John Proctor Tragic Hero Essay

What is a tragic hero? The most well known definition of a tragic hero comes from the great philosopher, Aristotle. When depicting a tragic hero, Aristotle states "The change in the hero's fortunes be not from misery to happiness, but on the contrary, from happiness to misery, and the cause of it must not lie in any depravity but in some great error on his part." In addition, he explains the four essential qualities that a tragic hero should possess, which are goodness, appropriateness, lifelike, and consistency. All of these necessities help to classify the character of John Proctor in Arthur Miller's The Crucible as the tragic hero of the play. Not only does he unfortunately fall to desolation, but also his character captures the sympathy and pity from the audience or readers. Proctor's downfall in the play is initiated by a human flaw, which to a great extent qualifies him to be the tragic hero. Although Aristotle's tragic hero would be a character in a high social or political standing, Arthur Miller portrays John Proctor as a common farmer that is honest and

This hanging must be 'tragic'--i. e. must [be] result of an opportunity not grasped when it should have been, due to 'flaw.'" (xiii). When concerning the character of John Proctor, his missed opportunity was confessing before Elizabeth was arrested, therefore saving himself and his wife. John did not deserve his death for he was good person. He recognized his errors and flaws and made very strong attempts to correct them and overcome them. Because he didn't deserve his punishment, pathos is formed within the audience. This in turn generates the qualities in John Proctor that would make him a tragic hero, a good person with human flaws that triggered undeserved