The Crucible: John Procter is the Ideal Tragic Hero

The character of John Procter in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible was a great example of a truly tragic hero. He measured up to every one of Aristotle’s requirements. He was not a perfect person because he had many faults and was not completely good or bad. Best of all, he knew that he was not perfect and he recognized and regretted the errors that he made throughout his life. Then, after the reader stays with Procter while he confessed all of his horrible sins for the whole town to hear, he had was a massive downfall as the result. Coincidentally enough, that downfall came from his trying to do something about his errors and sticking up for himself and his beliefs. He did something great, which anyone with a heart would pity him for. Being a real and relatable character is another one of Aristotle’s tragic hero requirements and John Procter was most definitely one of those types of characters.
The faults and imperfections of John Procter were clear. He was definitely not a perfect character. He cheated on his wife by having an affair with a teenager. He only went to church when he felt like it. Almost worst of all, he had the chance early in the play to put a stop to the girls' accusations, but his desire to keep his good reputation kept him from testifying against Abigail and the others. What’s great about John Procter’s character is that he realized all of his faults. Knowing that he was a bad person and that he had made mistakes, he tried to do ...