Who had an affair, was accused of witchcraft, and was sentenced to death? John Proctor did; he was a Puritan man who just wanted to keep his name, like many people today, but ended up losing his life. John lived right outside of Salem where many accusations and executions took place for witchcraft. He had an affair with Abigail Williams and then ignored her; she was accused of witchcraft and was able to lie and accuse other innocent people, including John's wife Elizabeth, to clear her name.
John Proctor is a conflicted man that has trouble seeing goodness in himself. When he is given a choice of life or death, Proctor exclaims, "I want to live!" This shows that Proctor's human emotions get the best of him when he is talking with his wife and he originally decides that he is not worthy to die alongside of Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey. This is because he thinks he has no goodness inside of him and therefore he would not be spoiling anything if he lies again. As a result, Proctor's decision to be hanged rather than give up his name and sign a confession that is not true shows that he finally comes to see the goodness in himself.
After having an affair, John Proctor is accused of witchcraft and then sentenced to death; he basically chose to die by ripping up his confession in court to save his good name. When Proctor doesn't hand over a confession, Danforth says, "You will give me your honest confession in my hand, or I cannot keep you from the rope." This shows that Proctor would rather die than lose his good name. This is because a good name meant everything to the people of Salem in 1692; when people didn't have a good name they were an outcast to society. As a result, Proctor saved his good name but was sentenced to death for witchcraft.
A good name is still important in today's society; many people are judged by mistakes they made in the past. Months after Proctor cheated on his wife, he says, "Spare me! You forget nothin" and forgive nothin".
