Act 3

In this chapter it was mainly about reputation and integrity. Since the judges view themselves as allied with God and therefore always right, they can’t accept or even comprehend anyone disagreeing with them. Parris supports the court and gives into the hysteria to protect his reputation. Like Abigail, he’s reversed his denials of witchcraft. Danforth is a more open-minded judge than Hathorne, slightly more willing to accept the possibility he could be wrong. In a society built on social order, any deviation implies that you’re against that order. No one can tell if you’re religious, so they judge you by whether you seem religious. That’s why reputation is so important in Salem. Danforth tests Proctor’s motives and Proctor proves his integrity by refusing to be satisfied with the protection of just his wife.The accusations attack people’s reputations. Proctor tries to combat the attacks with proof of good reputations.Hysteria makes the townspeople actually believe and fear witchcraft. Proctor sacrifices his reputation to prove that Abigail is lying. In the process, he regains his integrity: he tells the truth to try to help the innocent but Elizabeth doesn’t know it was Proctor who confessed his adultery. She dooms both Proctor and the other innocent people by trying to protect Proctor’s reputation rather than following her own natural instinct to preserve integrity.