The Tragic Flaw of John Proctor
The Crucible by Arthur Miller based on the Salem Witch Trials. Story based on how the Trials of Salem occurred, and who was to take part in these trials. The story represents a tragic hero who is known as John Proctor, a farmer in Salem; His tragic flaw is his adultery with Abigail Williams, former house servant of John Proctor. The tragic flaw of adultery leads him to the ruining of his marriage, exposing of his affair with Abigail Williams, and to his tragic death. The tragic flaw of John Proctor, ruins his marriage. Elizabeth, upon a heaving sob that always threat/ens: "John, it come to naught that I should for/give you, if you'll not forgive yourself. Now he/ turns away a little, in great agony. It is not my/ soul, John, it is yours. He stands, as though in/ physical pain, slowly/ rising to his feet with a/ great immortal longing/ to find his answer. It is/ difficult to say, and she/ is on the verge of tears. Only be sure of this, for/ I know it now: Whatever you will do, it is a/ good man does it. He turns his doubting, search/ing gaze upon her. I have read my heart this/ three month, John.
…show more content…
The effects of the tragic flaw gave bitterness between John and his wife, the truth of his adultery to his former house servant, Abigail Williams, and his execution leading him to become a tragic hero. The first paragraph demonstrates how John and his wife have bitterness in their relationship due to John’s tragic flaw. The second paragraph shows John Proctor confesses to having committed adultery with Abigail Williams, in order to save his wife and friends being tried for witchcraft. The third paragraph explains John Proctor’s death. The Crucible the story brought by love, betrayal and moral lessons, for those who have read this novel have been mind-blown and shocked through most of the entire
These characters are usually very prideful, but are intelligent and learn something at the end of the story. The tragic hero of The Crucible is John Proctor, whose flaw is that he had committed adultery with Abigail Williams, due to the cold nature of his wife. The events that led to his fall first start when his wife is arrested for witchcraft. He is extremely angered by this unfair arrest and rips the warrant, screaming, “Off with you!” (72) as they try to take custody of her.
Guilt is emotional torture that transforms one's psychological operation. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, before the Salem witch trials emerge, John Proctor cheats on his wife Elizabeth Proctor, with young Abigail. Causing him to live with an eternal shame that generates dispute. Proctor’s endeavour is to elude from his wrongdoing, but he cannot because of the disgrace he feels himself to be when around Elizabeth. Miller shows that John Proctor's emotional and behavioral conflict rises from his guilt.
In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the town of Salem is afflicted with hysteria, intolerance, and accusations that lead to death. According to philosopher Aristotle, a tragic hero possesses a tragic flaw, excessive pride, and an inevitable downfall. Protagonist John Proctor illustrates a tragic hero because he is presented as happy, powerful, and privileged, which later leads him to suffer because of his own actions. First of all, John Proctor possesses a fatal flaw, pride, which is a characteristic of a tragic hero. Proctor’s fatal flaws includes honesty and pride.
This quote reveals, Elizabeth’s genuine understanding and faithfulness in her husband. She believes that John carries the burden of his own guilt, which is a lucid indication that he has a sense of morality. John feels this guilt, as he recognizes and takes responsibility for the sin he commits, against his wife. Additionally, due to John’s guilty conscience, he also realizes the value and tenderness that his wife brings him. He accepts his misdoings, and never utters a blame against his wife, for his actions.
In the Crucible, many of the characters go through changes because of the intensity of the situation. But there is only one character that I think changed the most, and that is John Proctor who is the protagonist of the novel The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I think that John Procotor changes the most in the Crucible because he is in every act and mostly in every scene, and throughtout the play I see more drama (Dynamic Character) in him than any other character in the Crucible and I will go through and tell you how John Proctor changes in the Crucible. In the beginning of the play (Acts 1 and 2), we focus on John Proctor and we know that he is a good puritan citizen, a hard-working farmer and who is a husband and father.
JOHN PROCTOR: TRAGIC HERO Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a greatly revered work, and it reflected the times of America in the days of McCarthyism. Perhaps the character that connected to the audience most was John Proctor, the protagonist of the play. He reflects the mistakes that we have made in our lives, and the struggle that some of have while trying to take the blindfold off of other people. He should be considered a hero because he feels guilt, and therefore tries to make up for the fact that he once had an affair.
