Characters - Midterm 2025 English

John Proctor

Farmer who committed adultery; struggles with guilt but chooses integrity and truth, dying rather than giving a false confession.

Elizabeth Proctor

Honest and moral wife; deeply hurt but ultimately forgives and supports John’s decision.

Abigail Williams

Vindictive and manipulative; uses fear and lies to gain power and eliminate rivals.

Reverend Parris

Paranoid, self-interested minister more focused on reputation than justice.

Reverend Hale

Confident expert who later realizes the truth, condemning injustice and seeking redemption.

Mary Warren

Weak-willed servant who briefly enjoys power but lacks courage under pressure.

Judge Danforth

Rigid authority figure who values the court’s power over human life.

Giles Corey

Outspoken farmer who refuses to plead, becoming a symbol of resistance and integrity.

Stage Manager

Narrator who breaks the fourth wall and guides the audience through life and time.

George Gibbs

Immature boy who grows into a responsible husband and adult.

Emily Webb

Intelligent young woman who realizes too late that people fail to appreciate life while living it.

Emily Grierson

Reclusive woman trapped in the past; her secret reveals obsession, denial, and decay.

Town of Jefferson

Judgmental community that observes Emily as a symbol of a fading past.

Old waiter

Understands loneliness and existential emptiness, finding comfort in order and routine.

Young waiter

Impatient and shallow; cannot understand despair or loneliness.

Old man

Exhausted refugee who worries more about his animals than himself, symbolizing innocent victims of war.

Tessie Hutchinson

Casual participant who protests tradition only when it turns against her.

Oakhurst and the miners

Rough men softened by caring for a baby, showing moral transformation.

Harrison Bergeron

Exceptionally gifted rebel destroyed for defying forced equality.

Handicaps

Government-imposed devices used to suppress intelligence, beauty, and individuality.

Mr. Shiftlet

Deceptive drifter who uses fake morality for personal gain and abandons the vulnerable.

Peyton Farquhar

Southern civilian who imagines escape in the moments before death.