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John Proctor.
The play’s moral compass and
tragic hero.
Key moments for John.
We meet John in the first act of the
play. He is disgusted with hysteria that
has overcome Salem.
He stays under the
radar during Acts 1 and
2. Consider the cause
of his relationship
problems as a reason
for this… after all,
people in glass houses
shouldn’t throw stones!
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Acts 3 and 4
When Elizabeth’s name is dragged
through the mud (she gets accused of
being a witch) John gets up in arms.
Of course, John’s affair with
Abigail set the whole witch craft
affair in to motion…
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decompressor
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On the other hand, John is still
worried about his name and
reputation being ‘blackened.’
Acts 3 and 4
 John uses Mary Warren’s false testimony to
say that Abigail is a liar and a whore without
confessing his adultery. He fails and
confesses.
 Proctor confesses as a witch and is arrested.
He then realizes that his own confession as a
witch has helped to perpetuate the cycle of
hysteria that is Salem. Everyone is accusing
everyone else…
Act 5.
 Proctor’s pride and fear of the public’s
response kept him from announcing his affair
before, but he announces it in Act 5. He
refuses to honour his written confession and
decides to throw it out. Part of this is because
Elizabeth forgives him and John feels like he
can do the right thing. Althoug he dies for this,
Elizabeth said to Hale “he have his goodness
now” because he has died a man with a good
and clean reputation again.
 A few people have alluded to the fact that
John isn’t good or evil, but just human. Many
heroes usually have a ‘fatal flaw’ and John is
no exception. John is complicated and an
interesting character.
John- Good or Evil?
 Supporting a point of view…
 The class will be divided in half. Half of the
class will argue that John is a ‘good’ man and
the other half will disagree. Teams will earn
two points for every new point they bring
forward, and one point for every valid
rebuttal. Teams get an extra point for every
quote that they use and explain. Teams get
ten minutes to collect their information. We
will collect all the points on the board and
create them to make our own notes on John.
Theme: Good versus evil.
 The theme of good versus evil is often
explored in literature. In this play, the good
guy wins… at least morally!
 The entire town bases their moral code on
what is good (God) or evil (Devil). However,
the reader starts to wonder whether the moral
code is entirely correct as people start to be
hung for crimes they haven’t committed.
 Question: Give three ways that John helps
us understand the theme of good versus evil
(this might mean what we consider good
or evil or what society considers good or
evil). Write what you have learned about that
theme through John’s character.
An important relationship.
John and Elizabeth’s relationship is important
as:
 it helps us to understand more about John’s
character
 It helps us understand more about the moral
code of the time and what was
acceptable/unacceptable
 it helps us understand about Abigail’s
jealousy and why the witch craft started.
The importance of their
relationship for plot.
Their relationship’s problems begin the
play because of John’s infidelity.
Elizabeth’s jealousy causes John to
doubt himself and his reputation.
Elizabeth’s final forgiveness and belief
in John causes him to do the right moral
thing, but for that he ends up dead…
The importance for theme.
Their us to understand the theme of jealousy
because their relationship’s failings were the basis of
Abigail’s ‘conjurin’ at the beginning of the play to get
rid of Elizabeth.
Their relationship makes us think about good and evil
and hysteria and what we consider to be right and
wrong. It shows us how something basic like a
relationship can lead in to mass hysteria and death
when people don’t think rationally.
Their relationship makes us think about forgiveness
and the importance of forgiving someone.
Scenes where we see the
relationship.
 Elizabeth and John talking about Abigail (Act 2)
 Elizabeth arrested and Hale visiting their house
(Act 3)
 Elizabeth forgiving John at the end (4)
What importance does each scene
have for the plot of the play?
Question: what does each of these
scenes tell us about their relationship?
Use at least 2 quotes.
Essay planning.
You may want to write on either
question:
1. Describe an important character in
The Crucible. Explain what this
character helps you understand about a
theme.
2. Describe an important relationship in
The Crucible. Explain what this
relationship helps you understand about
a theme.
Essay planning.
Have two to three paragraphs. For each
paragraph, your topic sentence will be
one important aspect/moment about the
character or an important moment for
the relationship. At the end of the
paragraph, you would say what that
aspect shows you about any theme.
Plan your essay over the weekend.
Give some quotes for each paragraph.
You may use this plan for your formal
Paragraph structure.
SEXY
Statement
Explanation
eXamples (quotes, exact scenes or
moments from the play and explain why
you’ve referenced them)
whY is this point about
character/relationship important and
what does it help you to understand
about theme.
An important event (courtroom
scene)
Activity One- leading up to the court
scene (mix and match in books)
Take notes about plot
Answer analysis questions and do the
cloze exercise.
Timeline for term 3:
 Wednesday: John and Elizabeth’s
relationship.
 Friday: An important event, performance and
plot summary. Planning an essay for
homework.
 Monday: essay writing lesson one.
 Tuesday: essay writing lesson two on
computers (hand in Tuesday).
 Thursday, Friday- The Crucible in class and
short answer questions test due Monday.
 Static image preparation and drafting Monday
and static image due Monday week 10.
 Last week- creative writing two periods in
class.