John Proctor; Tragic Hero or Ordinary Joe Plays have been used as a method of storytelling and form of entertainment for hundreds of years. A tragedy is one type of play where the audience pities the characters and fear the same consequences that the characters face. In addition, tragedies often include a tragic hero who has a tragic flaw causing his or her downfall. One example of a play that is a tragedy and includes a tragic hero is the The Crucible. John Proctor in The Crucible is a true tragic hero because he possess the four characteristics of goodness, superiority, tragic flaw, and realization of his downfall. In order to be a true tragic hero, the protagonist must be a moral and ethical person. Proctor proves with his actions …show more content…
Together with having extensive land, Proctor´s crops were doing considerably well compared to other farmers (Act 2). Not all farmers in the region are lucky and suffer from crop failures. Because of his successful harvest and land, Proctor is considered superior and privileged in the Salem community. Therefore, Proctor is a tragic hero because he holds the characteristics of superiority. One cannot be a tragic hero with a tragic flaw. This flaw will lead to the downfall of the protagonist. Proctor’s tragic flaw is his inability to avoid temptation. Specifically, Proctor gave into temptation of Abigail. In Act 1, Abigail confronts Proctor about his nightly visits to Abigail’s window. Proctor agrees that he has been visiting Abigail, owing to that he can not avoid the temptation of Abigail. Although Abigail and him are no longer seeing each other, Proctor cannot stay away from Abigail and gives into temptation to visit Abigail. Another example that demonstrates Proctor’s inability to avoid temptation is when Proctor confesses to the court about his relationship with Abigail (Act 2). In court, Proctor could have kept the court oblivious to the fact that he and Abigail had a relationship, instead as a last resort, Proctor gave into the temptation and informed the court. In the process Proctor also ruined his name in the community. By giving into temptation, Proctor caused his own demise. Tragic heroes eventually
A Tragic hero is a character who experiences a major downfall as the results of a personal mistake or the workings of fate. There are many tragic heroes in the play The Crucible, But the one that comes to mind is John Proctor for several reasons. It all starts out with the affair with Abigail, when that affair happens John Proctor breaks his wedding vows and violate the moral convictions of the community by engaging in an adultery affair with Abigail. John Proctor is a classic example of a tragic hero in the play, The Crucible for several reasons…
In the story, John Proctor has a wife, three sons, a current maid, and a former maid; the former maid being the women in which he committed adultery upon his wife with. He was a well respected man in the village but had made choices that would later lead to his tragic death. Proctor is a tragic hero because he had come to increased awareness, his punishment exceeded his crime and he made a poor free choice. It was early in this unnerving story that Proctor reveals what is actually taking place.
For instance: imperfect qualities, causing his own doom, and his own tragic death these are just some of the many reasons that prove that John Proctor is a hero. John shows us all that we have a choice in life, we do not have to abide to what others want, we can hang if we want to. Tragic heros cannot be perfect and have to make mistakes so people can identify with them, John Proctor is definity not perfect and he makes mistakes, just like the average human being. Nevertheless, he also shows us all that we can be heroes just like him. John Proctor ended up doing more than just inspiring the people of Salem to stand what they believe in, he inspires anyone who reads his
By in large Proctor is a fairly nice man; he works hard for what he wants and provides for his family. One may say he is the hero of this particular work, until it is discovered he has a flaw in his
I believe that John Proctor is the tragic hero in the play “The Crucible.” I feel that his tragic flaw is the reason he became the tragic hero. He was trying to win back the trust of his wife and to do this he became the hero. By showing he was a good and decent person, this exemplifies he is a tragic hero. I see to prove his love and dedication to Elizabeth that John would do anything she told him to, in a way to win her trust back. He didn’t want the law to take her away, when she was suspected of witchcraft. He begged them not to take her and not to chain her. This persuasive essay will
John Proctor is portrayed throughout the play to be a man who has high moral values that he must abide by. He
A superhero is ordinarily a person with a secret identity and when danger strikes he or she is there in a fancy costume ready to save the day and move forward. However some heros don’t wear capes, they are common men and women with extraordinary capabilities and when the day is done the battle hasn’t always been won. These heros are the tragic heros. According to Aristotle “the tragic hero is introduced as happy, powerful, and privileged, and ends up dying or suffering immensely because of his own actions or mistakes (Source A).” In The Crucible the audience is introduced to a different kind of tragic hero by the name of John Proctor. Proctor possesses some characteristics of a tragic hero as well as those of a sad and guilty man. John Proctor has attributes of both an ordinary man through his own humane qualities that connect himself to the audience as well as the characteristics of a tragic hero with a remarkable courage to lay down his life and truly redeem his sin.
