The Tragic Hero John Proctor In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

The Tragic Hero John Proctor

Theocracy is where the government rules through the laws of religion.” The Crucible” by Arthur Miller shows a society which has undergone in a Christian theocracy with the emergence of the Salem witch hunts.Throughout this classical tragedy, one of the main characters John Proctor becomes the tragic hero. Ancient Greek philosopher defines tragic hero that a person makes judgement error that creats downfall from the high point of his or her life. According to Arthur Miller’s description, John Proctor is a respected citizen and has a high position in the society is an emergence for his downfall, he lives with dignity, integrity and full of pride but tragic flaw of his life leads him towards the downfall,

But, John Proctor's succumbing to his downfall was that he was overly prideful and did anything that pleased his desires without acknowledging the consequences, such as his affair with Abigail. Even though, he upholds this secret but can not stop Abigal to have a growing emotional love towards him, it allowed Abigail to desire John Proctor to be hers. She believes John Proctor is the apex of her life and it is shown when she stated with tears in her eyes,” I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart!” further she said,” You loved me John Proctor and whatever sin it is, you loved me yet!” She also added, “Oh, John, I will make you such a wife when the world is white again” (24), this absolute devotion of Abigail created by John Proctor's rapacity to please himself was the main cause of the Witch trails in the play. Even though, Proctor’s readiness to maintain his pride and thus not to confess his sins of adultery with Abigail allowed the trial to rise to an unstoppable point. And his immorality ultimately makes John proctor to fall from his own creation. Thus, up to now in the act John Proctor successfully maintains his integrity, dignity and pride in the Salem

Proctor’s immense pride and fear of public opinion compelled him to withhold his adultery from the court, but by the end of the play he is more concerned with his personal integrity than his public reputation. He realizes his fault of having an affair with Abigail plus his stubborn attitude to maintain his pride, which caused his own downfall, but ultimately it transforms Proctor. The reversal of fortune makes Proctor's tragic flaw more apparent. When his wife Elizabeth is convicted of being a witch and in turn is taken away by the court to proceed the trial, where the end result is death, at that time Proctor admits to his affair with Abigail. Proctor reveals that he “In the proper place - where my beasts are bedded” had a pleasant time with Abigail”. Even though, John Proctor, exposes his fault, but he fails to save his wife and himself. Reverend Hale also attempts to convince Proctor to sign his name to be pardoned of his hanging. Proctor would have use his legacy, his connections and his reputation to save himself, but Proctor refuses to sign the document. One of his last statement is, “ I have three children - how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends”(143), and thus he condemns himself like all the tragedies of the ancient Greeks to death. Clearly he tries to transform himself