The Crucible John Proctor Tragic Hero

A tragic hero in “The Crucible” written by Arthur Miller was a middle aged man named John Proctor. Through out the entire story John showed all the qualifications of being a tragic hero. The qualities are: he or she must be well respected, has a tragic flaw that causes their downfall, be able to redeem their self and lastly the person dies. In the next few paragraphs all the obstacles John faces to qualify as a tragic hero will be listed and briefly discussed. As the story goes about John Proctor was definitely a well respected man in town, on page (893) it stated that Proctor was “respected and even feared in Salem. (893). Although in the book it said “he was the kind of man— powerful of body, even—tempered, and not easily led— who cannot refuse support to partisans without drawing their deepest resentment.” (892) he never caused trouble with anyone in town he actually avoided it by not interacting with them. He did just enough to demand his respect from town without ruining his good name. By being well respected by others he checked off the first qualification unknowingly. …show more content…
He knows that if anyone is to find out that he and his good name will be ruined, so he tries to keep it in the closet. The big secret eventually comes to light and becomes known as his tragic flaw. This tragic flaw will also be the cause of his downfall in the end. The flaw was that he committed adultery with a young girl from town named Abigail. John admits to his flaw on page 948 saying “…I thought of her softly..” (948) her being Abigail, followed by saying I lusted, and their is a promise in such sweat”. proctor(948) Then again on page (949) John said “…I have confessed it!” in front of the court. This action checks off as the second qualification to be labeled a tragic hero by having a tragic flaw that will cause his