Puritans. Many associate puritans as having very strict religious morals and ideas. To the society of today, their ideas may seem outrageous. However these ideals were very normal in the puritan time period. John Proctor is a character who best exemplifies puritan ideals in The Crucible because, he is an honest, hardworking man. In The Crucible, John Proctor is portrayed as a hardworking farmer who lives in Salem. His wife-Elizabeth Proctor- says “ My husband is a good and righteous man. He is never drunk, as some are, nor wasting his time at the shovel board, but always at his work. (Miller, 1099)”. John, unlike many men who prefer playing shovel board, works incredibly hard to maintain his crops. As we can see in the book, John sometimes
…show more content…
John Proctor’s relationship with his wife is the most distant. which is probably why he had an affair with Abigail Williams. John has been tormented with the fact he committed adultery with Abigail. Knowing that God would punish him he does not forgive himself. Towards the end of the play, John can't hold on to his lies anymore and becomes an honest man by telling all the truth. He does so because he acts on motion, and that emotion is the immense love he feels towards Elizabeth. He becomes closer to her when he has the conversation while they are locked up, so he decides to confess all his wrongdoings in order to save his wife from being hung. We can see this happening when he says, “I 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! (Miller 1118)” John gives up his great reputation and soils his good name in order to save his wife. This shows us his honesty, integrity and love for his wife. Along with admitting his affair with Abigail, he also lets the truth be known about Abigail faking the whole witch allegations. He does this to not only save the life of his wife Elizabeth, but to save the lives of others as
John Proctor’s relationship with his wife is the most distant. which is probably why he had an affair with Abigail Williams. John has been tormented with the fact he committed adultery with Abigail. Knowing that God would punish him he does not forgive himself. Towards the end of the play, John can't hold on to his lies anymore and becomes an honest man by telling all the truth. He does so because he acts on motion, and that emotion is the immense love he feels towards Elizabeth. He becomes closer to her when he has the conversation while they are locked up, so he decides to confess all his wrongdoings in order to save his wife from being hung. We can see this happening when he says, “I 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! (Miller 1118)” John gives up his great reputation and soils his good name in order to save his wife. This shows us his honesty, integrity and love for his wife. Along with admitting his affair with Abigail, he also lets the truth be known about Abigail faking the whole witch allegations. He does this to not only save the life of his wife Elizabeth, but to save the lives of others as