John Proctor From the Crucible Term Paper

We see John making a determined effort to please Elizabeth -- he kisses her perfunctorily, he praises her cooking -- all this being done in a desperate effort to compensate for his guilty feelings. Elizabeth's coldness, however, augments his failure. Once her love has been betrayed, she lives in a continuous suspicion and doubts John's reasons as to why he would not testify against his former lover, Abigail, when Elizabeth urges him to. She is proud, slow to forgive and very accusatory: "I cannot speak but I am doubted," John defends himself, "every moment judged for lies, as though I come into a court when I come into this house!" (The Crucible, 54) Nevertheless, in spite of her self-righteous and her seemingly intolerant posture, Elizabeth loves John. She proves her endless love for him in Act Three when she lies to the committee of the court, against her principles, denying her husband's deed of adultery to save his reputation and life. At the end, Elizabeth overcomes her pride, becomes more open-minded and is able to forgive John. She even goes as far as taking part of the guilt upon herself, admitting that she was not as good a wife as she could have: "I have read my heart this three-month, John... I have sins of my own to count. It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery," (The Crucible, 137) Elizabeth confesses to her husband. We see her, thus, at the end of the play fully developed.

John Proctor grows in stature, as well, throughout the play. Although at the beginning John seems to play indifferent to the town's problems and to refuse to be involved in these absurd charges of witchcraft, when Abigail denounces his wife to be a witch, he gets involved without a hint of hesitation and takes immediate action, attempting legally to rescue the accused even if that would imply public exposure: "My wife will never die for me!...that goodness will not die for me!" (The Crucible, 80) he tells her servant, Mary Warren, whom he convinces to confess the truth and testify against Abigail.

Throughout Act Three and Four we are bare witnesses to John's continuous struggle against his inner contradictions, which he eventually overcomes. He is strong enough to defy Abigail when she seems to be wining the struggle and to confess publicly his "lechery." In the final act, John is a different man, "bearded, filthy, his eyes misty as though webs had overgrown them." (The Crucible, 133) This physical transformation points to an inner change in John. Proctor lost his soul when he committed the adultery with Abigail. The search for his lost soul will lead him ultimately to his death, but not before the hero finds his inner peace again, his integrity, his sense of self-respect. In the end, he chooses death rather than dishonor; he chooses honesty, a path which will help him recover his lost soul. John proclaims his rediscovery of what he thought had been lost -- a sense of personal identity. That is what Procter means near the end when he talks about his "name," which he cannot surrender:

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 feel of them that hang! How may I live without my name?...Leave me my name! (The Crucible, 142)

John Proctor's death is a cathartic one. He is redeemed through his final action of embracing the truth, of coming to terms with his past and of rediscovering his true identity. As Elizabeth herself affirms at the end, "He has his goodness now." (The Crucible,….....