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The Crucible John Proctor Tragic Hero

Decent Essays

In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, the main character, John Proctor fills the role of a tragic hero as Miller defined it in his essay, “Tragedy and the Common Man”. John Proctor has the qualities and experiences of a tragic hero. These traits include to have flaws, a good heart, be common man, and have an optimistic and enlightening death. First, John Proctor has multiple tragic flaws, which is an important aspect of a tragic hero. John, a married man, had an affair with a seventeen year old girl, named Abigail Williams. This act of infidelity was the root cause of all of the witch hunts because Abigail was in love with John and determined to be with him. When Abigail accused his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, of witchcraft John’s problems began. His second tragic flaw is his stubborn pride. When John was wrongfully convicted of serving the devil, he was scheduled to be hanged. However, he was then given the opportunity to live if he admits to witchcraft. John could not sign his name to this lie and save his life because he would rather “secure one thing-his sense of personal dignity” (Tragedy 4). These actions …show more content…

Tormented, John struggled to find and honest and acceptable version of himself. After breaking ties with Abigail and committing to Elizabeth, John began “attempting to gain his ‘rightful’ position in his society” again (Tragedy 4). John also refused to give the church officials any names of other suspected witches in Salem. Instead, he claimed that he was the only person working for the devil. Since he felt he already deserved to be punished, he tried to take responsibility for witchcraft. John said this lie to protect the other innocent victims of the witch hunt. Though he committed lechery, John’s strong moral compass is what makes the audience like him. More so, the audience pities John and the unfair claims against him occurring despite the fact that the entire witch hunt is technically his

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