The Crucible - Conflict Analysis John Proctor Internal: John Proctor’s most eminent internal conflict is over the sin he has committed, adultery. Proctor cheated on his wife with Abigail Williams, and this makes Proctor feel incredibly guilty because in the town, he is “respected and even feared” (19). He tried very hard, and succeeded, with keeping this moral crime to himself. He still walked about Salem as if he was “an untroubled soul,” (21) however, avoiding the sin again would be a difficult task. Abigail flirts with him, in attempt to have him for one last night, and it’s obvious Proctor has an arduous time pushing her away.
John Proctor, the protagonist of The Crucible, qualifies as a tragic hero because he has a tragic flaw, is ethically superior to the other characters in the play, and struggles to find peace with himself in midst of the lies and chaos during this play. John Proctor possesses a tragic flaw that forces him to hide his prideful mistake, which eventually brings about his downfall. I guess the old saying is true, “Pride comes before the fall”. John Proctor’s tragic flaw is his excessive pride, and he expresses it abundantly throughout the play. In Act I, it states, “ Proctor: Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time.
John Proctor is not a tragic hero in the beginning of the story because he lied to his wife about Abigail, but towards the end of the book he realizes the mistakes he has made and he wants to make a change. He wants to stop lying to himself and to others, even if it ends in a tragedy. John Proctor does not qualify as a tragic hero because he broke laws by having an affair with Abigail Williams behind his wife’s back. When his wife, Elizabeth, confronts him about Abigail and his affair, John lies to her face. This lying continues throughout the whole story.
The Crucible “The Crucible” is a play, by Arthur Miller, about the Salem Witch Trials. After reading “The Crucible”, you will be asking yourself, is it necessary for a person to suffer? The answer to the question is shown through the characters, Giles Corey, John and Elizabeth Proctor, and Abigail Williams. John Proctor is a respected puritan man in the community. John had made the mistake of sleeping with, a teenage girl, Abigail Williams.
“Character Analysis over The Crucible” Arthur Miller is a commonly-known playwright, most famous for his 1953 play, The Crucible. The basis for The Crucible came from the witch trials which occurred in Salem, Massachusetts during the puritan era. Miller even uses some of the same characters in his dramatized play that were a part of the original witch trials in Salem. However, Miller made a few alterations to the historical members of the Salem society in order to suit his dramatic purpose in The Crucible, particularly Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Reverend Samuel Parris.
John Proctor’s words towards Elizabeth signal irritation and annoyance. John Proctor, the main character of The Crucible, has an affair with a much younger girl, Abigail Williams, breaking his wife, Elizabeth’s trust in him. Her suspicion of him rises when he tells her he was in a room alone with Abigail. Elizabeth’s growing mistrust begins to aggravate John, which is revealed when he says, “I’ll not have your suspicion any more” (489). Elizabeth is doubtful after learning about John’s affair with Abigail and her lack of trust in her husband begins to anger him.
This secret was his affair with Abigail Williams. Abigail Williams was trying to get rid of Elizabeth, because she wanted to take over her spot as John Proctors wife. Due to Abigail's jealousy and revenge for Elizabeth she mentions Elizabeth's name during the Salem witch trials which causes nothing but chaos. During this chaos, John Proctor displayed traits of being short tempered and aggressive. The characteristics of anger, aggression, innocence and compassion where portrayed by John and Elizabeth Proctor in the story The Crucible by Arthur Miller.
In conclusion, John Proctor's tragic flaw of pride and his lust for Abigail, ultimately brings about his destruction. Even though John was a good man, he possessed a sense of pride that he could not give up, and he truly would rather die than to be shamed by his peers. The Crucible shows us that anyone can make mistakes, and even the Godliest of men can fall by the
When people think of the play, “The Crucible”, they usually picture the witch trials and women being hanged, but Arthur Miller depicts the witch trials in a completely new light. He shows through a story that the witch trials were much more than just people calling others witches. There was deceit, pain, greed, and more. Through the play, we follow the character, Abigail, observe her actions and their consequences. We witness the lives of people she impacts, what happens to them, and how many times she lies to get her way.