The Crucible John Proctor Character Analysis

Some may think that a hero is someone who never does any wrong. Heroes are always saving someone. They are admired for their courage and sacrifices they have made. What if that is not the case every time? What if one can be a hero but still do wrong in life? A tragic hero is characterized as a noble person with a fatal flaw that leads to his undoing. John Proctor, a leading character in The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s allegorical drama set in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, can be distinguished as the tragic hero in this play because of his one mistake unfortunately, both he and the entire town suffer for his sin.

At the beginning of the play, he is, at least in public, an honorable and honest man. When Abigail Williams's jealousy of Proctor's wife Elizabeth sparks witch-hunting hysteria in Salem, Proctor is faced with a difficult decision of whether to admit to his affair with Williams and ruin his name or to remain silent and lose his own integrity. Ultimately he chooses to admit his affair and is condemned as a

Abigail Williams presence and influence in the town of Salem causes a shadow to loom over the villagers of the act in Arthur Miller’s, “The Crucible”. Throughout the Act II, Abigail’s presence influences the Proctor’s marriage and the young girl actions. Prior to the witchcraft accusations in the town of Salem, Abigail has an affair with John Proctor, a married man. Abigail yearns for John Proctor’s affection, and this causes her to disrupt the Proctor’s marriage. Upon confronting John about their forbidden relationship, John dismisses Abigail and refers to her as a child. John is guilt ridden about his act of adultery and feels committed to his wife Elizabeth. In order to further estrange Abigail, John states that he will cut his arm off

Dramatic tragedies often result in an unhappy ending. In a tragedy the flaws of a main character brings about their downfall. A tragic hero has the power and respect, but struggles with a tragic flaw which he or she later acknowledges. Though there are many tragic heroes in The crucible, John Proctor has characteristics that best exemplify a true tragic hero. Like all tragic heroes, John has a tragic flaw which he struggles with but in the end, he recognizes his flaw and takes responsibility for his actions.

Proctor was initially fueled by keeping his wife and a clean name; but, spending time in jail further changed his motives. When speaking to Elizabeth following being accused of witchcraft, he questioned taking the easy way out, stating “I am not a man. My honesty is broke, Elizabeth; I am no good man. Nothing is spoiled by giving them this lie”(137). Proctor sinned previously when performing lechery; as a result of this, he now believes that sinning again would not make a difference. In the eyes of the Puritans, he would already be going to hell due to performing lechery. However, Proctor soon came to the realization that in order to keep integrity he had to be truthful. He no longer wanted to follow in the footsteps of other citizens who

In the play “ The Crucible” John Proctor is the main character and a tragic hero. He is a tragic hero because he has a downfall and suffers throughout the story. John Proctor is a thirty year old man who is a farmer that is really tempered, powerful of the body, and not easily led. Now in the play John Proctor has some weaknesses, those are his affair, he has with Abigail, him not trusting himself, being born a sinner. These things can make him a tragic hero because these are errors and sufferings he does in the book. John Proctor is just a really tempered guy in the book.

Throughout the play, we are introduced to a variety of characters and each has their own story to tell. Each of these characters has their own motives as to why, they do or do not believe in witchcraft. Also each has various reasons as to why they have accused one another, even if their motives may have dark hidden secrets behind. Most of these characters though have one motive in common their reputation. Throughout this essay we will analyze three different characters and their motives and how they have changed the way they may act for the sake of their reputation.

Arthur Miller's The Crucible was written in 1953 and is set in the year 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. It all began when several young girls were stricken with witchcraft starting with Reverend Parris's daughter Betty. The girls began choosing townspeople that either them or their families didn't like, to be accused. The most admirable character in The Crucible is John Proctor, because he is complex in his beliefs about what the witch trials mean. He also is one of the reasons that many people survive the trials.

