To What Extent Is John Proctor A Tragic Hero In The Crucible

Words: 645
Pages: 3

John Proctor Why is John Proctor a tragic hero? From being an ordinary man in Salem to being one of the most questionable men in all the story. In the book, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a man around his mid 30’s living his life with wife, Elizabeth and his two boys makes one unforgivable mistake he will dread until his final days. The sins and lies he carries eventually starts eating at him until the end of Act 4 when he reveals what has had him under the knife for so long. What will happen when the truth is finally unveiled?
When the play settles into action, it is revealed that John have had a past affair with his servant Abigail Williams. His wife, Elizabeth find out about this act but quickly is forgiving of his sin, but John has the mind set not to confess to anyone else to protect his
…show more content…
Danforth gaining control once again of the court while Mary tries to plead her testimony against the poppet. This suggests to John that allegations are already being made against Elizabeth and her friends which forces him to admit to having the affair with Abigail. It is finally found out that Elizabeth is expecting and is safe for now because of her pregnancy, but John cannot allow his friends to be executed while he withholds information that might save them. When John calls Abigail a whore, he knows that he must provide proof. He finally lays his soul bare before the judges, knowing that at the least he could be imprisoned for his affair or at the worst executed.
To close off the story, we last hear about John in Act 4 when he’s imprisoned with wife Elizabeth waiting for be executed. What we learn from what he had experienced is that we cannot always hide the lies and guilt we sometimes carry in our own lives. John’s situation would have to be the best example of this because he committed what was known to be one of the top biggest crimes back in the day of 1692 during the witch