The Tragedy of John Proctor

Literary CriticismWhat john did has changed everyones thoughts towards him. This little incident seems almost irrelevant to the main action of the play, and yet it isn't; it establishes something about John Proctor that compliments everything else in his character. No other incident in the play exactly duplicates the point of this incident. (Miller, 1 of 1) Proctor had faith in his wife. He did not think she would lie. Proctor continues:"My wife will never die for me!" He also said she would never lie.His wife, Elizabeth, lied for him and died for him. Proctors' thoughts and faith in his wife were wrong. (Miller, 1 of 1)

The Tragedy of John Proctor

MetaphorFigure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things

IronyDiscrepancy between appearence and reality

Comic Reliefcomic episodes in a dramatic or literary work that offset more serious sections

John ProctorJohn Proctor is Elizabeth’s husband and he is a lying, cheating man who doesn’t go to church anymore.

“In the proper place-where my beasts are bedded.”–Act 3 pg.1259

MASS HYSTERIAThere are two millennium bugs lurking in our future -- one in our computers and the other in our culture. The moment survives in our vocabulary, with fin de sicle being synonymous with a mood of sophistication, world-weariness and fashionable despair. So far, at least, publics at large have treated the millennium with only passing interest, but individuals and smaller communities have taken more drastic steps (Staffo, 1 of 1). Already in the United States, the prospect of the Y2K bug has been seized upon by some Christian fundamentalists as one more proof of the coming end, a reason to abandon cities for a survivalist lifestyle in remote rural areas. A hundred years ago, the first decade of this century witnessed a global effloresence of such contemplation of the long term. Visionary writers like H.G. Wells described the sweep of the century to come, architects drew up radical new visions for our cities and artists realized utterly new forms of creative expression( Staffo, 1 of 1).

Irony" Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not covet thy neighbors goods, nor covet thy neighbors wives, thou shalt have no other Gods before me, thou shalt not use the Lord's name in vain, thou shalt keep holy the sabbath day, thou shalt honor thy mother and father, thou shalt not bare to false witness... thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wives."

Comic Relief“There might also be a dragon with five legs in myhouse, but no one has ever seen it.”

Metaphor "My name is good in the village! I will not have it said my name is soiled! Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar!"

Anthony ScobarMrs. Lemoine2nd period