John Proctor As A Tragic Hero In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

“A tragic hero is a character that is noble and well-respected, but he has one tragic flaw that causes him to fall from greatness. This error will physically and spiritually wound the tragic hero, eventually causing his death. In the end, the tragic hero sees and understands his doom, as well as the fact that his fate was brought about by his own actions. He is then able to accept his death with honor. A tragic hero’s death will generally gain a sympathetic emotional reaction from his fellow characters and from the audience.” This definition of a tragic hero applies to John Proctor from The Crucible. John Proctor is considered a tragic hero given to the fact that he is noble and well-respected in the town, he has a tragic flaw, and his death

John Proctor was known to be a loved and respected man in the town. Although no townspeople upfrontly said it within the play, there were many occurrences where it was demonstrated to the readers and audience. In the first act Abigail finds Proctor and reminds him of their affair. She constantly dreams of it and wants it to happen again. Proctor thinks of her otherwise. “Abby, you’ll put it out of mind. I’ll be not comin’ for you more.” says Proctor on page 838. Proctor realizes his mistake of committing adultery with Abigail and he refuses to speak of it more. His wife, Elizabeth Proctor was portrayed in the beginning of Act 1 to be a monster of a woman according to Abigail but many actions including giving her sorrow filled husband a second chance after he slept with another girl by reason of her knowing it was a mistake and that her honorable husband would not do it again. Another reason he is a respected man is due to the fact he was able to convince Reverend Hale that he was innocent just by being himself. In the third act when John was convicted, it lead Hale to quit his job since he knew such a known man would not do such a thing. Finally, the most obvious reason of all, Proctor would not simply sign his name over to the court confessing he committed witchcraft just so they can post it on the church doors. He

“I have known her, sir. I have known her.” says Proctor to Danforth on page 873 while confessing his wrongs in hopes of saving his “no lying” wife from being hung. Proctor had committed adultery with Abigail Williams which we knew about in the first act, but it was not until the third until more people than Elizabeth and the two rulebreakers were aware of it. To be a tragic hero the person must “fall” due to a flaw in his own personality. Proctor’s crime of infidelity with Abigail was his tragic flaw along with his excessive pride when it came down to him not signing his name so the court can not hang it on the church door when he falsified being a