What are some of the main conflicts in The Crucible?

This intense play has a
number of conflicts, both internal and external. John Proctor serves as the central figure in
all of the play's important conflicts as he struggles to attain an honorable honesty even while
admitting to immoral acts. 

Narrowing our focus down to the most significant
conflicts of Miller's play, we can identify the following three conflicts:

• Proctor's troubled history and difficult relationships with Elizabeth and
  Abigail form a single domestic conflict...
• Proctor's attempt to persuade
  the court that the accusations of witchcraft are false is an external conflict central to the
  play's themes and action. 
• Proctor's internal struggle to determine the
  right course of action at the end of the play is a representative conflict, as he considers
  whether to falsely confess and live, or to be honest and die. 

These three conflicts are expressive of the major themes of the play. Social
pressure, integrity, and the personal relationships that fuel nearly all dramas are each present
in these conflicts concerning John Proctor. 

Proctor stands in the center of
the plays turmoil, literally and figuratively. He is engaged in a personal struggle to be honest
with himself and his wife about something shameful in his immediate past. This relates directly
to his public challenge, which is to convince the court that it is acting dishonestly, or at
least acting on dishonest information. 

Proctor can also be seen to embody
the play's resolution as he recognizes that his honor and his integrity are tied to his ability
to be honest, despite the costs of this honesty. 

Proctor's final recantation of his confession and his refusal to put his principles
aside to save his life, we see the triumph of personal integrity in a world of moral
uncertainty