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The Crucible - The Tragic Hero
Characters in the crucible and the human experience
Character of john proctor
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In The Crucible, John Proctor’s well respected name throughout Salem is destroyed when his downfall is initiated by two human flaws, pride, lust and a bad temperament , which to a great extent qualifies him to be the tragic hero. Arthur Miller uses John Proctor’s character to convey a universal depiction of tragedy through Proctor’s faults and the faults in the society in which he lives. Proctor’s character is a caustic combination of pride and self-loathing, which results in him being a very independent person with greater self-esteem and morality than others in Salem. However, the flaw that is his bad temper is a result of his sense of pride that he carries with him throughout the play. There are several occasions throughout the play where …show more content…
Proctor takes advantage of this opportunity when he shows gracious acts of selflessness during the trials. For example, when Abigail and her friends begin to act like they are being frozen and Marry starts to falter, it becomes clear that the only way John can prove Abigail is lying is to admit to adultery. “I have made a bell of my honor! I have rung the boom of my good name --- you will believe me, Mr. Danforth! My wife is innocent…” John Proctor protests in his last attempt to prove that his wife and all the others accused are innocent. This is the turning point in the story for Proctor’s character development when finally puts others before himself. Throughout the book, Proctor has always stood up against authority to prove the innocence of himself and his wife; however this is the point where he sacrifices his good name for the truth. In the end, he preserves his pride and dignity by discarding his bad temper and providing the honest truth when he must either plead guilty and keep his life or be hung. Proctor’s declaration of his true innocence and assuming responsibility for his actions makes him symbolic of maintaining one’s personal integrity, which many in Salem fail to do. Proctor is a respectively good man who was taken to sin by his lust for
Miller presents the character of John Proctor in an important way to show two sides to his character. These qualities make him have the most important role in ‘The Crucible.’ The key events that show him in this way is when the audience find out about the affair, how he tries to defend his wife, his confession in court and his hanging for the sake of others. Through the events in The Crucible, Miller then portrays John Proctor’s character with tension and suspense. This then makes the audience question whether or not he is a good man.
Proctor has many character traits that contribute to him being so difficult to figure out. His crime of lechery against his wife, and his willingness to save her, are both intermixed in a tangle of ethics. After committing adultery with Abigail, John clearly has a guilty conscious. When
Proctor’s prideful personality does not let him baptize his third son because he dislikes Reverend Parris (168, l. 516-520). Proctor withholds his affair with Abigail because of his pride, he was unable to confess it until his wife was accused. Before he confessed he stated that “a man will not cast away his good name,” this statement suggest that a man has a lot of pride in his name and therefore his confession must be true (189, l. 845-847). In addition, after confessing to witchcraft Proctor takes pride in his name and refuses to have his name nailed in the door of the church showing everyone that he confessed to witchcraft (207, l. 894-897). “You will not use me! I am no Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor! You will not use me!,” Proctor beliefs he is better than Sarah good and Tituba hence he would not sign his name (207, l. 899-701). Towards the end, Proctor thinks better of his action and rips the signed paper after declaring, “Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (207, l. 725-730). Proctor compares himself with the brave people that are about to hang and takes pride in his name by refusing to keep on lying and ripping the paper with his signature; he bravely accepted death with the thought that his name is not tainted by
Imagine a teacher giving a zero to a student on a test for cheating, but had no proof the student was guilty? This is exactly how John Proctor felt when Mary Warren accused him of witchcraft, with no proof. Even under these circumstances, he keeps his composure for the most part, and accepts his fate. Many of Mr. Proctor´s personality traits can be associated with my own in that he and I, sometimes stretch the truth, is not easily fooled, and fight for what we believe in.
