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

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The Salem Witch Trials in 1692 was a real life example of mass hysteria that lead to many people being paranoid and making false accusations towards others. Arthur Miller used the Witch Trials as the basis for his play because it was a fantastic reflection of what Mccarthyism had done to the United States in the 50’s. To enhance his satire Arthur Miller used traditional theater methods, one of the examples of this was his use of a tragic hero. A great example of a tragic hero in The Crucible would be one of the main characters John Proctor. John Proctor is a tragic hero because he is an important player in the village of Salem, he has an affair with Abigail Williams, has a great amount of pride, and in the end he dies. John Proctor, as Reverend Parris says in the play “His name holds great weight in the village”. What Reverend Parris refers to is how Proctor had been in the village from the start and in act two John states he “Nailed the roof to the church and hung the door”. John proctor made a terrible mistake by having an affair with the house servant Abigail Williams. The affair causes John’s life to be secretive and mysterious, his wife is one that knew of the affair from early on. No matter what John does to try and get his wife's forgiveness she will not have it and they stay in conflict for most of the play. When Proctor is accused of …show more content…

If he was to confess of witchcraft he would have been free but his good name in the village would have made other less prominent people in village to confess lies. John had never spoken with the devil and neither had the others in the village but the only way of getting out of hanging was confessing of witchcraft. Instead of taking the easy way out Proctor and confess, he took the high road saving his family’s good name for future generations (his 3 sons). Although Proctor’s family name was saved he was not and hung in the end of the

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Even though John Proctor commits adultery he still is trying to be an honest person and has been trying to keep his name clean. When John Proctor goes to court with Mary Warren to tell the Judges the truth. When the Judges started questioning him, he admitted his affair with Abigail Williams, which put his name at risk. John Proctor was given the choice to tell the truth and be prosecuted or confess to a crime he did not commit and be set free. He chose to tell the truth and got sent to jail.

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Arthur Miller, a playwright, wrote The Crucible, a dramatized and fictionalized play. The setting took place in Salem, Massachusetts, during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. The play is about the witch trials, which started due to the jealousy and lust of Abigail Williams, the leader of the witchcraft trial, wanting to have John Proctor, the main protagonist, again. At the end of the play, Proctor is led to his hanging. Throughout the play, there are many events that had helped him made his decision.

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At the conclusion of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor exhibits tremendous honor. John’s moving oration just before destroying his confession revealed that he his thoughts towards lying. In an attempt to save his good name, John Proctor would put his life on the line to go out with honesty. Prior to the witch accusations, John Proctor put his good name in jeopardy after fooling around with Abigail Williams.

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John Proctor’s excessive pride evidently led him to his downfall. In the beginning of the book, John is seen as a strong man, “in Proctor’s presence a fool felt his foolishness instantly” (Miller 20). He was seen as such a high man that he let his pride get the best of him, at first he didn't want to confess to the court about his affair with Abigail to keep his name from being blackened. When John eventually confesses to the court about his adultery with Abigail; His wife, Elizabeth, didn't know that John had already confessed, so she lied about it to keep him safe, which only made matters worse. In the end, he dies in order to keep his good name in the town.

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The court wanted John Proctor to confess to witchcraft; this was vital for the court, as it would help their case in many ways. For example, it would bring an end to the plots against the court. As a result of giving his name, The court will spare Proctor’s life, but it came with a cost: he must sign a document as written proof of his confession of witchcraft and hang it in the church for everyone to see. He cannot follow through with the greedy desires of Danforth and the others because he “cannot have another name in [his] life” (Miller 207). Proctor does not want people to remember him for what he is not; by giving his name, he tarnishes the truth about himself as a respectable and upstanding citizen, as well as the everlasting effect it will have on his prosperity.

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He was, later in the story, accused of witchcraft by Abigail Williams. While Proctor tried to clear his name, he eventually gave up and confessed to save his own life. If Proctor had been willing to sacrifice himself for the truth, he could have helped to end the hysteria in Salem.

