Characteristics Of John Proctor In The Crucible

In the play John Proctor is portrayed as a powerful man that is honest and many people looked up to him. He is a good man and is always right to the point. After he committed adultery many people lost trust in him especially his wife. Once witchcraft start to spread it was only getting worse for him because of Abigail, the girl he committed adultery with. He was starting to be accused of witchcraft and almost everyone turned away from him. A lot of people started accusing him of witchcraft because he did not attend church and he did not know all of the commandments. Almost everyone was against him at the end of the play. John Proctor historically was just a normal farmer who was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Proctor had one of the biggest farms in Salem Village according to the Virginia.edu and also owned a local tavern. He is viewed as a man of power and respect.

John Proctor is portrayed a little different in the play than he is in his historical background.

The play portrays him as a young man in his thirties but historically he was really about sixty years old. The character John Proctor from Arthur Miller’s; The Crucible is the perfect example of a tragic hero. Initially Proctor is made out to be a person who has committed the terrible crime of adultery and is having a hard time to regain his trustworthiness in himself and his wife. As The Crucible continues a great change in nature and character occur in John Proctor, making the audience sympathize with him when he has his downfall. A tragic hero is defined as “someone usually of great stature that falls into a condition of sheer depression.” As the audience is witnessing the fall of this character they understand that fate, chance and a critical flaw in his character are what caused

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The audience first sees John Proctor as a man of great stature and impeccable wit that has committed a terrible act, which now makes him a weaker in person and filled with guilt. He also seems suspicious, since his wife does not completely trust him because he confessed what he did. Miller describes John as the type of man – ‘powerful of body’, ‘respected’ and even ‘feared’ in Salem. After praising John, Arthur Miller reveals to the audience that he is actually a ‘sinner’ and now is a ‘fraud’ because he cannot confront his own problems. Within the same act the audience can see John Proctor trying his hardest to erase his sin of committing adultery with Abigail. His actions are not that smart and with every choice he is making it seems that the audience likes him less and less. When he is asked about Abigail, he struggles to hold back whatever is left of his lust toward her and he seems to have a problem with making the right choices. John Proctor’s character seems to be going through a real test of strength right now. He says to Abigail ‘I will cut off my hand before I ever reach for you again’. Here you can see that Proctor has made the right choice and it clearly has a positive effect on the audience.