These times reveal that stress is building up on John Proctor. He is trying to give Mary advice which is ironic because he definitely has not just done good in his life.

On page 74, John Proctor displays this same idea when he says to Mary, “Do that which is good, and no harm shall come to thee.” This demonstrates that John Proctor is trying to act like he is good all the time and that he has no flaws. John Proctor continues to defend his good reputation when he says on page 42, “I mean to please you, Elizabeth.” He obviously is not living up to this statement in his real life, but wants the audience, readers, and Elizabeth to think that he is the man who the town thinks he is. Hale after forgetting the commandment about adultery, “I think it may be a small fault.” This shows that John Proctor may indeed have been caused to forget this commandment because of the stress caused by his sin of adultery. For example,on page 64, John Proctor says to Mr. He is respected in Salem and his worst nightmare is to have his reputation be looked down upon. Initially, Proctor absolutely refuses to let the stress of his sin get to him. In The Crucible, through the actions of John Proctor, Arthur Miller shows how stress can cause a person to be in denial, have pride, to confess his or her sin, and to see the positive consequence of confessing the sin.

John Proctor is one of the characters suffering from stress because he initially refuses to admit his sin of adultery which would cause his good reputation to go down the drain. The whole town of Salem, Massachusetts, is stressed because of the frightening witchcraft, however, each character also has to deal with their own individual stress for various reasons. Stressed is a feeling that one can sense throughout Arthur Miller’s famous play called The Crucible.

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