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John proctor’s good name Courage. This word is easy to say, but hard to explain. To have courage isn’t always fighting bad guys; sometimes being courageous is just standing up for what you believe in. Just like John Proctor did in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible. He stood up against a court to save his friends and family from hanging, and that took some courage.

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John Proctor is a pedofile but a hero. In Arthur Miller's movie, "The Crucible,” released in 1996 in the United States, the town of Salem is consumed by a mass hysteria as people are accused of witchcraft left and right. John Proctor, the star of the movie, plays a crucial role on how he could have been the character to have ended this madness. In "The Crucible,” I believe John Proctor could have ended the hysteria in Salem by avoiding the affair with Abigail Williams, being more honest, and exposing the lies. To begin with, John Proctor should’ve left Abigail Williams alone.

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In this moment, he does not want the rest of the community to think poorly of his name. Proctor’s character continues to grow as the trials take over the small town of Salem. John Proctor then was forced to make an impossible decision about his fate and honor. In his grand act of selflessness, he made the choice to die rather than falsely confess to witchcraft. Before this display

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The Crucible by Arthur Miller is set in Salem in a Puritan community, John Proctor is the tragic hero because he is loving, loyal, authoritative, but his tragic flaw is his temper. The most well known definition of a tragic hero comes from Aristotle who was a great philosopher . When describing a tragic hero, he states "The change in the hero's fortunes be not from misery to happiness, but on the contrary, from happiness to misery, and the cause of it must not lie in any depravity but in some great error on his part. "He also explains the four essential qualities that a tragic hero should have, which are appropriateness, goodness,consistency, and lifelike. These necessities help, classify the character of John Proctor in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible as the tragic hero.

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Up until the point of incarceration, Proctor's strong character is demonstrated as he denies the accusation even as the entire village is against him, going so far as to boldly state, "God damns all liars," (Miller 117) and that in believing the denunciation, the people are "pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore" (Miller 120). In the months following his imprisonment, John will still not confess, and is thus found guilty by the court and sentenced to be hanged. Not wanting to add another death to their town's toll, the court has pity on John. They implore his wife to "plead with him" (Miller 132) to confess as a last resort to save his life. When John's wife comes to him begging in a haggard state, 3 months pregnant, worn by the harshness of prison, and weeping for her bitter regrets as she realizes her husband's death is imminent, he can stand firm no longer.

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Danforth tests John Proctor to see if he would confess to witchcraft or not. Danforth tells Proctor, “You will give me your honest confession in my hand, or I cannot keep you from the rope (Act 4, 1333)”. Danforth explains for Proctor to remain alive , he must give the court documentation that he practices witchcraft. Near the end of the play, John Proctor stays true to the truth and does not confess to witchcraft. He chooses to die so that his sons do not have to live with the name of a liar.

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What may be the best known definition of a tragic hero comes from the great philosopher Aristotle. According to Aristotle a tragic hero is ““the change of fortune presented must not be the spectacle of a virtuous man brought from prosperity to adversity.” (ohio.edu). If this statement does not bring the character of John Proctor to mind then what will? John proctor has all the characteristics that one would need to be characterized as a tragic hero.

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Driven by lust, John Proctor, in Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, commits a certain action that starts a new era of belief systems that end up murdering some of the kindest hearts. In the first place, John Proctor is to blame for what’s happening to the village because he committed adultery. Abigail Williams and Proctor had a scandalous affair away from Mrs. Proctor. It was considered adultery since Abigail was underage, even though she desired what they did every minute of the day.

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Unlike the others, throughout the story John doesn’t buy into the wive’s tales of witchcraft. He among a few others continue to battle against the bogus claims of the girls and the court. In the beginning, Proctor plays by the rules of the court and prepares depositions that any court would have to accept on a normal occurrence. Instead, the court chooses to deny most of these depositions and decides to bring all the others who signed one into court. Towards the end, Proctor, who is driven by the fear his wife might be hanged, confesses to his adulterous acts with Abigail Williams.

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