Throughout the play Miller uses certain factors the place all sorts of characters in the struggle to do what is morally right. These struggles are affected by social exclusion, self-loathing and regret intertwined with fear. The struggles that particular characters also go through is effected through their morality and their sense of right and wrong which also impacts several others in the short and long term effects of individual horrors most characters go through. In this essay I will be evaluating the struggles to do what is right through Mary Warren and John Proctor, I will also evaluate other factors causing struggle such as relationships both old and young and other characters that affect struggle.
Throughout the play Miller presents Proctor as a character who is constantly guilty for his sins, the most prominent sin being his affair with Abigail. The audience is made aware of Proctor’s lingering feelings when he admits “I may have looked”, the use of the hedging “may” amplifies how Proctor’s guilt does not only come from the destruction of his marriage with Elizabeth but also because of his constant feelings for Abigail. These feelings are further reinforced from Abigail’s “and you must”, the use of the stronger, more imposing word “must” then enforces how Abigail is willing to give herself to Proctor no matter what the consequences. The ever so slight “and you must” likewise presents to the audience that Abigail has taken hold of her sexual prowess in order to use it to manipulate people, such as John, to comply with what she personally wants which is power in a restrictive society. This is further presented towards the audience when Abigail states that John “sweated like a stallion” for her, the use of the simile “sweated like a stallion”, the use of the word “stallion” portrays Proctor as being much more majestic and powerful, it also adds to the