Arthur Miller shows us Proctor as a common farmer, who is honest, and respectable, who only cares for his family. Proctor lives in the town with his wife and their children. Nevertheless, as the play goes, Miller lets us know that Proctor has a significant secret, an extramarital relation with Abigail Williams, relation that was over for Proctor, but not for Abigail. In the following passage Abigail tells Proctor, why she loves him: “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was thought by all these christians women and their covenanted men! and now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet.”(page 177) Abigail does not want to believe that everything is over between her and Proctor. For Proctor everything is something of the past, while there is
As John speaks to Elizabeth once he remains accused of witchcraft, he claims, “ I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man,” to emphasize the realization of his guilty heart and soul (136). Proctor feels as though he no longer pertains to endure as a good man; therefore, he thinks that the accusation may of witchcraft remain true, but if he dies falsely condemned and people remember him as a martyr, this will also remain false. According to Otten, Proctor displays “strident moralism”, and continues to be “ dependent upon recognizing and accepting” his own fate (3). This illustrates the good-heartedness inside Proctor that reflects the hypocrisy of the town; whereas, the people of Salem have sins of their own, but John accepts his and knows that all people were indeed born evil, yet he dies as a result of this. As Danforth continues to apply the remorseless question of the law, Proctor refuses to name those of the accused claiming, “I speak my own sins. I cannot judge another” to enlighten his ultimate confession (141). This statement represents Johns recognition inside himself and the moment where he realizes that everyone emerges guilty of something, but he will no longer judge others based on what he has
of the play so it would be easier to write about like the girls in
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, various characters, whether it is from physical trials or unseen personal struggles, experience some kind of major conflict. There are those who spend every day in fear, wondering whether or not they will be falsely accused of witchcraft. There are others who struggle with more internal trials, such as forgiving those who have hurt them. The protagonist, John Proctor, was a man of strong moral constitution, and held himself to a high standard for the sake of his good name and family. As a result of this, he struggled with a major internal conflict throughout the play.
He refuses to “blacken all of them [his friends],” by allowing his confession to be hung in the town. By doing so, this act would incriminate the townspeople he chooses to deeply care for (Miller 452). He has already indirectly put his family in danger through his decision to engage in an affair with the young Abigail. However, he harshly refuses to allow his misjudgement to spread to the whole of Salem. This relates how Proctor holds the view of the town in a higher regard than his own home, or family. Although he is unable to fully reconcile with his wife, or himself, he views this justice he is bringing to Salem as an atonement for his
This statement is true for John Proctor, he judges himself harshly for his sins and is disgusted with himself. John Proctor is a foil to most characters in the play. They are conformists and submissive as a result of the restrictive lifestyle they had to lead.
In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the madness of the Salem witch trials is explored in great detail. Arthur Miller was an American playwright, who was born in 1915. He grew up in a Jewish family in New York City. While attending the University of Michigan in the mid 1930’s, he began to characterize himself as a distinguished writer. His first plays were Honors at Dawn and No Villain. The Death of a Salesman, which he wrote in 1949, won him the Pulitzer Prize for literature.
In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, John Proctor, a proud and frustrated farmer of Salem, chooses to die rather than to give a false confession to witchcraft. Many might view this act as that of a selfless martyr; on the other hand, it can more readily be seen as the height of human stupidity in the face of vanity and pride.
John Proctor is a good man. He is a puritan, a husband, a citizen, and an all around valuable member of the community. All of this is represented by his name. The name of John Proctor could be considered his most prized possession. It is his most priceless asset. Proctor is very strong-willed and caring. He does not set out with any intentions of hurting anyone. He is a farmer and village commoner who is faced with incredible inner turmoil. He has committed adultery and had absolutely no intentions of joining in the witch trials. After his wife got involved and eventually was set free due to the fact that she was pregnant, he feels that he can't sit back and accept what is happening to the town. John Proctor is a good and noble man and because of this he believes that he can't be hanged and die a martyr when he has this sin blooming over him every waking moment.
Parris, the Putnams, the judges and Abigail all lack integrity and their actions were only for their own personal benefit. In contrast, John Proctor was mostly a good man. He had a good reputation, and was a well respected, honest man with good character and pride. He cheats on his wife, but also feels true guilt for his actions and tries to make things right with her, which is more than most of the characters in the play do. At the end of the play, Proctor is convicted of witchcraft, and instead of confessing, and as he sees it, ruining his name, he redeems his name and dies with honor, refusing to admit to something he did not due. This shows his great personal integrity and separates him from the other characters.
Out of all the characters in the crucible was great, but in my opinion, Elizabeth is the best character in the cast in the Crucible. She was a faithful wife, a good mother, and strong in her faith/religion. Even though her husband cheated on her she still remained faithful to him. Elizabeth demonstrates a very truthful woman. She’s the wife of John Proctor. Nicknamed Goody Proctor, because she was a good christen woman. Everyone liked her, because she was a woman who never lied. Until, she lied in court one day to save her husband’s life. She acts very frigidly to others. The only person that didn’t like her was Abigail Williams. Abigail wants Elizabeth to die because Abigail wants John Proctor all to her self.