The Growth of Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible - Essay Example

Elizabeth was drawn to a constant argument about this subject with John Proctor, her husband, due to her difficulty to forgive and forget about the entire event involving him with their servant Abigail. The turning point in the story is shown by how Elizabeth denies her husband’s cohort trysts with Abigail during the witch trials. The development towards this change will be shown in this paper as relating to the current social condition of this period.
Elizabeth Proctor is pictured as a wife who continued to harbor deep resentments on the cheating of her husband with their former servant, Abigail. These resentments persisted for a long time in their household as she was constantly reminded of the scene.

The change that transpired in Elizabeth occurred when she was accused of witchcraft through Abigail’s evil plot to incriminate her name caused by a desire to eliminate her and be with John finally. Elizabeth was then dragged to the court on charges of witchcraft and sorcery but was disposed of due to her pregnancy. She was famous for her words, “No matter what happens tonight, I still love you,” directed to her husband, a show of her undying love for him. When she was requested by the court to stand as a witness, she denied her husband’s infidelity with the intent of saving his name. This intention was indeed in contradiction to her earlier whining as a wife cheated on by her husband, as there in the court lay the opportunity to get back on him, yet, withheld it in a quest to save his reputation. It was supposed to be refuted by her husband when she herself was the one accused but became futile due to their current servant’s (Mary) accusation of him as a witch.

Elizabeth showed growth during the trial when she claimed that her husband was not a lecher, contrary to her resentments about his infidelity, which constantly caused quarrels in their household. The cause-and-effect relationship of this denial is shown by her own view of herself and her perceptions of the world. One cause triggered by this assertion was a probability of being the topic of rumors in their community, given that the setting of the story was in 1692, in which people were traditionally engaged in rumors when one’s life was in moral turmoil. This would in turn cause her to be assailed by rumors herself, being the wife of a husband who had once cohort trysts with a servant. This denial of her husband’s infidelity was coupled with her love for him, making no intent to drown him to witchcraft accuses, but rather save his life from such. The story reveals, however, that John was accused and convinced of witchcraft himself, in which he chose to be burned and die than life and untruthfully bring people to the court for witchcraft.
Elizabeth lied about the infidelity of her husband because of her deep love for him. This profound love was manifested in a scene where she told him that no matter what happens, she still loved him.

Elizabeth lied about the infidelity of her husband because she wanted to save him from a looming disgrace. Being a wife of a respected man, she intended not to drag her husband’s name in the court and maintain the cause of their fights just within the corners of their abode. She saw no reason for the involvement of the public in the matter; neither of such infidelity is used as a testimony in the court, which could place her and her marriage in a disgraceful situation.

Elizabeth’s growth from one who constantly picked a fight on her husband on the subject of the latter’s infidelity towards one who defended him as an honest and faithful husband exhibits her view of marital concerns being private concerns in which no outsider such as a court of witchcraft can and should intrude upon. Such is viewed in the aspect of refusing to put her husband and her family in public scrutiny, which would potentially subject them to ridicule and mockery.