Elizabeth Proctor is an antagonist in The Crucible. I consider her an antagonist because Abigail is a protagonist who is setting the whole story in motion. Abigail accuses many people she despises of witchcraft so naturally Elizabeth is despised by Abigail because Elizabeth is married to John. I would also say Elizabeth is a round character we see her an accusing wife and a loving mother. In the beginning of act two we see her and John fighting over his affair with Abigail, then when Elizabeth is accused she is more of a loving mother and telling Mary Warren how to keep the house in order and keeping her family in tact. So far we haven't really seen Elizabeth change much in the story so I would say she is a static character.
Elizabeth is quick to assume she is being lied to. She has every right to believe she is being lied to because her husband cheated on her with Abigail and is still lying about seeing her even after the affair happened. Elizabeth is also very protective of her family, we see how she makes sure her family is taken care of before she taken into custody. She makes sure that Mary Warren knows that there is bread for the morning but will have to bake in the afternoon and she makes sure that her children don't know how severe her situation is right now. Elizabeth chooses not to tell the children where she is right now because she doesn't want to frighten them.
Elizabeth deals with whether or not she can trust John again after he has lied to her and keeps lying to her. This is both internal and external conflict for Elizabeth. She can not control when John lies to her and how often he does. She is also battling against herself deciding if she can trust John again but time and time again he shows her she can't. Elizabeth stays with John to show how strong her love is for him and to keep their family together. Elizabeth also faces and external conflict of the protagonist Abigail. Elizabeth has done nothing wrong yet Abigail wants her gone and out of the way. When Elizabeth is accused of witchcraft she takes it well and stays strong for her whole family so they can get out of the mess they are in.
I'm not 100% sure I'd call Elizabeth an antagonist with regards to Abigail being a protagonist. While it's true that at this point Abigail does seem to me like a major character, what specifically about her makes her the protagonist? If anything, I might say that for certain Elizabeth is a foil to Abigail: they reveal certain traits that are very different to one another. Good examples of her characterizations, though.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of your analysis is good. What is lacking is direct quotes, though you do a good job of elaborating on the situations. 9/10