Elizabeth asks Proctor Essay Example for Free

Elizabeth asks Proctor Essay Proctor tells Danforth that Elizabeth knew that she was a harlot and kicked her out of their service. So Danforth decides to call Elizabeth to verify the accusation. Proctor and Abigail are told to turn around and not turn to face Elizabeth when she is brought in. They do as they are told. When Elizabeth enters she is told not to look at either of the other two, only at him. He begins by asking her why she dismissed Abigail from their service. Elizabeth tells them that Abigail dissatisfied her, and that also she thought that her husband was turning from her and began to like Abigail. Elizabeth: I came to think he fancied her. And so one night I lost my wits, I think, and put her out on the highroad. But she does not tell the judges that Proctor committed the crime of adultery. At this point Elizabeth doesnt know how much trouble she has got her husband into and this is dramatic irony because we know that Elizabeth must tell the truth of Proctor crimes in order to save his life but she doesnt know that. So, naturally, she tells the judges a lie, thinking she is actually saving his life. This is one of the biggest ironies of the play and affects the whole outcome of it. Danforth is now convinced that Proctor was lying. He is given a chance to confess to his crimes and free himself from the devil. Proctor, being a man of honour and truth, refuses to confess to something he didnt do. Proctor had a chance to save his life but didnt take it. Instead, in his rage and anger, he shouts out Proctor: I-I say god is dead! This tells us that Proctor cares more about his name than his life. Danforth then arrests Proctor for contempt of court and of being a witch. Many days pass since the fiasco at the court. On the morning of the day of Proctors hanging, Proctor is given a last and final chance to confess to his crimes. Elizabeth is brought out to try and convince her husband to confess. There seems to be some hope when Proctor half heartedly agrees to the terms. Proctor: I want my life. But then, Proctor is asked to sign his name on a paper to prove his confession. This is to be stuck all over the village, but his guilt and shame to confessing to false charges overwhelm him and he withdraws. He asks if he could just orally say his confession, but Danforth wants him to sign it as proof. Proctor does not want to sign away his name on a contract. Proctor (with a cry of his whole soul): 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! (Act 4, Page 115) Again, here he could have easily saved his life but Proctor is extremely cautious of what others think of him, and believes that if he did sign, people would begin to call him a traitor. Elizabeth fully understands his decision and says her final farewells. The parallels between Proctor and Miller, and the two periods in time, are evident in the last scene. Proctor refused to give names of people to Danforth just as Miller did when he was asked for the names of those who may be a threat to America. Also, all of the allegations made on the both of them were false. These times were of hysteria and suspicion. People were willing to believe in anything that promised peace and calm afterwards. So Danforth had the edge in his time, just as McCarthy did in his. Proctor had many chances to save his life in the play, but he never took the chance, and he paid for it dearly. There were many routes he could have taken in order to save his life or even get revenge on Abigail. The main one being that he could have signed the confession and get it over with. But as I said, he did not want to sign his name away, or be freed, only to be hated by his neighbours. He could have, and did in the end, taken the stand against the evil in the village and use himself as an example to others. Also he could have shown that the deaths in Salem only happened for the selfish desires of people like Danforth and the Putnams. Last of all, he could have got himself hanged to get revenge on Abigail. If she loved Proctor, then she would be in deep sorry if Proctor was killed. But this is one of the more strange reasons. Personally, I think that he could have saved his life by signing the paper and confessing. If he loved his family as much as he says he does, then he should have done it just so he could be with his family again. Then again, there are some disadvantages to this. Firstly his neighbours wont like him because he was once accused of being a witch. People will point the finger at him and his family for not saving their friends lives. But for them, that is not much of a problem seeing as their house is outside of Salem. All in all, Proctor could have saved his life but didnt only because of his pride and vanity. He never wanted to be thought unpleasantly of in the village, and for his own selfish reason, got himself hung, and I believe that he was wrong to do so. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Miller section.