John Proctor ‘s fatal defect was his great sum of pride, and that easy tied a series of unfortunate events which finally made John Proctor succumb to his decease. Unfortunately, Proctor dies for a offense he did non commit. Another necessary portion of the tragic hero is that he or she has a complete reversal of luck brought by the hero ‘s ain defect. Proctor ‘s life wholly turned upside down when Abigail accused his loved 1s who so were sent to imprison, or executed. At the terminal of every tragic drama, the audience must experience commiseration or compunction for the asleep hero. This is besides known as katharsis, which means purge of emotions. However these negative emotions are washed off because the tragic hero ‘s decease is an illustration of the maxim of true Puritan values. John Proctor, a character in Arthur Miller ‘s The Crucible, is a authoritative tragic hero because he contains all the elements of a tragic hero such as tragic flaw, peripetia, katharsis, and despite non being born into aristocracy, he possesses many baronial features.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor ‘s fatal defect was his overpowering hubris that made him finally succumb to his decease. Pride plays an interesting function in the life of John Proctor in The Crucible. As spoken by John Proctor near the terminal of the drama, “ Because it is my name! Because I can non hold another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am non worthy the dust on the pess of them that hangaˆ¦leave me my name ” ( Miller 143 ) . During the tests, Proctor refused to attest against Abigail in order to forestall his name from being blackened. He cares much for his name and being a baronial character it is easy to understand the battle he is traveling through. John day-to-day rewards an internal, war between his scruples and pride. His hubristic mentality is what chiefly caused his ruin ; a individual who rises and falls because of their ain ignorant defect, which is the true significance of a tragic hero.
In Act IV Hale urged everybody to squeal to their wickedness in order to salvage their lives. While speaking to Elizabeth he uttered, “ It may good be God damns a prevaricator less than he that who throws his life off for pride ” ( Miller 132 ) . He was seeking to acquire Proctor to squeal his prevarication and salvage his life. John Proctor is throwing his life off for pride because he does non possess the bravery to uncover his secret wickedness. God can non forgive a adult male who dies for pride, yet he can forgive a prevaricator. Therefore, Proctor should squeal to witchcraft. However, Proctor can non make this because he can non melanize his name. He ‘ll stop up uncovering his wickedness and it will be the terminal of his name. Pride is one of the seven lifelessly wickednesss. At the very terminal of the drama, Proctor is sent to decease, and Hale implores to Elizabeth, “ Woman, plead with him! Woman! It is pride, it is amour propre. Be his assistant! -what profit him to shed blood? Shall the dust congratulations him ” ( Miller 145 ) ? Hale yells these words at Elizabeth Proctor, because he was beging her to convert John to plead guilty, but disdainful Proctor chose to decease alternatively with his award intact. He chose to decease as penitence for his original wickedness of criminal conversation. This emphasizes that Proctor has overpowering pride, and non even with the fright of decease will he make bold seek to allow travel of it. As spoken by literary expert Brett Bigbie, “ This chase of a worthy purpose can be seen as Proctor ‘s tragic flaw ” ( page 1 ) , Proctor so had obsessional pride and he sacrificed himself for cleansing his psyche. The full drama began and ended with his defect.
Upon John Proctor ‘s decease in The Crucible, the audience let out a moving ridge of emotions, which besides gave an addition in their ego cognition. The true minute of katharsis was at the terminal of the drama when John Proctor tore up the confession and allowed the self forfeit of him, “ Proctor tears the paper and crumples it ” ( Miller 144 ) . Because of his forfeit, Proctor became an illustration of good will and pureness for others to follow. So the townspeople have realized themselves that there is hope for salvation of their wickednesss. Because Proctor stood up against corruptness, the people have realized that there is goodness in this universe and it is up to them to seek it. In order to derive cognition, one must seek it. Elizabeth Proctor besides felt a rush of emotion when Proctor tore up the confession. She excessively came to a realisation of true goodness. “ He hold his goodness now, God forbid I take it from him ” ( Miller 145 ) ! When Elizabeth uttered these words near John ‘s decease, she knew that Proctor became a symbol of pureness. And if she knew that Proctor had become good, so that means that Elizabeth herself had to recognize what true goodness is. Reverend Hale shooting out the most sum of katharsis in the terminal of the drama. In the beginning, Hale comes into Salem a proud, scholarly adult male to analyse supposed enchantresss. Through a period of clip, he changed his ways and finally became the adult male who pitied Proctor the most. Hale peculiarly was pouring out emotion right when Proctor was about to be hung, “ Woman, plead with him! Woman! It is pride, it is amour propre. Be his assistant! -what profit him to shed blood? Shall the dust congratulations him ” ( Miller 145 ) ? Reverend Hale is really much aware that John was guiltless of witchery. Hale values life really much and commiserations Proctor in an effort to salvage his life. Reverend Hale came to the decision that John was so a pure adult male.
