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How Is John Proctor A Tragic Hero

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The definition of a hero is someone who puts the needs of others in front of their own and make every effort to benefit the lives of the people around them. The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place in a town called Salem. Salem had recently been prevailed by a group of young girls who were accusing people of practicing witchcraft. Anyone who was accused of witchcraft was sent to trial and would later on be hanged as a punishment if they did not sign a confession. In The Crucible, John Proctor is seen as a tragic hero. His wife Elizabeth was accused of witchcraft by the young girls which meant that she would be arrested and most likely hanged. John Proctor had make mistakes in the past such as cheating on his wife which led him to make the ultimate sacrifice for his family and his name. John Proctor confesses to being a witch as he knows it is the only way he can save his wife Elizabeth from being arrested and killed. Proctor is seen as a tragic hero because he decides to not sign his confession as it would …show more content…

John Proctor has a reversal in fortune after he has an affair with Abigail. His affair with Abigail led to Abigail accusing Elizabeth of practicing witchcraft. If Proctor had used better judgement and not had an affair with Abigail, life would have been much better for Proctor and his family. When Proctor confesses to his affair he states, “A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. I beg you, sir, I beg you—see her what she is. She thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore's vengeance” (Miller, 85). Proctor, after the fact, now understands that what he has done was wrong and has lead to many bad events. This is a great example of anagnorisis as he realizes that his own actions led to his downfall as well as his

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Proctor knows it is his fault that the accusation was made and he now know he must do anything to save his wife. As the play goes on Proctor begins to realize that his wife is the one who really loves him, as Abigail will so quickly throw anyone, including him, under the bus. John

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362 Words | 2 Pages

When people are accused of a crime they didn’t commit, it often has lasting effects on them and their loved ones. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, he explores the Salem Witch trials with characters that are accused of a crime they clearly didn’t commit, and are sent to their death. In a similar fashion, the five adolescents who were accused and found guilty of a heinous crime in New York City were ultimately found innocent after they served years and had eliminated a chance of restoring their youth. In the Central Park Five court case that occurred in New York City during the late 1980’s, the idea that a hero is someone valiant is proven by Antron Mccray. In the play, the Crucible by Arthur Miller, it displays that a hero is honest based on

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Nobility of the few brings together the masses of the many. To which any man perceived to be noble having to possess the traits of someone who will raise other and will not fall. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a man named John Proctor shows his nobility with all his actions, statements and natural talent. A tragic hero is a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy. In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays John Proctor, the protagonist, as a tragic hero who has a major flaw—lust for Abigail, his house servant.

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541 Words | 3 Pages

In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor is a tragic hero because of his affair with Abigail. Although his wife Elizabeth knows about his affair and has moved past it, John still feels that she cannot forgive him when in reality he cannot forgive himself. Johns affair brings chaos to his marriage with Elizabeth, causes Abigail to accuse innocent people of witchcraft, and even brings him to his own death. When John proctor sleeps with Abigail, his relationship with his wife elizabeth becomes injured. For example, what started off as a normal conversation between john and his wife , soon took a turn for the worst.

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1145 Words | 5 Pages

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!”(111). In addition, another sacrifice made john Proctor takes place at the end of Act 4 when he refuses to give the court the signed paper saying that he committed

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John Proctor was a man who valued honesty, however, he was guilty of the one flaw he hated the most, hypocrisy. After sleeping with seventeen-year-old Abigail Williams, Proctor’s dignity had been critically injured, and in order to preserve what little pride he had left John’s decisions revolved around saving his reputation. Subsequently, when Abigail Williams began her rise to power, Proctor avoided confessing to save the lives of those in the village. Instead, he opted to protect his reputation and give his generic opinion of the absurdity of the witch accusations. Nonetheless, the crusades became headstrong and intractable, and John’s wife, Elizabeth, became the next victim of the accusations.

