Why are maximal ideals prime?

Here’s a proof that doesn’t involve the quotient $R/A$.

Suppose that $A$ is not prime; then there are $a,b\in R\setminus A$ such that $ab\in A$. Let $B$ be the ideal generated by $A \cup \{a\}$; $B = \{x+ar: x\in A\text{ and }r\in R\}$. Clearly $A \subsetneq B$, so $B = R$, $1_R \in B$, and hence $1_R = x + ar$ for some $x\in A$ and $r\in R$. Then $$b = b1_R = b(x+ar) = bx + bar.$$ But $bx \in bA \subseteq RA = A$, and $bar \in Ar \subseteq AR = A$, so $b \in A$. This contradiction shows that $A$ is prime.

$A$ is an maximal ideal $\Rightarrow$ $R/A$ is a field $\Rightarrow$ $R/A$ is an integral domain $\Rightarrow$ $A$ is prime

Let $A$ be a maximal ideal. Then $R/A$ contains no proper ideals, by the correspondence theorem. Indeed, $R/A$ is a field (assuming that $R$ contains an identity). Hence, $A$ is a prime ideal.

Theorem. $R/A$ is a field.

Proof: Let $i+A\in R/A$ such that $i+A\neq 0+A$. We want to prove that $i+A$ is a unit. Then set $B=A+Ri=\{a+ri: a\in A, r\in R\}$.

Now, you (yourself!) need to prove that $B$ is an ideal, and that $A\subset B$ properly. So, since $A$ is maximal this means that $B=R$.

As $B=R$ we have that $1\in B$, so $(1+ri)+A=ri+A=(r+A)(i+A)$, and so $i+A$ is a unit, as required.