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

Using the Salem Witch Trials to parallel the Red Scare of the 1950s, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as a warning against the dangers of mob mentality and mass hysteria. Despite possessing no substantial evidence, the Puritan residents of Salem, Massachusetts empty their town through imprisoning and executing a massive number of innocent residents for witchcraft. One of the imprisoned, John Proctor, a farmer and tavern keeper, finds himself at the nucleus of the story. A tormented man, he battles with both the unfairness of the witch trials and his own inability to forgive himself for past wrongdoings. At the conclusion of the play, Proctor refuses to falsely confess witchcraft, and in doing so, regains his own self-respect. Miller’s The Crucible

John Proctor, despite matching the paradigm of a tragic hero otherwise, is not of noble birth. However, author Arthur Miller himself believed that tragic heroes do not require noble heritage, writing that “the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings are” (Miller, “Tragedy and the Common Man” 1). Thus, by Miller’s own definition, Proctor can serve as a tragic hero.

Within the community of Salem, John Proctor is held in very high esteem. According to the narrator, in his presence, “a fool felt his foolishness instantly,” and that others respect Proctor to the extent that he is “even feared” (Miller, The Crucible 20). This indicates both his reputation as a reasonable man and his prominent status within the community. After he forces Mary Warren to return to the house, Mercy Lewis, looking on, is “both afraid of him [Proctor] and strangely titillated” (21). Both fearful and excited in Proctor’s presence, she displays Salem’s awestruck attitude towards

In “Tragedy and the Common Man,” Miller states that “the flaw” in a character could simply be “the inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity” (Miller, “Tragedy and the Common Man” 2). Fitting this mold, John Proctor’s pride, preventing him from tainting his own reputation within the community, is his fatal flaw. Initially, he refuses to tell the community about Abigail’s false accusations. When Elizabeth coaxes him to, he becomes infuriated, saying that he has “good reason to think before I [he] charge[s] fraud on Abigail” (Miller, The Crucible, 54). By notifying Salem about the truth, Proctor would risk revealing his adultery. Thus, his pride allows the witch trials to commence, as the people believe Abigail’s word. At the very end of the play, his pride indeed condemns him to death. Stating that he cannot “live without his name” (Miller, The Crucible 143), Proctor refuses to sign the confession and acknowledge any involvement in witchcraft; he is too proud to tarnish his honor and reputation for the rest of his life. Despite knowing that he will die, John Proctor “clings to the honour of his name” (Minter 3). In his final words to Elizabeth, he declares “Show honor now, show a stony heart and sink them with it!” (Miller, The Crucible 144), displaying a steadfast dedication to maintaining his honor, even in the face of certain