The Crucible John Proctor Tragic Hero

John Proctor: A dirty hero?

A tragic hero is defined as a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat. In The Crucible, a town wide crisis is spreading quicker than a wildfire. This crisis is caused by the accusations of people practicing witchcraft. Among those who are accused is John Proctor. Now, John Proctor may seem like any other farmer, however, he is generally well liked and even looked up to by other towns people. He can be grouped as a tragic hero quite easily, as John has a dirty little secret. John committed adultery against his wife, Elizabeth with a young girl named Abigail. His pride comes into question as he attempts to redeem himself of his sin.

John’s affair with Elizabeth causes quite the downfall. He can be blamed for the witch trials that ensue. You may think it is solely Abigail’s fault as she is the not only the one who performs witchcraft, but also the one who starts the false accusations of innocent people performing witchcraft. However, the sole reason she performs witchcraft is to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Why would she want Elizabeth dead? She refuses to believe the night spent with John was a onetime thing. Abigail then started to list names of those who were associated with witchcraft causing the mass accusations. Thus, John’s decision to have

an affair caused all of the madness and evil.
The affair quite obviously causes the lack of trust Elizabeth has for John, who after attempting to regain her trust for 7 months, gets tired of her never ending suspicion. John shares this with her by saying “Spare me! You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’. Learn charity, women. (Miller 54)” This statement shows us a few things. It seems like he is frustrated with trying to redeem himself. This really starts to show the downfall of John and how he becomes a tragic hero. It is around here where his jealousy towards Abigail, as he couldn’t control his desires.
John Proctor also had a flaw that wasn’t as noticeable: his pride. What held him back from owning up to how he committed adultery? Why couldn’t he perform a simple action that could have ended the trials right then and there? I’ll tell you why, he was too proud and too worried of ruining his good name and respect. When asked to go to the court and expose Abigail, he could not let himself do it as shown when he shouts at Elizabeth saying “I know I cannot keep it. I say I will think on it! (Miller 53)”. His competence leads to the arrest of his wife Elizabeth, which gives him a tough decision. Ruin your pride or have your wife executed? He attempts to avoid this by trying to get Mary Warren to lie in court for him, which backfires immediately.
In the court room, the absolute worst case scenario happens for John Proctor.

Mary Warren turns against him and sides with Abigail. This leads him to what he wanted to avoid, ruining his name or having his wife killed? He makes the right choice in exposing Abigail, but to no avail. His wife chooses to defend Johns name and dignity when she is questioned by Danforth by denying that he cheated. He is then arrested for perjury and witchcraft. All of his good intentions have are blocked due to his past. Even when he attempts to do good bad luck still comes his way, adding to him being a tragic hero. However, his bad luck does not end right

there.

John is presented with the option to either be hung, or be to plead guilty and survive, in exchange for his confession. However, the catch here is the judges plan on hanging his confession on the church doors for all to see in hope others would follow in well respected man’s footsteps. Learning of this John tears his confession up, choosing to die as a good man than to ruin his name. This is evidenced when John proclaims “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies!...How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name! (Miller 143)”
John is a great example of a tragic hero. He is a man that, throughout all of his flaws, you can’t help but feel pity for him; He tries his best to fix what’s wrong, but yet to no avail. As the play progresses on you can see how these flaws eventually add up to his demise. Yet after all he has been through, his wife is saved and he dies as a good man.