Another major portion of the tragic hero is that the hero must see a reversal of luck, besides known as peripetia caused by their ain defect. The beginning of Proctor ‘s series of unfortunate events began when Abigail got Proctor ‘s loved 1s in problem with the tribunal. When Proctor tells Abby near the beginning that no 1 must cognize of the secret wickedness, and that he can non love her any longer, Abby becomes revengeful. So she accuses Proctor ‘s married woman of witchery and she gets taken in by the United States Marshals Services, “ She walks out the door, Herrick and Cheever behind her ” ( Miller 78 ) . Proctor became angered. John could non state anybody of his matter with Abigail because it would dirty his name and repute. So John ‘s pride kept him from uncovering his wickedness and as a consequence, his lucks merely got turned upside down. Near the terminal of Act II, Proctor is taken to imprison, “ Marshal, take him and Corey with him to the gaol ” ( Miller 120 ) ! His luck is even worse now that he and Elizabeth are in gaol. All because he still can non rally the bravery to uncover his wickedness.
The most common trait of a tragic hero is that they are baronial birth ; nevertheless despite John non being born into aristocracy, he possesses many baronial features. John Proctor was a baronial adult male throughout The Crucible. When Elizabeth was taken to imprison, Proctor infuriatingly questioned Mary Warren. He urgently yelled at her to state the truth and in that despair he told her, “ My married woman will ne’er decease for me! I will convey your backbones into your oral cavity but that goodness will non decease for me ” ( Miller 80 ) ! Proctor stood up for his married woman and was purpose on protecting her at all costs. Specifically talking, he was screening her name from being blackened in the community. John Proctor was one of the lone work forces in the drama who abided for what was right in the Salem community. John Proctor respected all people in the Salem community, and stood up for everybody during his concluding hr, “ I speak my ain wickednesss, I can non judge another. I have no lingua for it ” ( Miller 141 ) . Proctor refused to smear the names of his friends despite that uncovering the other names would hold saved his life. The righteousness that he bestowed upon them helps exemplify what a true baronial individual is. John Proctor merely spoke for himself when mentioning to his wickednesss. The same instance happened when the tribunal told John to subscribe the confession as come-on to entice others in. Proctor courageously refused because it was his responsibility to claim the destiny of others.
John Proctor absolutely fits the cast of a tragic hero because he harbors all the qualities of a tragic hero such as tragic flaw, katharsis, peripetia, and is baronial. John Proctor ‘s chief fatal defect was his inordinate hubris, or pride which finally sealed his destiny. Negative emotions are washed off because the tragic hero ‘s decease is an illustration of the maxim of true Puritan values. The audience felt an utmost sum of commiseration when John Proctor died, nevertheless his decease transformed their ways of thought and increased their ain cognition. Another necessary portion of the tragic hero is that he or she has a complete reversal of luck brought by the hero ‘s ain defect. Proctor ‘s life wholly turned upside down when Abigail accused his loved 1s who so were sent to imprison, or executed. John Proctor a adult male of great aristocracy and pride cleansed his psyche after he suffered a tragic decease, and became a symbol of pureness and righteousness for others to follow.
WORKS CITED PAGE
Bhatia, Santosh. “ Use of Irony in the Crucible. ” Bloom ‘s Guides. Ed. Harold Bloom. New. New York, NY: InfoBase Publishing, 2010. 59-63. Print.
Bigbie, Brett. “ John Proctor as a Tragic Hero in Arthur Miller ‘s The Crucible. ” hypertext transfer protocol: //www.associatedcontent.com/article/1759832/john_proctor_as_a_tragic_hero_in_arthur.html? cat=38 1 ( 2009 ) : n.pag. Web. 10 Dec. 2010.
Centola, Steven R. “ Possibility for Human Redemption in the Puritan Community. ” Bloom ‘s Guides. Ed. Harold Bloom. New. New York, NY: InfoBase Publishing, 2010. 59-63. Print.
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin Books USA Inc. , 1976. Print.
