...The Story of John Proctor Is John Proctor a tragic hero? My definition of a tragic hero is a person who may be heroic but is destined to face a tragic downfall. I will explain why; in my eyes John Proctor was definitely a tragic hero. First of all Proctor was a good person. John Proctor was an honest man with an honest wife. He had a good, white name in the town of Salem. He seemed to be almost perfect.. except for one big secret flaw. John Proctor had an affair with a young woman who used to work for him, Abigail Williams. John’s wife, Elizabeth suspected something between the two and she became very jealous and angry. Elizabeth fired Abigail Williams out of her anger and jealousy. Abigail Williams also shows anger and jealousy towards...
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...Lauren Barash Mrs. Dachille ELA: Hour 4 25 November 2014 John Proctor Tragic Hero A tragic hero is one who holds a high status in a community. The protagonist habitually faces a supernatural force of misfortune in which they conquer and gain admiration from the audience. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, John Proctor was not the ordinary resident living in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts. Salem during this time period embodies pure unintelligence. The community faced ruthless weather, deceased crops, and sickness. They didn’t know how these dreadful happenings arose. The only knowledge they had came from books, which did not contain the solutions for their troubles. The idea of witchcraft was proposed, and with this being the only possible...
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...Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor emerges as a tragic hero. A tragic hero is a person who makes a judgement that eventually leads to his or her downfall. Romeo is famous for being a tragic hero in the play, Romeo and Juliet. John Proctor is a tragic hero because he is lustful, hypocritical, and highly respected. John Proctor reveals himself as a tragic hero for being lustful. He had an affair with Abigail. Abigail says, “I know you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I come near!” (Miller 21). This means that Proctor could not control himself around Abigail. Because he got caught, he stopped seeing Abigail. If Proctor would have never been caught, who is to say that he would have stopped the affair? John Proctor is a tragic hero for being lustful towards Abigail. John Proctor proves himself as a tragic hero for being hypocritical. He says he is faithful man, but he did not know all Ten Commandments. Elizabeth helped him out with the Commandments and Proctor said, “You see, sir, between the two of us we do know them all” (Miller 64). Proctor can not prove himself as a Christian in a serious situation and never shows up in church. He says he is always working on the farm. It leaves him with a bad name and not a very good impression. John Proctor’s tragic...
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...defines a man as a failure, and what describes a man as a tragic hero on par with the great greek heroes such as Oedipus? The qualities of a tragic hero, that of which people have studied for decades, have such a strict set of rules that define a tragic hero that there doesn’t seem to be any modern or “common” tragic heroes. Although Aristotle dictates that a tragic hero must be of noble birth, John Proctor demonstrates more qualities of a tragic hero than he does not, therefore John Proctor is best understood as a tragic hero. John Proctor, the protagonist in The Crucible, who was seen as a highly renowned man in his society, saw error in his ways despite his affair with Abigail. He knew what he did was far from forgivable and acknowledged himself as a sinner. Even despite the fact that he cheated on his wife, Elizabeth still saw him as a man of justice and honor and pleaded with him to end the trouble that he inadvertently started with Abigail. Elizabeth says, “Then go and tell her she’s a whore. Whatever promise she may sense--break it, John, break it,” (Miller 62). Elizabeth still knows that John is a...
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...Truly the Tragic Hero “Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.” A quote from Oscar Wilde, a playwright and novelist speaking about the main character, in his book “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” The definition of a tragic hero involves a literary character who makes an error that leads to their own destruction, but eventually changes for the better. John Proctor is no hero, but a tragic hero. John is considered a tragic hero due to a tragic flaw, his free choice, and the punishment he receives which exceeds his crime. Behind every beauty there is a flaw, leading to the definition of John Proctor. John Proctor is a typical man during the time of the Crucible with a wife and three kids. He is a decent Christian and a hard worker. His flaws are his lust and unwillingness to forgive himself. Proctors lusts of Abigail which leads to an affair between the two, and leaves Abigail broken hearted to be left by Proctor, causes a large amount of trouble in the story. This lust causes many troubles including the other hamartia of Proctor not able to forgive himself. This lust for Abigail causes Proctor to have a large weight on his shoulders...
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...A tragic hero is a person who has heroic qualities and is fated by the Gods or by some supernatural force for doom or at least to great suffering. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Salem was in a period of time where witch hunts were frequent which created chaos throughout the town. These witch hunts often targeted innocent, hard working people who were accused of witchery with no actual evidence. As a result when this conflict introduced itself to John Proctor, he exhibited tragic hero traits such as pride, catharsis, and nobleness. Pride plays an interesting role in the life of John Proctor in The Crucible. During the trials, Proctor daily wages an internal, war between his conscience and pride. His prideful mindset is what primarily caused his downfall; a person who rises and falls because of their own ignorant flaw, which is the true meaning of a tragic hero. Therefore there are several traits that exemplify a tragic hero in John...
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...say that a tragic hero will have to sacrifice themselves due to their weakness. In the play The Crucible, John Proctor fits this description very well. Although Aristotle’s qualifications for a tragic hero include being of noble birth, John proctor is best described as a tragic hero because he ends up dying to save his name due to his flaw. In The Crucible, John Proctor is a common man and known throughout his community. Towards the beginning of the novel, he has an affair with a girl named Abigail. This will be the weakness of John. Throughout the rest of the novel, there is just about always conflict between John and his wife Elizabeth. However, when they start to resolve their issues, they have to go to court and John gets convicted of being a liar...
