The Crucible Character Flaws

  Everyone has flaws, but some people are much more flawed than others. The characters in the play The Crucible are no exception. According to Oxford English Dictionaries, a character flaw is 'a fault or weakness in a person's character'. I will be reviewing the following characters: John Proctor, Abigail Williams, Reverend Hale, Reverend Parris, Mary Warren, Judge Danforth, Mr. Putnam. John Proctor, Abigail Williams, Reverend Hale, Reverend Parris, Mary Warren, Judge Danforth, and Mr. Putnam. 

I believe the least flawed characters are Reverends Hale and Parris, Mary Warren, and Mr.Putnam. First, Reverend Hale. Reverend Hale is very flawed in the beginning of the story. He let greed and a need for fame cloud his judgment. Later on in the story, he realizes his wrong and tries his hardest to fix it to no avail. Next, Reverend Parris. Reverend Parris is flawed from the beginning and seems to have bloodlust. He stands by his wrong accusations till the end and is probably my least favorite character. Next, Mary Warren. Her biggest flaw is her susceptibility to peer pressure. She multiple times throughout the story succumbs to the will of Abigail along with the rest of the girls. She almost righted that but then, yet again, gave in to the peer pressure. Finally, Mr.Putnam. Mr.Putnam lost 7 children in childbirth and believes that it was all due to witchcraft. Because of this, he is driven by a hate for witchcraft so when there is any question of witches in Salem he hops on the bandwagon and is down to kill any and people suspected of witchcraft.

I believe the most flawed characters in this play are John Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Judge Danforth. First, John Proctor. His biggest flaw is his messed-up relationship with Abigail Williams. He and Abigail had a fling despite him being married and struggles with being loyal to his wife. Next, Abigail Williams. Abigail is the most obvious antagonist and (in my opinion) is the most flawed character in the story. She is driven by lust, fear, and greed. Her lust comes from her short-lived fling with John Proctor where she got the idea that he loved her deeply. She was so convinced that she tried a spell to kill Proctor’s wife, Goody. Her fear comes from the fact that she got caught doing this spell and could be hanged for doing it. Her greed comes from her intense want of attention, and love. Because she cried wolf (or witch), she became insanely popular in Salem and was getting a ton of attention from everyone. She was obviously deprived of attention as a child and now was willing to have innocent people killed for attention. She also was deprived of love and Proctor showed her a little and now she was willing to kill for a chance with him. Finally, Judge Danforth. Judge Danforth was a corrupt judge and treated people as if they were guilty until proven innocent instead of innocent until proven guilty. He was also easily manipulated by Abigail Williams’s pretending. These flaws cause many people to die and/or go to prison. His worst mistake was not believing John Proctor when he proved that he was innocent and then putting him to death. His most famous lines were, “You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between.” and “You will give me your honest confession in my hand, or I cannot keep you from the rope.” and finally, “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for these, weeps for corruption!”.

Everyone has flaws, but some people are much more flawed than others. The characters in the play The Crucible are no exception. As we can see, these characters are anywhere from somewhat flawed or majorly flawed. But they all have one major thing in common, they aren't perfect.