John Proctor's Noble Qualities In The Crucible

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John Proctor has many noble qualities among one major flaw. One such noble quality is expressed when he decides to admit his affair in front of the court in order to save his wife. He had been keeping it a secret, as most probably would, to preserve his honor and his name. However, when he hears that Abby, the woman he had an affair with, has charged his wife with witchcraft, he is fully willing to come forth and admit his sin to save his wife. His major flaw is the aforementioned affair, which we find out about in Act One and is revealed to the public eye in Act Three. Before this affair, he was a righteous and just man, and he can’t seem to move past it, which almost hinders him from making the right choice later on. This one fault tries to overrule his goodness, and it presents problems throughout the whole play. Because of these noble qualities and his flaw, John makes important decisions in each act of the play. …show more content…
In Act One, he pushes Abby away, telling her “Abby, you’ll put it out of mind. I’ll not be comin’ for you more.” By confronting Abby and telling her to forget about him, he just increases her desire to be with him, leading to her initiation of the witch hunt. He is sincere about it, but Abby believes otherwise, which leads to her future actions. In Act Two, Proctor rips the warrant for his wife's arrest. This may not seem significant on the surface, but amidst the witch hunts and his background, it actually really hurts him. He has a history of not going to church and of plowing his fields on Sunday, which is a big deal in this kind of a community, so adding this offense on top of those only makes him seem more like a potential witch. However, despite these decisions there is one that trumps all, which appears in Act