Private vs Public Self

     Reputation is everything, especially for people during the 1600s. During the 1600s your reputation was based off of how much land you had and how religious you were. John Proctor, a well known farmer in the town, rarely attended church because he hated Reverend Parris. John Proctor, in an attempt to save many innocent women from being hanged for false accusations of witchcraft, throws away his reputation. In doing this, John Proctor combines his private and public self. In court, John Proctor openly admits that he "lusted" and had an affair with Abigail (Miller 865). Proctor brings out his private self in order to prove that Abigail is a "whore" and that she "thinks to dance with [John] on [his] wife's grave" (Miller 863-865). By combining his private and public self, he helps Judge Danforth understand who Abigail really is and how Abigail is actually lying.
     A dancer can, on the other hand, incorporate her own beliefs and her own private self into her dance in order to exemplify the private and public self of the character she is portraying. John Proctor had to lose his reputation in order to use his private self to explain who Abigail Williams really is, but unlike John, I, as a dancer, have the ability to explain and portray the characteristics of a person without the fear of losing my reputation. It is unfair for one to lose his reputation and have to release his public self in order to save a society from destruction. Like in dance, everyone should have the ability to do what they want without the fear of losing his or her reputation.