The Character Of John Proctor As A Tragic Hero

Throughout history, the stereotypical tragic hero has been known to appear in many famous writings. This type of writing has more recently shown up in play manuscripts, pure fiction, and history itself. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a prime example of this writing strategy based on the characters created and the way the author develops them throughout the manuscript. John Proctor, one of the very prominent character in the manuscript, not only fits into this category but flourishes and deepens the plot of the play as the said tragic hero. Arthur Miller’s portrayal of John Proctor confirms Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero by his interactions with the townspeople and his hesitation to speak out about the hysteria in Salem. The famous Greek philosopher Aristotle first developed a four-step definition for a tragic hero. The first step being that the character must have a sense of invincibility from the events around them. John Proctor has this “invisibility” when dealing with the townspeople of
For example, on pages 91-126 of The Crucible, Mary Warren and the girls are in the court deliberating about Mary Warren’s confession. This was a prime moment for John to speak out to the court and really expose what is going on between the group of girls. But, unfortunately, he held his tongue and missed his shot to save the innocent people the group of girls accused intentionally. Another instance of this hesitation would be at the end of The Crucible pages 144-151 when John was just about to give his confession to the judges to save himself from getting hanged. By failing to give up his name, he sentenced not only himself but the other two innocent people to hang with him on that fateful morning. If John would have confessed, he would have motivated the other two to do so, saving himself and two other innocent