Examples Of John Proctor's Flaws In The Crucible

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The Crucible, is a play written by Arthur Miller, based on real events in 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts. The Crucible is mainly about a group of girls who accuse many innocent people as witches. John Proctor is one of the people in this town who does not believe the girls. After Proctor has an affair with one of the girls, Abigail, she then accuses Proctor’s wife of witchcraft so she can get her out of the picture. When he finds out that his wife is accused, he does everything he can to stop the trials. While Proctor goes to court and does what he can to save his wife, everything turns on him and he winds up in jail. Abigail and all of the girls convince the town that he is really a witch and he ends up being another innocent person hung. Throughout the story, some believe that John Proctor is a man of honor, but his bad qualities end up out weighing the good as a flawed man. …show more content…
An example of one of his flaws is when he has an affair with his past servant, Abigail. The affair never officially ended as he admits that he thinks about her at times. As Abigail stops Proctor behind a building to talk to him in private he says, “Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time” (Miller 1099). He is saying that even though they might not actually be together anymore, he doesn’t totally regret what he had done. The affair makes Proctor's wife, Elizabeth, jealous of Abigail. Putting Elizabeth through this jealousy is another example of John Proctor’s flaws. In an article about jealousy it states, “Most people describe jealousy as an extremely painful, crazy feeling” (Pines and Bowes par 4.). He puts Elizabeth through this horrible feeling which shows he is a very disrespectful and flawed