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

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is set in Salem in 1962; the British colony of Massachusetts was shaken by a witchcraft hysteria that had resulted in the execution of twenty people and over 100 people taken to jail. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries witch hunts had swept through Europe which resulted in thousands of executions. A majority of the people who were accused were guilty of only practicing different duties and not actually committing the crime of witchcraft. In this story there are many characters who are accused of witchcraft. John Proctor was one of those people. He was a local farmer who was stern, a good reputation and hated hypocrisy. John Proctor fulfills the characteristics of a tragic hero by his

Proctor’s first way of presenting to save his wife was shown in court when the court officials came to take Elizabeth away. Proctor is so furious by the assault on his house that he rips up the warrant and tells them to leave, saying “Damn the Deputy Governor! Out of my house!” (Miller178). Signifying his strong love for his wife. Proctor shows signs of a tragic hero when he challenges to go into court to save his wife and prove that the girls are lying. However, he ends up being accused himself. Mary Warren is in court testifying, when she suddenly turns her back on John and starts wildly pointing at him, seeming somewhat scared of him. “My name, he wants my name. I’ll murder you he says, if my wife hangs! We must go and overthrow the court. Proctor wake me every night, his eyes were like coals and his fingers claw my neck and I sign, I sign” (Miller 1212). Consequently John Proctor fails in trying to save Elizabeth from the false accusers; instead he falls to target them. Miller reveals John Proctor as a common farmer that is honest and living a suitable life in a nice town in Salem, with a wife and three children. Nonetheless, as the play opens up the audience start to find out that John has a major secret, which is that he is having an affair with a young girl named Abigail Williams, she says “John – I am waitin’ for you every night” (Miller 1139). Abigail is in denial that her

Proctor first learns this by his household servant, Mary Warren who is one of the accusers. Proctor takes from the stories that Marry Warren and Abigail, who is the leader of the conspiracies, are in a partnership in trying to kill Proctor’s wife by accusing her of witchcraft. They come up with the idea that Elizabeth is a voodoo doll that Marry Warren sewed in court and gives it to her. When Marry is called to the court room where all of the chaos is happening she is asked if she has any idea of the doll and of the conjuring. Mary says “Conjures me? Why, no, sir, I am entirely myself, I think. Let you ask Susanna Walcott, she saw me sewin’ it in court. Or better, ask Abby, Abby sat beside me when I made it” (Miller 1177). Procter then puts the pieces together and soon realizes that this is all a lie. Proctor then goes to court to try and prove that the girls are lying. Unfortunately the girls turn on him once again and he is then accused of being the “devil’s man” (Miller 1212). Once again, Proctor tries to do well but is then untruthfully accused and is represented as a tragic