John Proctor As A Tragic Hero In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

In numerous literary works past and present, tragic heroes are often prevalent throughout the plot of the story. A tragic hero, as defined by the world renowned philosopher Aristotle, is a character who makes a judgement error that leads to his destruction. Some prominent examples of a tragic hero in literary works is Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Oedipus in Oedipus Rex, and Achilles in Greek mythology. One literary work that may not be notorious and prevalent for having a tragic hero is The Crucible, a play written by author Arthur Miller. This play is mainly known for its mass hysteria and false accusations, but what is ignored is the fact that a tragic hero is prevalent in the society of Salem, Massachusetts, and this man’s name is John Proctor.

No one in the Salem community believes his claim and many of the villagers believe that the girls who have been bewitched are serious and not fraudulent. In court, he states, “A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud - God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!”(Act III). Proctor has finally had enough of all of the commotion resulting in his outbreak in the courtroom. He let the anger get the best of him and his emotions finally took over. He rants to Danforth that the girls are frauds and have accused innocent men and women of witchcraft and have taken their lives over accusations and revenge. Proctor realizes this and says that we will all burn in Hell together for the mistakes that have been made in the courtroom. The courtroom in Salem was a sign of corruption and not everyone realized it at first. One of the main advocates for the fraudulent stories was John Proctor, but by staying by his word and believing he could win eventually led to his