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502 Words | 3 Pages

The one person who could have stopped the Salem Witch Trials was none other than a tragic hero. Aristotle developed the idea of a tragic hero in a story. This person was someone who was an exceptional person, they were quite prideful, and by the end they must die. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor is a tragic hero. He is an exceptional man with lust as a fatal error, he takes pride in his name, and by the end he dies and repents.

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John Proctor starts off in the play as a guilty man who is self judging and the ends the play finally saying that he is a good man. John's wife, Elizabeth Proctor says, "He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him" (134). Elizabeth's words explain that John has finally realized although he did a bad thing he is still a good man and not a witch. John changes from a self judging character to a forgiving one.

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756 Words | 4 Pages

Proctor realized the truth behind everything and decided it was time to come forward and tell Danforth, “She thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore's vengeance, and you must see it now” (Miller ). John tries to reveal who Abigail really is but it does not help the lives of those who are to be hanged.

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John Proctor the Tragic Hero “The Crucible” is a play written by Arthur Miller that is set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The play focuses on a small community where some members have been accused of witchcraft. One of the main characters, John Proctor who is a farmer, is one of the accused of witchcraft along with his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. In this story, John Proctor is seen as a tragic hero, who is someone who is of noble stature, has a tragic flaw that ultimately leads to a downfall and experiences meaningful suffering. The tragic hero is someone great, but not perfect, and is often someone the audience can see themselves as.

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964 Words | 4 Pages

Proctor draws attention to the women's well-established reputations in an effort to demonstrate that the accusations against them might be untrue. He fights for the women’s honor by voicing out, “Excellency, does it not strike upon you that so many of these women have lived so long with such upright reputation, and–” (3.84). Proctor dispels Danforth and Parris' claims by focusing on the accusers and any potential bad reputations they may have, despite their attempts to argue that the Devil is deceitful and can trick even the most upright man. By doing this John is trying to clear his wife’s name but is left frustrated that he cannot clear his wife’s name entirely. Proctor feels as if he has no other choice later reveals that he had an affair with Abigail Williams and publicly telling the court his sin allows all of the attention on himself rather than his wife.

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1468 Words | 6 Pages

John Proctor was noble farmer, thrown in jail over accusations of witchcraft and held the importance of his name over his life. Proctor was not as noble as he was conceived to be by the other people in Salem because he had previously committed adultery with a young girl named Abigail Williams. Abigail’s love for Proctor pioneered the development of the witch trials seeing that she practiced witchcraft only to kill Proctor’s wife and then began accusing others to save herself. Proctor saw through her manipulative lies and stood against her accusations to right his wrong and stop Abigail. His dignity led to his demise once given the option to admit to witchcraft, and live without his good name or be hanged, Proctor chose death.

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609 Words | 3 Pages

After cheating on his wife with Abigail Williams, the villain of the story, John knows that he has made an error and is determined to leave the past behind him stating, “… I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again” (Miller 1261). Proctor knows that he has made a grave mistake, and it has haunted him ever since he has reached for her. His very character is permanently flawed by his

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747 Words | 3 Pages

In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the town of Salem is afflicted with hysteria, intolerance, and accusations that lead to death. According to philosopher Aristotle, a tragic hero possesses a tragic flaw, excessive pride, and an inevitable downfall. Protagonist John Proctor illustrates a tragic hero because he is presented as happy, powerful, and privileged, which later leads him to suffer because of his own actions. First of all, John Proctor possesses a fatal flaw, pride, which is a characteristic of a tragic hero. Proctor’s fatal flaws includes honesty and pride.

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1100 Words | 5 Pages

John has the conscience of an honest man even though he has committed a severe sin, which he hides, adultery. Because of this his name is tainted, making the reader doubt the goodness in him. When Proctor reveals the truth in court, we are surprised because he has confessed knowing it will blacken his name, and he has done this in order to save his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. Because of this we are able to see that Proctor bears responsibility for what has occurred. However when he confesses, Abigail turns against him and accuses Proctor of being a witch.

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