Chapter 22 of 29 · 4'53"
Proctor has confessed, but the court brings Elizabeth in and asks whether her husband is a lecher. To save his name she lies — "No, sir" — and Proctor cries out that he already confessed: "She only thought to save my name!" The one lie the court accepts is the one that destroys him.
Elizabeth Explains Dismissing Abigail
In the Salem courtroom, after Proctor has confessed to lechery, Danforth calls Elizabeth to testify. He asks whether her husband is a lecher, and she lies to protect him, answering no. Proctor, who has just told the truth, cries out that he has confessed and that she only meant to save his name.
The scene is an irony built on a single lie. Elizabeth has never lied — Proctor swears, "them my wife cannot lie" — and now the one time she does lie to save him, it does the opposite. Danforth asks the question that matters, "Is your husband a lecher?", and Elizabeth, kept from looking at John, answers no. At that moment Proctor, who has just confessed, sees his wife undo his truth: "She only thought to save my name!" Her goodness and his honesty collide, and the court wins either way. The scene closes with Hale begging Danforth to stop before another person is condemned, but the machinery of the court has already used Elizabeth's virtue against them both.
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
“I have rung the doom of my good name - you will believe me, Mr. Danforth!”
He spends his own good name like a bell he rings himself, just to be believed.
literary
“There are them that cannot sing, and them my wife cannot lie.”
A plain farmer's comparison does the work of an oath.
Informal
“And so one night I lost my wits, I think, and put her out on the highroad.”
She confesses a rash act but hedges with I think, so the shame stays audible.
Neutral
“My wife is innocent, except she knew a whore when she saw one!”
He defends her innocence, then undercuts it with an except that sounds like a verdict.
Informal
Up next · 23deadly sinThe scene: The Girls Turn on Mary WarrenShe does not know he has already confessed. Thinking the truth would destroy his name, she answers no to protect him — the one answer that wrecks his case.
So she cannot take a cue from John's face. He orders her to look in his eyes and not at her husband, so the answer will be her own.
He sees the court punishing honest people and knows more will die. He calls Elizabeth's lie a natural one and asks Danforth to stop before another person is condemned.
He has confessed to lechery with Abigail Williams. When Elizabeth still denies it to save him, Proctor cries out that he has already confessed.
It means he has destroyed his own reputation by confessing. 'Rung the doom' is like ringing the bell that marks a death — here, the death of his good name.
