Examples Of Epiphany In The Crucible

A tragedy is defined as a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force that has a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion which elicits pity or terror. Furthermore a tragic hero is a protagonist who possesses ethics, superiority, and a hamartia, and eventually has an epiphany that allows him or her to accept their death with honor. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible certainly elicits a feeling of pity or terror in the reader through its hysterical setting, dramatic plot turns, and horrific deaths. So it’s no surprise that the main protagonist in The Crucible is the quintessential tragic hero. By doing the right thing, sacrificing himself for the greater good, and sentencing himself to death to preserve his …show more content…
Mary Warren is reluctant to go to the court because she believes Abigail will ruin her. She tells Proctor that Abigail will charge him with lechery, to which he responds “We will slide together in our pit” (80). Proctor now realizes that he will have to announce his affair to the court. He later cries out in the court, “I have known her…I have known her!” confessing the affair and ruining his name. Proctor purges his emotions and accepts his fate when “he tears the paper and crumples it…weeping in fury but erect” (144). Proctor is now at peace with his decision. The final resolution comes from Elizabeth saying “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!” (145). Proctor dies with his goodness intact, leaving the audience satisfied. John Proctor is the quintessential tragic hero. He sacrifices himself for others, sticks to his morals, and is feared and respected. His tragic flaw, his obsession with the purity of his name, leads to his death, after he realizes he must expose his affair. Proctor dies a martyr, rising above society, and sacrificing himself to illustrate how preposterous the trials are. While his death was tragic, it was entirely preventable, propelled by vanity more so than anything