The Crucible - Inner Conflict/Flawed Character Notes Flashcards
Learn quotations and key points of analysis for the Critical Essay section of your Higher English exam. Focus = innet conflict/flawed character
Quotations from the prose insert showing that Proctor is a flawed character and is aware that he is flawed.
“he is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time but against his own vision of decent conduct.”
“Proctor, respected and even feared in Salem, has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud.”
A quotation showing that Proctor is reluctant to go and tell the court that he knows Abigail is lying.
“Proctor: (angering) I know I cannot keep it. I say I will think on it!”
Quotations showing Proctor’s decision to go to court at the end of Act 2 to save Elizabeth’s life. He knows he is risking his reputation in doing so but has not yet decided to confess his adultery.
(see also: key scene)
“Proctor: … We will slide together into our pit: you will tell the court what you know.”
A quotation showing Proctor’s confession of his adultery with Abigail in Act 3 (the key scene)
(see also: key scene)
“How do you call Heaven! Whore! Whore!”
Quotations showing Elizabeth’s lie to the court - she chooses to deny the adultery between John and Abigail and to protect John’s reputation, not knowing that John’s credibility and the future of the court depends on her telling the truth.
(see also: key scene)
“in a crisis of indecision she cannot speak”
Danforth: …Answer my question! Is your husband a lecher!
Elizabeth: (faintly) No, sir”
A quotation showing Proctor’s reluctance to confess, his pride in his reputation and his sense of morality - he believes lying to save his life is wrong.
(see also: key scene)
“Proctor: (with a cry for his soul) Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! … I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”
Analysis of “Proctor: … We will slide together into our pit: you will tell the court what you know.”
(Act 2)
(see also: key scene)
suggests Proctor is a man who has a strong sense of morality and he is someone who wants to be seen as living up to the standards of Puritan society. In other words he is a moral man with great pride in his reputation.
we also learn that he has acted against what he believes is right.
He has come to regard himself as “a kind of fraud”, suggesting he knows that he is a hypocrite and doesn’t feel very good about this.
Analysis of “(angering) I know I cannot keep it. I say I will think on it!”
(Act 2)
dialogue suggests an abrupt, angering tone as he tries to silence his wife.
His guilt over his affair with Abigail makes him snap at his wife and take it out on her.
He reveals that he knows he must to do the right thing by going to court, however he fears Abigail exposing him as an adulterer and ruining his upstanding reputation.
Analysis of “How do you call Heaven! Whore! Whore!”
(Act 3)
(see also: key scene)
Violent exclamation and use of profanity suggests anger, fury, rage
Word choice along with stage directions showing violence suggest that he no longer feels any affection for Abigail - hatred
He is also angry that he has to expose himself/ ruin his reputation in order to make the court see sense. Not an easy decision for him (further evidenced by clear shame he feels as he recounts the incident)
Analysis of “Danforth: …Answer my question! Is your husband a lecher!
Elizabeth: (faintly) No, sir”
(Act 3)
(see also: key scene)
stage directions show that she speaks quietly, suggesting she is uncertain of her response. She does not want to lie, but also she does not want to be responsible for ruining her husband’s reputation.
dramatic irony causes tension for the audience - they know Proctor confessed and want her to back him up. When she lies this creates frustration
Analysis of “Proctor: (with a cry for his soul) Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! … I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”
(Act 4)
(see also: key scene)
stage directions show the intense emotion of these lines. Proctor is in a state of mortal agony, torn between his desire to live but also his desire to live without sin and be seen as a good Christian man.
preoccupation with his ‘name’ highlights his desire to have a good, upstanding reputation. He does not want to be seen as someone who falsely confessed while good Christians, like Rebecca Nurse, maintain their innocence and go bravely to their deaths
Analysis of “he is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time but against his own vision of decent conduct”
(Act 1)
suggests Proctor is a man who has a strong sense of morality and he is someone who wants to be seen as living up to the standards of Puritan society. In other words he is a moral man with great pride in his reputation.
However, he has acted against what he believes is right. He has come to regard himself as “a kind of fraud”, suggesting he knows that he is a hypocrite and doesn’t feel very good about this.
