Proctor's Respect turns to Insolence

[olmobar35]

On page 94, Danforth says, “a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between. This is a sharp time, now, a precise time—we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. Now, by God’s grace, the shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it” (94). He is therefore saying that anyone who opposes the court is immediately assumed to be associated with the devil. Since the court is conducting the witch trials, anyone who questions the trials, such as Proctor or Giles Corey, will become the court’s enemy. This signifies that through the rest of the play, Proctor’s independent actions will earn him insolence and get him in trouble rather than allowing him to gain respect. The beginning of the end for Proctor is first exemplified by the fact that he does not know the commandments when questioned (page 67), for it indicates that even though he was once seen as a heroic rebel in his village, he will now begin to become a criminal of suspect.

[dagalla35]

This also shows the importance of "playing the game" early on. The girls were some of the first to start manipulating the crisis, giving them power in the form of seats within the court, as well as influencing the court's opinion and public opinion, leaving both with a bias that there is witchcraft in Salem and any who oppose the idea must be a witch themselves. Proctor, joining the game late, is forced to try and disprove witchcraft against an already biased court, where wrong expressions or phrases, or even being unable to convince the court of his point can easily get him arrested like Giles (and by the end of Act Three, eventually do). Proctor presents solid evidence in the form of Mary confessing to lying, but because witchcraft has already been accepted as the truth, Danforth questions its validity, thinking that she could be lying as a result of Proctor coercing her, asking, "Has Mr. Proctor threatened you for this deposition?" (97, 99 or 100 in normal books) When Mary confesses, the court questions she may be lying, but when Abby and the girls first starts accussing others, no such question comes up, as there is no prior bias to go against it. This shows the importance of timing in manipulating the crisis and how arriving late to the game possibly costs Proctor his arguement.

[dadough38]

It almost seems that by the end of act three Danforth has taken Proctor's place as the voice of authority in Salem (albeit a much less reasonable voice) and that Proctor slowly loses his ability to bring any reason to the crisis because he himself is too personally involved to view it objectively. His personal involvement (in the form of his wife's arrest) tempers his ability to present evidence to the court, especially when he falls so far outside of the new consensus that Abigail helped to create.
Proctor's refusal to play along with the witchcraft trial when he testifies against it with Mary make the road he had to travel much more difficult; if Proctor had instead tried to free the prisoners by using the new consensus to his advantage instead of fighting against it, he may have had more progress. His blame of Abigail (pg 109 onward) as the root cause of the problems in Salem takes away his credibility further, as he becomes merely an outsider in the consensus tossing stones at the heart of it.

[natuppe35]

Proctor made the mistake of not exposing Abigail in the very beginning of the crisis when he still would have had power and influence in the town. Proctor knows that it will be difficult to turn the town against Abigail when he says "I am only wondering how I may prove what she told me, Elizabeth. If the girl's a saint now, I think it is not easy to prove she's fraud, and the town gone so silly," (53). It would be difficult for Proctor to prove his innocence and Abigail's manipulation of the town because he did not have any witnesses. Also, Proctor makes himself look like an enemy to the court in Act II when his anger causes him to lash out and he yells "Damn the Deputy Governor" (77). This makes his situation in court unfavorable because Cheever notes that Proctor damned the court and ripped the warrant Judge Danforth sent for Elizabeth. Proctor's word is not as strong because his actions make Danforth question his motives for bringing Mary's deposition. By trying to solve the crisis after Abigail manipulated the rhetoric of consensus within Salem, Proctor's methods to expose Abigail fail due to her power and the fear of others like Mary Warren. Mary feared that Abigail would kill her and once Abigail and the other girls pretend that Mary is still using the force of the Devil, Mary breaks down and accuses Proctor that he threatened to murder her if she did not sign the deposition (119). It is evident that Proctor's refusal to mold to the new consensus brought by the crisis and his disbelief in witchcraft causes him to lose influence in the court.