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...A tragic hero is a character that is destined for a downfall or defeat. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, there is a debate going on about if the main protagonist, John Proctor, is a tragic hero. Some say he is because of the way he died to save the dignity of his name, yet others say he is not because of the sins he had committed. Proctor is a tragic hero because he learned from his flaw to become a better person and died to save the dignity of his name. During the play, Miller talks about a flaw that Proctor has that is the cause of his downfall. Miller talks about a girl by the name of Abigail Williams who worked for Proctor and his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. She wouldn’t be working for them for too long because Williams and Proctor had an affair. When Elizabeth Proctor finds out, she fires Williams and since then John Proctor has used this flaw to learned from it. For example, in Act III, Proctor confesses his sin publicly to the court. By doing this, Proctor shows his goodness and also has learned how to forgive himself and not live with the guilt. Even though John Proctor has sinned, he tries to keep his name a clean as possible. For example, at the end of Act III, Proctor is arrested for being a witch after the girl who works...
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...John Proctor, a man with many flaws and mistakes made in his life. A man that is not faithful to his wife. This man is to be compared to a Tragic Hero. A hero that makes a bad judgement that leads to his/hers demise, This comparison would be reasonable for this character, but I would not say that he was a hero since day one but more he develop into a hero towards the end, but the real question is John Proctor a tragic hero? In the beginning John Proctor was cheating on his wife with a young girl named Abigail. Abigail is mischievous young girl of 16 who dance in the forest and drank blood of a chicken in order to kill John’s wife, Elizabeth Proctor. John had an affair with this girl, a girl who tried to use magic to kill his wife. Thous he broke one of the most important christian rule of “Adultery, John” (Miller 64). A rule that he could not remember when he was ask to say the Commandments later in the book. In which shows his none heroism. John’s wife put the pieces together and figured out that she was being cheated on “She doesn’t want friction, and yet she must: You come so late I thought you’d gone to Salem this afternoon.”(Miller 49) This shows that she still tried to keep their relationship going and doesn't want to believe the bad in him. John on the other...
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...A tragic hero is someone who is someone who may or may not die but does it for a heroic cause. In the book The Crucible. John Proctor is the tragic hero. He died because he would not give up his good name. Witchcraft was and unright ruling was controlling the town of Salem. John Proctor may have died, but he died a tragic hero. John Proctor was a man who had three children and a wife. Elizabeth Proctor had become sick and could not fulfill the needs of John. He soon after committed adultery to Abigail Williams who was the servant at the time. John still loved his wife dearly and would do anything for her. “I will fall like an ocean on that court! Fear nothing Elizabeth” (Procter 78). Abigail is a young naive girl who loved John and wanted...
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...What is the definition of a tragic hero. To many they would describe it as a person or character's basic goodness and superiority that are marred by a tragic flaw, that brings about or contributes to their downfall. The flaw may be poor judgement, pride, weakness, or an excess of an admirable quality. They recognize their own faults and its consequences ,only after it is too late(definition from book). In the crucible by Arthur Miller, it recognizes John Proctor as a tragic hero for the following reasons; he recognized his own faults ,was honorable, and died doing the right things. In The Crucible, John Proctor is a male in his early 30’s with three sons and a wife. He is a farmer and a holy man. Unfortunately, he is killed in the last act of the story. He was accused of witchery, by hateful...
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...November.11.2015. The Crucible: Is John Proctor truly a tragic hero? A tragic hero is a person with admirable qualities yet they have a tragic flaw that leads them to their downfall. In Miller’s play “The Crucible,” the protagonist, John Proctor, is a tragic hero known for his good reputation yet commits adultery with Abigail thus making it a tragic flaw that leads to his death. John Proctor is a tragic hero because he is a well-mannered person that has a good reputation. John strongly believes in Elizabeth’s good morals by proving his honesty and bond towards Elizabeth and speaks up for her as he tries to get her and his friends’ wives out of jail. He tells Danforth...
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...arrogant man by the name of John Procter. John Proctor does something that was wrong with a woman that was not his wife. When his wife finds out, she sends out the woman that he did lechery with out of her house and sent her to the girl's uncle's house. The young female who was sent out was named Abigail Williams. Abigail Williams uncle happened to be the Reverend in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. When Abigail Williams starts to threaten the life of his wife Elizabeth, he becomes very angry but tries to fix it in any way that he can. John Proctor, possesses all the attributes of a tragic hero. It is revealed in the play that John Proctor was a noble man. He was a prominent land owner, so he had a say in the different meetings in the meeting house. This...
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...Does Arthur Miller’s The Crucible contain a tragic hero? Some of the characteristics of a tragic hero include suffering a reversal of fortune, experiencing a punishment that exceeds the crime, and leaving the reader with a sense of pity and terror, and having excessive pride- or hubris. These are some of the many reasons why John Proctor was considered a tragic hero. There are many times in The Crucible when John Proctor shows his hubris. One of these is in Act IV when Hale urges everyone to confess to sin in order to save their lives. Proctor can not do this because he cannot blacken his name. One example of John Proctor’s excessive pride is whenever he is arguing with Elizabeth about cheating with Abigail, he says, “No more! I should have...
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...In literature a tragic hero is someone who tends to play a major role in the story, and eventually gets pulled into a downfall by their tragic flaw. In “The Crucible” John Proctor can be seen as one of multiple tragic heroes through his constant appearance in the story, and like any other tragic hero has a flaw leading to his downfall. Therefore John Proctor is a tragic hero; one of the most memorable in the entire play. John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth Proctor, would have been a community member who exposed John’s flaws. One of the few things holding John back from being the perfect hero was his past with Abigail. As a result of his adultery crime, John had too much pride to admit to the crime until Elizabeth’s life was on the line. Elizabeth...
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