himself and Danforth the devil. Maybe hinting to the fact that they both have flaw, Proctor is the only only one that admits it
   • You are pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore!

7. I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man. She is silent. My honesty is broke, Elizabeth; I am no good man. Nothing’s spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long before

8. If she is innocent! Why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God’s fingers? I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem—vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! This warrant’s vengeance! I’ll not give my wife to vengeance!