When Danforth asks John Proctor his purpose in coming to court, he simply replies: I
would free my wife, sir. However, when Danforth offers a years stay of execution for Elizabeth
on the grounds that she is pregnant (pointing out that a year is long and hinting that this
delay might save Elizabeth permanently), John refuses, saying:
These are my friends. Their wives are also accused.
When John presents his deposition to Danforth, it is one that testifies to the good
character of Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey as well as Elizabeth. This demonstrates his concern
for and solidarity with his neighbors and foreshadows his refusal to save himself by implicating
them in Act IV. The number of names he has collected, ninety-one landholding farmers in a small
community of a few hundred, demonstrates the amount of public support he has.
Johns personal mission to free Elizabeth quickly becomes a public matter, in which he
has to stand up for his friends and neighbors and the...
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