John Proctor In The Crucible Essay

John Proctor became a tragic hero in “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller has brought a big problem to the Village of Salem, after Procto had an affair with Abigail Williams, she began to look for revenge and she started accusing people of witchcraft. John Proctor; a well-respected man in Salem, who is a hard worker always working for his family, love his children and his wife, is founded in a critical situation after committing adultery with a girl in the village. John Proctor, the protagonist of the play “The Crucible”, a well-respected man, a noble man who has done a lot for his family, possesses a major flaw he has had an affair with Abigail Williams, and eventually he realizes what he has done in Salem and to

In the book The Crucible there is a struggle within to have one have a sense of belonging to society. They want to be loved by that society no matter how much they may seem that they don’t belong. But they do want to show that to everyone, everyone that may not think that.

The primary dramatic focus in the play The Crucible is the moral struggle of its protagonist, John Proctor. Certain characteristics of John Proctor's character and also the environment of the Puritanical Salem alleviated this problem for him. The main issues running through out the play are a series of dilemmas that John Proctor faces. The first and foremost of these is his guilt over his adulterous affair with Abigail Williams, the second his hesitation to testify against Abigail to bring out the truth and the third, his final decision to make the ultimate sacrifice.

In the play by Arthur Miller The Crucible, the town of Salem is in pandemonium under the non-existent threat of witchcraft. Every character is either lying to save their lives or to end others, or dying for not admitting to a lie. One character who stands out among the chaotic conflagration is the tragic hero John Proctor. In Greek drama, a tragic hero is defined as “a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy that is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat.” No character in The Crucible fits this description better than John Proctor. John Proctor is the tragic hero in The Crucible because of his strengths and notable traits,

Purist Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 suffered from a rapidly increasing phenomenon: witchcraft accusations and trials. The Crucible is a play that recounts the times of this incident. For the most part, it follows a man known as John Proctor. He is a sensible, honest, and hardworking man who made the mistake of succumbing to lust which sets off a chain of events that leads to the witch trials, and to his own demise. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible’s protagonist John Proctor proves to be a flawed human being who struggles to make sense of his past relationship with Abigail, his love for his wife, and his pride.

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

The second way John Proctor is an internally conflicted character is that he had an affair with Abigail. John Proctor, a married man with three sons, cheats on his wife with a young Abigail. He confesses to this by saying “God help me, I lusted and there is a promise in such sweat, but it is a whore’s vengeance.”(Act III, 49 ). John did not want to confess but absolutely had to, to expose Abigail’s real desires on why she is accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft. What John had confessed to was adultery and is punishable so he took a big risk. When Proctor said “Whores

In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the characters John Proctor and Reverend Parris are some of the major characters during the course of the play. John Proctor is a farmer in Salem that lives in the outskirts of town, and is religious like the rest of Salem but rarely makes it to the church due to living far away have having large amounts of work. He is seen as strong and confident by most town members, however “Proctor… has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud” (Miller 20-21). Reverend Parris is Salem’s religious leader. While he does regularly speak to the entire town, he has very little confidence and “believed he was being persecuted wherever he went, despite his best efforts to win people and God over to his side” (Miller 3). By comparing and contrasting both Parris and Proctor’s actions and beliefs throughout the play, underlying truths regarding self-realization and the consequences of our actions can be discovered.

And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore's vengeance, and you must see it..." (Miller 110). This is courageous of John Proctor to admit because although it will ruin his reputation, it will discredit Abigail in the court and ultimately save Elizabeth's life. Finally, the last example of John Proctor being courageous is when he rips up his confession of being a warlock. In front of everyone, Proctor rips up his confession, already knowing the consequences, "His breast heaving, his eyes staring, Proctor tears the paper and crumples it, and he is weeing in fury, but erect" (Miller 144). This is courageous of John Proctor because he knows that when he rips up the confession that he is going to be hanged. John Proctor decides to rip it up anyway so that he could die an honorable man and not have his name tainted. All of these examples prove that John Proctor is a courageous man, making him a hero in the Crucible.

In the book, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor is a farmer and a prominent member of society. However, he had an affair with a girl in town, Abigail Williams which leads to his wife being convicted of witchcraft and himself convicted of dealing with the devil. John Proctor is a strong and effective speaker and proves his point with the three rhetorical appeals and devices such as personification, similes, metaphors and tone.

John Proctor had a reputation in Salem Village as a sharp man. However, he let his desires cloud his judgement when his wife took ill and was bedridden. Abigail Williams was able to seduce John into an extramarital relationship, for a time. After his wife had returned to good health however, John looked to cut his romantic ties to Abigail. He knew that what he had done was sinful,

Despite outspoken personality and qualities as a critical thinker, John Proctor is far from being a perfect human being. In his notes, Arthur Miller describes him as a sinner, "a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time, but against his own vision of decent conduct." (P.20) Similar to Jesus who was tempted in the desert and taunted by the pharisees, Proctor's journey is riddled with hardships. He strives to overcome them and to follow his moral compass over the course of the novel. When Abigail Morris seeks him out after being fired, he has the courage to overcome his lust and to end their relationship. He boldly claims: "I will cut off my hand before I'll ever reach for you again" (P.22) Moreover, he spends months trying to regain

When Mary Warren reveals that she knows about Proctors and Abigail’s affair, before Elizabeth is taken away, Proctor is aggressive and prepared to use violence towards Mary in order to stop her from going to the court, Mary says she has to go o the court, this makes Proctor angry so he replies “ I’ll official you! “ Proctor thinks that Mary should be subservient as she’s just a common servant but as Mary knows his secret his attitude changes towards her. At this point in the play Proctor acknowledges that all might have to come public. This is a significant moment as he’s willing to blacken his good name in order to save his wife. Proctor comes to term that Mary may be the answer to their problem.

Parris, who was in charge of the prayers on Sundays. As an end result John refused to go to church. Instead of going to church regularly; John Proctor had worked long hours on his farm to provide for his family. “In the book of record that Mr. Parris keeps, I note that you are rarely in the church on Sabbath day.” (Miller 64). John Proctor not going to church on Sundays, made him look terrible in court. This allowed people to accuse him of being a wizard. His youngest son not been baptized made it even more suspicious about his faith in God. These opinions were reinforced when John Proctor could not name the Ten Commandments.

This human weakness proves to be John Proctor's tragic character flaw. It not only leads to his demise, but to the loss of many innocent lives as well.