One more characteristic of the tragic hero, which Proctor possesses, is that he learns from his mistakes. His mistake, which was also his tragic flaw, was his adultery. He learns from his mistakes, which can be seen by how he will not be lured back by Abigail. Even when she says
Tragic events brings out peoples fear and pity that leaves the readers hungry for justice, that’s when the hero comes in the story. The hero should be the most courageous and noble of the characters. He or she is the symbolic face of justice and honor. Proctors priorities are challenged when his wife is convicted of a crime she didn’t commit. He then so honorably goes to the court knowing that the only way to save his wife is to put his own life on the line. Aristotle says “A man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall” (qtd. in Barnes). Proctor is faced with many trials and tribulations in which he needs to overcome.
A Tragedy as a literary Work is described in which there is a hero that is basically moral individual destroyed by some character flaw and by force beyond his or her control. That hero is a tragic hero who experiences an inner struggle because of this flaw. Because of his charter flaw and his struggle to do what is right, John Proctor is a tragic hero.
A tragic hero is a very favored person that suffers from a downfall which leads to their death. John Proctor, like many others, is a tragic hero. The author, Arthur Miller, gives John Proctor the role of a tragic hero throughout the story of The Crucible. This protagonist, John Proctor, made judgement errors that inevitably led to his own destruction. John Proctor is an afflicted individual. He believes his affair with Abigail irreparably damaged him in the eyes of God, his wife Elizabeth, and himself. John Proctor succumbed to sin and committed the crime of adultery; however, he lacks the capacity to forgive himself. When referencing criticism, John Proctor and the Crucible of Individuation in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Michelle I Pearson, who also agrees John Proctor is a tragic hero, once said in her article that “While the people of Salem look at Proctor and see a strong, hard-working, no-nonsense man, Proctor himself knows that he is an adulterer, a lecher, and that he drives himself to try to be free of his guilt. Not until faced with a crisis, however, will he leave the persona behind and begin the process of individuation.” The criticism provided helps prove John Proctor fits the role of a tragic hero in The Crucible. In order to convey the message of iniquity in the Puritan society, Arthur Miller casts John Proctor in The Crucible because he is able to overcome his tragic flaw of hubris, but still the circumstances unfortunately led to his death. Proctor is a very respected man in Salem but he also has a few flaws that have proved him to be a tragic hero which are prideful, lustful, and well respected. Later in The Crucible, Proctor realizes his flaws and tries to fix them but it is too late. One of Proctor’s tragic flaws is that he is too prideful.
In his essay, “The Tragedy and the Common Man”, Miller affirms that one of the aspects of a tragic hero is “the underlying struggles that of the individual attempting to gain his "rightful" position in his society (1).” Miller makes it clear that even a man of ordinary status is burdened with the struggle of one’s name in a duplicitous society. Proctor struggles with this when he is faced with the ultimate decision to either confess to witchcraft and give in to the corruption of the witch hunt and Puritan beliefs or keep
Since John Proctor behaves as an essentially good and upright man throughout the story, his tragic death stirs pity and fear in the audience. The audience cannot help but
John Proctor, according to Arthur Miller’s definition of a tragic hero, portrays this role effectively. Proctor was seen as a good man in his community and strived to keep it so, even though he was unfaithful to his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, with their maid, Abigail Williams. This adultery is what indirectly caused the witch accusations in Salem, led by teenager, Abigail. Proctor was a good man of the church, but his relations with Abigail, contradicted “the central part of his virtue” (Source A). Proctor’s unfaithfulness led to an immense amount of shame on his part, according to Arthur Miller, and sets in motion consequences of a man’s compulsion to evaluate himself justly” (Source B). Proctor was unable to have peace with his actions and basically sell his soul
He demonstrates all of a hero’s characteristics in some way or another. Although not upper class, he is still an upstanding member of the community. He is well respected and looked up to by those around him. As Miller describes him, “Proctor, respected and even feared in Salem, has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud.” (1098) He believes himself to be a fraud because of his tragic flaw: the affair with Abigail Williams. That affair is Proctor’s one weakness, and no one knows about it besides John, his wife, Elizabeth, and Abby. Another characteristic of a tragic hero is that he must be involved in some kind of struggle. Proctor is involved in two different struggles. One is the personal struggle between him and his wife. Elizabeth knows of his lechery and has a hard time forgiving him. Proctor tries to convince her of his love and faithfulness, but it is almost impossible. The other struggle Proctor faces is the social struggle that is going on throughout the whole town. The witchcraft hysteria has overtaken Salem, and Proctor struggles to stand out as an honest opposer of the hangings even though it may lead to his own downfall.