Macbeth And The Crucible Comparison Essay

In almost every novel, there is always a main character with outstanding values. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1606) and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible (1953), the protagonists have very strong traits. In the novel Macbeth, Macbeth himself is a very ambitious character in the play. As for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor is a man of integrity. In the following will be shown that Macbeth is a very ambitious man in a way that he will do anything, like ruin his name, to have power in his hands whereas John Proctor will do anything to keep his good name and reputation. Although these two novels have some similarities, they also have some differences. In contrast, one of these two protagonists is a lot more noble than the other. In similar …show more content…
He admits that he has committed adultery with Abigail Williams and the integrity he shows in this part of the play sacrifices his reputation in order to save his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. This next quote is also proof that John Proctor is more noble than Macbeth. “ I have three children—how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?” (Miller, act 4, page 143). Briefly, the quote means that Proctor wants his kids to do right by showing his loyalty towards his friends by not ruining their reputations to save his own life. This quote shows that Proctor is noble since he is thinking of others instead of being selfish and saving himself from death. In contrast, Macbeth is not for saving his reputation or his friends’ lives, he is only looking for the possession of power.

“Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown And put a barren scepter in my grip, Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, No son of mine succeeding. If ’t be so, For Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind.” (act III, scene i, verse …show more content…
Succinctly, this quote means he does not want others to see the bad desires within him. He will not look at what his hand is doing during his bad deed, but he is still going to do what he knows he should not do, which is murder. This quote shows Macbeth’s great ambition to become and remain king since he is being controlled by it.

In the final analysis, my arguments prove that John Proctor is a lot more protective of his name and reputation than Macbeth, as Macbeth is only searching for power. the fact that John Proctor is a lot more noble proves that he cares more about his reputation than Macbeth. Also, the fact that they both are in a process of self questioning proves that John Proctor cares more about his reputation than Macbeth since he makes decisions to save his name when Macbeth does otherwise, which is tarnish his reputation by going through self questioning and deciding to commit murder. Finally, both of them having fatal flaws also proves that John Proctor cares more about his name than Macbeth since Proctor’s fatal flaw, honesty, has saved his name instead of his life whereas Macbeth has done the