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Proctor: You will not judge me more, Elizabeth. I have good reason to think before I charge fraud on Abigail, and I will think on it. Let you look to your own improvement before you go to judge your husband any more. I have forgot Abigail, and - Elizabeth: And I. Proctor: Spare me! You forget nothin' and forgive nothin.' Learn charity, woman. I have gone tiptoe in this house all seven months since she is gone. I have not moved from there to here without I think to please you, and still an everlasting funeral marches round your heart. I cannot speak but I am doubted, every moment judged for lies, as though I come into a court when I come into this house!

Arthur Miller#80

WarJudgmentGuiltForgivenessMarriage

About this quote

What does it mean?
John Proctor urges Elizabeth to stop judging him and focus on self-improvement, highlighting the tension in their marriage after his affair.
In plain terms
Stop criticizing me and look at your own faults instead.
What can you take from it?
Mutual forgiveness is needed to repair a broken relationship.

Where it applies

  • marital disputes
  • post-affair reconciliation
  • domestic tension

Putting it to work

  • reflect on personal faults
  • practice charity toward spouse
  • avoid constant accusation

Questions to consider

  • How do you respond when constantly judged?
  • What does true forgiveness require?

Another view

The speaker may be deflecting responsibility by shifting blame to the listener.

More from Arthur Miller

  1. Hale: Here is all the invisible world, caught, defined, and calculated. In these books the Devil stands stripped of all his brute disguises. Here are all your …

    Permalink to quote #79
  2. Elizabeth: I do not judge you. The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you. I never thought you but a good man, John - only somewhat bewildered. Proctor:…

    Permalink to quote #81
  3. I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who s…

    Permalink to quote #78

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