The Crucible
Elizabeth Proctor’s Pregnancy
Elizabeth Proctor’s Pregnancy represents John’s hope of not only saving Elizabeth’s life for an year, but also the progenies of Salem village. Reverend Danforth says, “if she begin to show her natural signs, you shall have her living yet another year until she is delivered.” (92). At first sceptical of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, Danforth promises to give Elizabeth one more year to live. Successfully, Elizabeth not only manages to carry the child in her belly, but also saves herself from the gallows. Proctor, after months of torture, when he finds Elizabeth again in the meadow, he first asks “The child?” (124). Proctor’s question of Elizabeth’s children resembles a living hope of recuperation of purity and peace in the village. The pregnancy motivates John to sacrifice his life not for the sinners such as Abigail and other girls, but for the innocent people who will reconstruct the village for the prosperity of posterity.