Proctor’s passiveness or unwillingness to involve himself, is evident in many aspects in the play. In the first act, it is seen that Proctor wishes to distance himself as much as possible from what is happening in Salem--the bewitching of the young girls. He has many reasons for doing so. First and foremost, Proctor is afraid of being seen as a lecher because he thinks that his affair with Abigail may become public. Throughout the first act, Proctor stays away from the witch trials of Salem and he hopes that Reverend Hale will be able to solve the witch problems so that he may continue to keep his

Another episode illustrating Proctor’s passiveness occurs when Hale arrives with a warrant for his wife’s arrest. His wife is then taken and Proctor goes to court to present his argument to the officials but instead of giving his own argument, because of his passive nature, Proctor uses Mary Warren to appeal to the court. In just getting Mary Warren to agree to go before the court, Proctor has to try very hard to convince her to go and this shows his unwillingness to go before the court himself. After insisting over and over that she cannot testify against Abigail, Proctor says to Mary Warren, "Make your peace with it! Now Hell and Heaven grapple on our backs, and all our old pretense is ripped away—make your peace!" (p76). This is one of the many powerful speeches that Proctor gives to convince Mary Warren that she needs to testify. While in court, at first, Proctor himself doesn’t speak, but instead he hides behind Mary Warren. Only when this fails does Proctor finally speak up.

affair a secret. In a dialogue between Proctor and his wife Elizabeth on the subject of his not returning to Salem in eight days he says, "I have no business in Salem." She replies, "You did speak of going, earlier in the week." And he cames back saying, "I thought better of it since." (p.49). With this statement, Proctor is implying that his affair may be uncovered if he went and involved himself in Sa

Some topics in this essay:
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