1] I have made a bell of my honor! I have rung the doom of my good name-you will believe me, Mr. Danforth! My wife is innocent, except she knew a whore when she saw one!
In the context of the play, I said this for a few reasons. One of the reasons I said this in open court, was because I needed to protect my wife, Elizabeth Proctor. She is an amazing women, and a perfect wife. She does not deserve to be hung or imprisoned for something so silly like witchcraft. Elizabeth did not deserve to be the wife of a lecher, but true love is never broken, and this is why I have said what I have said.
Also, I had to stop Abigail right in her tracks. In order to do so, I made sure that everyone knew she was an obsessive whore. Also, Abigail is not going to stop until something tragic happens. I know this for a fact because I lusted for her, and I know her down to the bone. If I truly wanted to, I could read her like a book. She needed to be stopped.
Last, but not least, My name is going to be down in the gutter in about two minutes. I had to somewhat protect my name, but most importantly protect Elizabeth's name. I knew for a fact that I would not be able to get away with this, and I could only hope that Elizabeth will just admit to it, instead of trying to protect me. This is only going to make both of us look bad. And who is to decide which one of us is lying?
2] I come to tell you, Abby, what I will do tomorrow in the court. I would not take you by surprise, but give you all good time to think on what to do to save yourself... If you do not free my wife tomorrow, I am set and bound to ruin you, ABby...I have rocky proof in documents that you knew that poppet were none of my wife's; and that you yourself bade Mary Warren stab that needly into it.
At this point in the play, Abigail was out of control, someone seriously needed to put her in her place. So I did. I set things straight, and told her straight up. You need to cut it out before I ruin your name. I already knew what she was planning at that time, and how she was going to screw almost everyone in the village over so bad. It needed to be stopped. I took the responsibility upon my self, and put her in her place. She obviously defended herself and told me that she knew nothing of the sort, but she did.
I also warned her that if this did not stop, and if she did not get my wife out of this mess, i would ruin her pretty little name in the village of Salem, Massachusetts. With girls like these, you have to lay it down flat. No one is safe, so why would she be safe?
3] And why not, if they must hang for denying it? There are them that will swear to anything before they'll hand; have you never thought of that...I had not reckoned with going into court. but if I must, I will...I falter nothing, but I may wonder if my story will be credited in such a court. I do wonder on it, when such a steady minded ministeras you will suspicion such a woman that never lied, and cannot, and the world knows she cannot! I may falter somewhat, mister, i am no fool.........I have no knowledge of it; the Bible speaks of witches, and I will not deny them.
At this point in the play, i really had no idea what was going on, if i said the wrong thing, i could get hanged, or my wife could get hanged. So i tried to keep it chill. Just played along at first, and tried pointing out the logic. People will defend themselves and throw their best friend underneath the bus so they will not get hanged. Real shady right? I tried to keep it on the down low so things didn't escalate into something great. But in this town, they will. I also needed to shut Hale up, he was making me angry, and i did not know what to say. I told him i did not have any knowledge of witchcraft so therefore, i could not believe in it. Also, if people just shut up about this whole shenanigan, then everyone ion the town will be saved and things will go back to normal for the most part.
