Yup, this is, indeed, a spiritual crisis for John
Proctor. He is not guilty of the crimes of which he's accused, but he does feel as if
he's a guilty sinner for other things. To that extent, because he's already a sinner in
the eyes of God and man, Proctor is at first willing to sign his name to a
lie.
Once Danforth starts pressing him to give up the names
of others--whom Proctor certainly knows to be innocent--and is going to place his signed
confession on the church door, Proctor realizes he's losing more than his
already-condemned soul. He's losing his good name. Once he understands he can once
again stand tall by denouncing his confession, he has in essence confessed and found
some sense of forgiveness and peace with God.
These
Puritans were all about public confessions and punishments, while Proctor's wrestling of
the soul was internal--and not at all what Danforth was concerned about
here.
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