John Proctor as Tragic Hero of Arthur Miller's The Crucible In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, John Proctor fits the classic Greek definition of a tragic hero. Aristotle, one of the great Greek philosophers, teachers and writers, stated that one of the most important aspects of a tragedy was the tragic hero. He defined a tragic hero as a noble person that goes from a state of fortune and happiness to a state of utter misery. The character’s tragic flaw causes this change. Aristotle
The Crucible: Self Betrayal This research paper will examine how the theme in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, shows how “...betrayal of the self no less than of others” (Bigsby xi), is connected to both McCarthyism in the 1950’s and the Salem witch trials in the 1690’s. The Puritans were a group that had suffered religious persecution in the Old World and came to America to establish their own religion in a place where they would be free of any type of persecution. Because of the personal persecution
The Crucible – John Proctor the Tragic Hero 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
To be seen and not heard; a quality shared by the inanimate object, and the conventional woman. Society has conformed women into accessories, and therefore, literature has followed suit. Inherent in this ideology, are many base traits attributed to women. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible exploits these traditional feminine characteristics to aid the female character in her role of complimenting the male. When observing something from an alternate perspective it can take on a whole new meaning. Studying
The Crucible - John Proctor Tragic Hero The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, depicts the story of the Salem witch hunt and the chaos it caused. One of the main characters is John Proctor. Proctor is put through many life-changing decisions. In many cases, a decision he made in one situation led to another problem. John Proctor is the tragic hero of this story. If John Proctor was not such an admirable character, he probably would not have been in the massive mess he was. Proctor made