Mary Warren: "I cannot charge murder on Abigail. [...] She'll kill me for sayin' that! Abby'll charge lechery on you, Mr. Proctor. [...] She'll ruin you with it, I know she will" (80).
Proctor is outraged when Cheever comes to take Elizabeth away. Proctor tries to keep Elizabeth from going, showing that he really does care about her. When Abigail approached him in the previous readings, he told her not to speak ill of Elizabeth and defended her. Whatever happened with Abigail has passed and he regrets it: "I will cut my hand off before I'll ever reach for you again" (23). Proctor does not care if Abigail accuses him of lechery because he is more concerned about Elizabeth: "Good. Then [Abagail's] saintliness is done with. We will slide together into our pit; you will tell the court what you know" (80). He could also be taking the matter in his own hands because he is sick of "children [...] jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance [writing] the law" (77). Proctor represents the strength the other male characters lack in the play. He speaks reasonably and is not afraid of what people think of him.
Proctor: "You are a coward! Though you be ordained in God's own tears, you are a coward now" (79).
Hale's uncertainty has increased, but he is not willing to speak up. He is just as scared as the innocent people who need to claim they were once witches in order to save their lives. Hale is a reverend who is not doing his job. If he has been ordained in the light of God, there is no need to be afraid, or else this shows Hale has doubt in Him. Hale feels guilty when Elizabeth is taken away. There would be no guilt if he agreed that Elizabeth was a witch. Cheever and Herrick seem to be working for Abigail. If she claims somebody is a witch, they hunt that person down without a question. Nobody sees the absurdity of teenage girls empowering the court.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment