John Proctor as a Tragic Hero John Proctor became a tragic hero in “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller has brought a big problem to the Village of Salem, after Procto had an affair with Abigail Williams, she began to look for revenge and she started accusing people of witchcraft. John Proctor; a well-respected man in Salem, who is a hard worker always working for his family, love his children and his wife, is founded in a critical situation after committing adultery with a girl in the village. John Proctor, the protagonist of the play “The Crucible”, a well-respected man, a noble man who has done a lot for his family, possesses a major flaw he has had an affair with Abigail Williams, and eventually he realizes what he has done in Salem and to …show more content…
John Proctor has a dark secret, He possesses a major flaw he has had an affair with Abigail Williams, and eventually he realizes what he has done to Elizabeth, He has committed adultery against his wife. Due to the fact that Proctor has committed adultery against Elizabeth, he becomes a tragic hero, and Abigail Williams shows that when she says “I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I come near” (Act I, lines 423-425). John broke his marriage vows, but even though he regrets he has become a tragic hero. It’s too late to regret he has sinned, he has ruined his marriage with Elizabeth and now she is not pleased with him. Due to the fact that he has cheated on Elizabeth, his outlook in life is negative, when He tells her “I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you” (Act II, lines 159-161). The affair also caused Elizabeth to distrust John, who for seven months was trying to get into her good graces and is tired of her suspicion. Because of John's inability to control his desire and resist temptation, his life is being turned upside down by the jealousy and need for revenge of Abigail, marking the beginning of his downfall and path to becoming a tragic hero. As a result, the need for revenge of Abigail marks the beginning of John downfall. John Proctor regrets of breaking his marriage vows, now his wife Elizabeth is being accused of witchcraft by Abigail Williams. Based on the statement by
The Crucible is a historical play by Arthur Miller, and is set in the town of Salem during the late 1690s. The main characters are John Proctor, the protagonist, and Abigail Williams, the antagonist. The conflict occurs when Abigail falsely accuses others of witchcraft. This leads to hysteria in the town, with people turning in innocent people for witchcraft. Many people including John and Elizabeth Proctor are arrested and put on trial, despite their innocence. John Proctor is sentenced to death after refusing to denounce his friends as witches, forgiven by Elizabeth for his affair with Abigail, and restores his reputation of being a good man. The Crucible delves into the extent people will go betray others in order to benefit themselves
To John the affair was just a one time thing and he never wanted it to be brought back up again. But for Abigail it was commitment, since they had the affair then she saw it as John being with her forever, and she realized that the only way for that to happen was to get Elizabeth out of the picture. So even though John Proctor was a good person because of his one little flaw, big issues appeared.
A Tragic hero is a character who experiences a major downfall as the results of a personal mistake or the workings of fate. There are many tragic heroes in the play The Crucible, But the one that comes to mind is John Proctor for several reasons. It all starts out with the affair with Abigail, when that affair happens John Proctor breaks his wedding vows and violate the moral convictions of the community by engaging in an adultery affair with Abigail. John Proctor is a classic example of a tragic hero in the play, The Crucible for several reasons…
"No, no, Abby. That's done with." And then later, " …I will cut off my
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor, the protagonist, is a farmer in his middle thirties. The author gives little to no detailed physical description of him, but from Proctor’s speech, we can still picture him as a strong and powerful man who is able to keep every situation under the control, the kind of personality which earns him deep respect and even fear from the people in town. On the other hand, Abigail Williams, the antagonist, plays an inferior role as an orphan who has no social status in a place like Salem. Over the course of the play, John Proctor is absolutely awakened and transformed by Abigail Williams. In the end, he overcomes the crucible by releasing himself from his guilt of
In the book The Crucible there is a struggle within to have one have a sense of belonging to society. They want to be loved by that society no matter how much they may seem that they don’t belong. But they do want to show that to everyone, everyone that may not think that.
The primary dramatic focus in the play The Crucible is the moral struggle of its protagonist, John Proctor. Certain characteristics of John Proctor's character and also the environment of the Puritanical Salem alleviated this problem for him. The main issues running through out the play are a series of dilemmas that John Proctor faces. The first and foremost of these is his guilt over his adulterous affair with Abigail Williams, the second his hesitation to testify against Abigail to bring out the truth and the third, his final decision to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Purist Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 suffered from a rapidly increasing phenomenon: witchcraft accusations and trials. The Crucible is a play that recounts the times of this incident. For the most part, it follows a man known as John Proctor. He is a sensible, honest, and hardworking man who made the mistake of succumbing to lust which sets off a chain of events that leads to the witch trials, and to his own demise. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible’s protagonist John Proctor proves to be a flawed human being who struggles to make sense of his past relationship with Abigail, his love for his wife, and his pride.
A tragic hero is a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy. In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays John Proctor, the protagonist, as a tragic hero who has a major flaw—lust for Abigail, his teenage house servant. For fear of being exiled in a town where reputation is highly upheld, Proctor initially tries to hide his crime of adultery, but this affair triggers a major series of events in Salem, where unproven accusations lead to internal struggle and eventually to catastrophe.
should be happy. He also hides the fact that he was alone in the room
John Proctor’s affair with Abigail Williams leaves Elizabeth with great suspicion even when she fires Abigail. She confesses that to John, “Suspicion kissed you when I did” (Miller 127). Her confidence in John shatters away. She tries to restore it with some hope by asking him, “Go and tell her she’s a whore. Whatever promise she may sense – break it John, break it” (Miller 59). Unlikely, John crumbles her trust by thinking that she doesn’t want to believe him. She demands his loyalty because she fulfilled his demand of loyalty. She’s stuck in this relationship with distrust from which she cannot back away because of her love for John and her children. She gets tired of this and bursts out, “Then let you not earn it” (Miller 51) when John said he’ll not have her suspicion anymore. Elizabeth Proctor, the wife of a person who deceived her, is surrounded by the walls of suspicion not just because of the deceiver but also because of her own sensitive
John Proctor had an affair with his 17- year old housemaid, Abigail, in his barn while his wife, Elizabeth, was sick. He later confessed of his wrongdoing to his wife who could forgive him of his lechery, but couldn't forget it. Abigail, being a young woman caught up in her feelings towards John, lied in court accusing Elizabeth Proctor of having been in a cohort with the Devil to get revenge for her not being able to have a relationship with John because of Elizabeth. Being
John Proctor was an honored Puritan settler in the town of Salem. Abigail, whom is the antagonist of the story, pleads witchcraft against John Proctor’s wife as well as states her love for John Proctor. Throughout the story, the Proctor has major conflicts inflicted upon him, yet he still retreats back to his values. Arthur Miller demonstrates his self-respect, honesty, lack of forgiveness, and integrity in The Crucible to portray the corruptness of the Salem Witch Trials.
In the play John Proctor had an affair with Abigail Williams and he believes that it damaged him in the eyes of God, his wife and himself. True he did commit adultery but he lacks the capacity to forgive himself. He resents Elizabeth because she cannot forgive him and trust
In the beginning of the play we are lead to believe that John Proctor is a sinner and feared among the townspeople. It is also mentioned in the play that John Proctor had an affair with Abigail, a seventeen girl from Salem who in the beginning of the play is shunned and frowned upon, but when the trials start up she is looked highly upon because her and the girls who follow her can “seek out the witches”. While John Proctor has done many bad things, he has also done many positive things to outweigh the sins he has committed. When John hears about Abigail charging his wife Elizabeth of witchcraft, John becomes outraged and goes to the court and confesses to lechery to try to get his pregnant wife out of jail for a false accusation. While he tries to confess for lechery, his wife lies for him in court to protect his name.