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One of the most prolific plays of the 1950’s was The Crucible. Arthur Miller’s play about the Salem Witch Trials is a book that not only transcends time but also speaks to a wide audience. In the play the protagonist John Proctor is portrayed as a tragic hero, he makes mistakes in his comfortable life but by the end of it realizes his mistakes and dies on his path to self worth. He is his own worst enemy and is torn apart by his own guilt from the acts of lechery and adultery that he committed. In the end, he could have just as easily signed the confession and went on with his life but in an act of self worth and preservation, he rips up the confession and is sent to be hanged by the neck until dead. I think that he was right in his decision to do so and in this paper I will aim to prove that he is right in his decision to do so because self-integrity is more important than being a martyr.
In the beginning of the novel, we are met by the Protagonist John Proctor. Although he is a very loving man, he is a tragic character. He is tormented by his own lust for Abigail Williams and is unable to forgive himself due to the fact that he holds his own integrity high up on the pedestal. From the very beginning we meet Abigail, who says to John Proctor “You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!” (Miller 1953) and from this we are met face to face with the torment of John Proctor. He has committed adultery and the relationship is in the past, but Abigail cannot let it go. In fact, she cannot let it go enough that she accuses Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife of witchcraft.
After a slew of Salem Trials, John Proctor is fed up with the condemning nature of the courts against people who were accused of witchcraft without the proper evidence to prove so. After Abigail accuses Elizabeth of Witchcraft, John confesses the adultery in court, to which Mary accuses John of “being in league with the Devil and forcing her to testify” (Miller 1953). In Act III, when John Proctor confesses his adultery, he says “A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. I beg you, sir, I beg you—see her what she is She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance” (Miller 1953). Here he is trying to relay to the court of the crimes that he has committed and to see how evil Abigail is. John is climbing towards the end of his rope and Mary will not confer John’s statements and he is sent to be hanged by the neck until dead.
After John is arrested for witchcraft he is chained to a wall and totally isolated from society. Reverend Parris, one of John’s good friends, fears for John’s life because John is a well-liked and respected member of the community. The courts then send Elizabeth to John where he is arrested so that she may convince him to sign a letter of confession to the delight of Hathorne, John at first agrees. However after realizing what may transpire if he signs the letter of confession he says "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" (Miller 1953/ IV.298). Here he realizes that he can yet keep his integrity and die a good man. His last act of decency and anti-martyrdom will be to deny the courts their proceedings and in a fit of integrity, tears up the letter. When he was asked why he would not sign the letter he says, “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!” (Miller 1953). Here he realizes he has a very important choice to make. He can both sign the confession and admit to taking part in witchcraft, or he cannot sign it and condemn himself to death but while leaving his integrity intact. He takes the letter, rips it up and is relieved that he will keep his name free of being akin to witchcraft. He learns that if he signed the confession that it would be posted on the church door, which might tarnish the good name of the Proctors and other people within the Salem community because although he would be alive, he would have to live his life with a lie. He has already been tormented through the better part of his life lying to Elizabeth and the other community because of his adulterous crimes he committed with Abigail and he cannot lie anymore.
REFERENCES
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible (Penguin Classics). London: Penguin Classics, 2003.