In the midst of intense superstition, Reverend John Hale is ready to jump down a slippery

It all changes for the townspeople of Salem when accusations of withcraft arise. The first accusations are made toward the girls of Salem but soon spread like a wildfire with no desrimination. With every problem comes someone to blame and while there was many victims only one seemed to cause it all. The believed reality of a small puritan town is brought to flames by the greed, dishonesty, and pride of a well known farmer, John Proctor.

A tragic hero is a person born of a ‘noble status with heroic or potentially heroic qualities’. It is in their fate to engender their own self-destruction. Characteristics of a tragic hero can induce pity and fear upon the audience, making them feel sorrow for the character. They comprise of relatability as they can elicit emotions to the audience by displaying human qualities like jealousy or sadness. In the novel ‘The Crucible’ by Arthur Miller, the protagonist John Proctor adopts the position of the tragic hero. John doesn't have a noble birth, however, he stands as a ‘respected citizen of Salem and has much influence over other members of the town’. The introduction of John Proctor in the story proposes him as a good man that cares for his family and fellow villagers. Through the novel, his tragic flaw reveals his lust for a young girl, Abigail Williams. After his reckless act of adultery, she commences accusations of witchcraft. He becomes a tragic hero once he admits to his crime, but refuses to acknowledge the Devil for his sin. When inductively authorized to be hung or admit he saw the Devil, John stays true to his beliefs and conviction, but doing so condemns his own destruction. His principles apprise the audience to stay true and righteous towards your actions. Doing so, Proctor imposed his own disgrace by perpetrating a valuable sin. He committed a “Heroic action” which was a consequence of his wrongdoing. However, he affected his society and expressed an important lesson to the audiences, suggesting he encompasses a rare form of

The character I have chosen to analyze is John Proctor. Throughout the course of the play,we find out more about his background. In the beginning we found out he had an affair with Abigail, but as the play progresses, he goes to court to fight for his wife. This shows me that he has become a more dependable person to rely on but, he is still feared by the many people in Salem. He is known to have a “sharp and biting way with hypocrites,” (pg16) but some don’t take him seriously anymore after his affair with Abigail Williams. The whole play pretty much revolved around him, him being the main character and the one who is the source of everyone's problems.

John Proctor is known as a rebel in this story. Though a good Christian he rarely makes it into Parris’ Sunday Masses because he is working in the field and he doesn’t want to hear of Parris’ weekly ranting of the devil and hell. It is because of this reputation his wife is among the accused of witchcraft. When he tries to defend her he reluctantly admits to lechery. John Proctor was very reluctant to admit this because he wanted his name to stay respected. When judge Danforth doesn’t believe him they ask his wife Elizabeth if this is true. Unknowing that he had confessed and trying to respect his wishes of keeping a good name she says that she doesn’t believe that he had ever had an affair with Abigail Parris. When Abigail turns on Marry Warren, Marry Warren turns on John Proctor calling him the Devil’s Man. This causes his arrest and accusation of Witchcraft. Proctor’s importance of a good name is most portrayed in the last act, Act V, when he is begged to save himself by signing a confession sheet. He finally refuses to sign it saying that “Because it is my Name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to Lies!

In “The Crucible,” a play by Arthur Miller about the Salem Witch Trials, we are shown the roles and fates of various characters, one of which is the farmer John Proctor. Throughout the play, John Proctor is shown to be a honest albeit hotheaded and stubborn man as he crusades to disprove the claims of witchcraft against his wife and other townsfolk.

Though Proctor had an affair, he does regrets his decision of having the affair but he admitted to it near the end of the play. “...Excellency, forgive me, forgive me. (Angrily against himself, he turns away from the Governor for a moment. Then, as though to cry out is his only means of speech left:) She thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave! 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 now.” (Miller 69). Proctor while admitting it earlier had tried to end it with Abigail but she would not allow him to end it. When he admitted to having an affair, they asked his wife if she thought abigail and Proctor had an affair, she said that she did not think that they were in attempt to try and save him. Though Elizabeth is pregnant he had already told the truth and hurt both of them in the end.