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John Proctor The Tragic Hero In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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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. John Proctor is a tragic hero because he is noble in character, he has a tragic flaw, he suffers greatly, and …show more content…

We can see where Proctor struggles with his pride in Act II, when he says to Elizabeth, “I'll not have your suspicion anymore” (Miller). Proctor gets defensive when Elizabeth questions him about his relationship with Abigail, even though he knows he has done wrong and sinned, he refuses to confess to the affair publicly. His pride gets in the way of him doing what’s right and confessing the affair to the community because he is afraid of ruining his reputation and suffering the consequences. Proctor's unwillingness to put his pride aside is one of his tragic …show more content…

In Act IV, when John says, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang!” (Miller), it shows his commitment to his integrity. Proctor finds redemption here because he is willing to die for his beliefs rather than lie to save his life. By choosing death, he is making the ultimate sacrifice to save his reputation. Proctor proves his redemption for his past mistakes, by tearing up his confession and choosing to die to maintain his

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In "The Crucible," by Arthur Miller, the population of a small town in Salem, Massachusetts is in peril after false accusations of witchcraft among its inhabitants send several to prison. When tried for their crimes, the suspects are forced to lie and "confess" their work with the devil for the sake of their lives, or meet grim executions. Among the arrested is a young man named John Proctor. Though Proctor is a man of good moral character, the tribulation of the witch trial tests his repute when he realizes that his profession of innocence would leave his pregnant wife, who has also been accused, to suffer alone, and later be killed. Under this tremendous pressure, Proctor's disposition falters, and his temperament falls as he admits to a wrong not

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JOHN PROCTOR: TRAGIC HERO Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a greatly revered work, and it reflected the times of America in the days of McCarthyism. Perhaps the character that connected to the audience most was John Proctor, the protagonist of the play. He reflects the mistakes that we have made in our lives, and the struggle that some of have while trying to take the blindfold off of other people. He should be considered a hero because he feels guilt, and therefore tries to make up for the fact that he once had an affair.

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The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller in 1953, is a dramatized account of the Salem witch trials that took place in Massachusetts in the late 17th century. The play serves as a commentary on the McCarthyism era in the 1950s, when the United States was in the grip of a witch hunt for supposed communists. The characters in The Crucible undergo significant changes and transformations as the events of the play unfold, making character development a central aspect of the play. One of the most notable examples of character development in The Crucible is that of John Proctor, who starts off as a flawed but honorable man and transforms into a tragic hero. Proctor initially refuses to confess to a crime he did not commit because he wants to protect his reputation and the reputation of his family.

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The Crucible by Arthur Miller, is known for its critique of our society through irony and literary techniques such as foils or tragic heroes. A tragic hero is considered to be an individual who is well respected, but makes a mistake that ruins their stature or personal well-being. Another characteristic of a tragic hero is a life ending with an untimely, yet still often brave death. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller utilizes John proctor as a tragic hero to show the hypocrisy of society through his fall into adultery, his fight to regain the trust of his wife and others around him, and his tragic yet heroic death. John Proctors fall into adultery shows his human nature, and its tendency to make many mistakes in one’s lifetime.

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