John Proctor

I want to focus on one of the main characters from The Crucible, namely John Proctor. This man is an honest and good man who is married to Elizabeth Proctor. For a long time, Elizabeth was being ill, and even though her husband loved her, he cheated on her with their maid, Abigail Williams, during Elizabeth's illness. Because of this, he sees himself as a "sinner", and claims to Judge Danforth that: "I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours."
John Proctor's flaws make him human, and the character is seen as the story's tragic hero. He has got a bad temper, and kind of "loses" it when the people of Salem start hunting witches and when Abigail and her friends claim they have seen the Devil and his spirits. Elizabeth proctor is accused as being a witch, by Abigail who wants to be loved by Elizabeth's husband. John Proctor makes his new maid, Marry Warren, tell the truth to the court that Abigail and her friends are all pretending. The reason why he does this is that he wants to help his wife as well as the other people being accused of doing witchcraft. John himself doubts the existence of witchcraft, though he sees himself as a Christian.
His self-esteem sets him apart from other members of the town, such as the Putnams, who feel one must obey authority at all costs. Instead, John Proctor speaks his mind when he sees injustice. Throughout the play, he openly disagrees with the actions of Reverend Parris, an action that ultimately leads to his execution.
In the end of the play, John must confess that he has seen the Devil and been his helper. If he does not confess, he will be executed. At first he confesses, and signs a document saying that he had worked for the Devil, but he cannot complete it. As Elizabeth says, by not confessing such a lie, John "Found the goodness in himself", and could die as a highly respected, good and honest man with his pride intact.  

Act 1 - The Crucible

The story takes place in Salem in Massachusetts in the late 1600s. Salem is under a theocratic form of government where the people live by the very strict rules of the Puritans. One night, Abigail who is Reverend Parris' niece, the Reverend's daughter, Betty, and a group of other girls are caught dancing in the woods. One of them is even running around naked, and Reverend Parris does not believe his own eyes. Rumors of witchcraft are running through Salem after Betty is found lying in her bed without moving. Her sickness is unknown, so when Mrs. Putnam tells the Reverend that her daughter Ruth has got the same symptoms as Betty, they call for Reverend John Hale, a young minister reputed to be an expert on witchcraft.

In the act, we hear about Abigail who used to have an affair with John Proctor, an older married man. Abigail is still obsessed with Mr. Proctor, and drank a charm to kill his wife. She threatens her friends that she would kill them if they told anyone about her drinking the charm. Abigail does not seem like a very friendly person, and accuses Tituba, a black slave, of getting Betty sick. Because Tituba was being accused of such a horrible action, she is given the choice to confess her relations with the devil, or she will be killed. She confesses her working for the devil, even though it is not true. As they continue questioning her, she admits that the Devil had four helpers; among them were Goody Good and Goody Osburn. Abigail starts crying out that she danced for the Devil, but that she wants to go back to Jesus. She claims that she saw Sarah Good with the Devil, and the other girls support her story naming the different people they saw with the Devil. Even Betty "wakes up" and start naming names. Hale and Parris are ecstatic that the girls seem to have been set free from the Devil.

Abigail seems to be a very important character in the play, because she is the biggest "trouble-maker" in Salem. She has got very strong opinions, and does not seem to be ashamed of telling lies. I have also got a feeling that John Proctor will be seen as a central character throughout the play.