Brendan McMorrow
Mr. Barnes
25 October 2012
John Proctor as a Tragic Hero
“A man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall”. This famous quote from Aristotle highlights one of the main reasons tragedies were create in the first place; to show us mortals our flaws so that we can learn from them. John Proctor, from the tragedy The Crucible by Arthur Miller, is a prime example of a “tragic hero”. He starts off the play as a respected and successful farmer whose main focus is himself above all else. While the Salem witch trials highlight this flaw, they also give John the opportunity to overcome it and prove to the world that he is willing to put others before himself, making his eventual death the tragic event it is meant to be and evoke catharsis in the audience, proving that John Proctor is indeed a tragic hero.
In order to qualify as a “tragic hero”, there are certain characteristics that must be met. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero usually comes from a position of nobility or is a well respected individual. While John Proctor is certainly not from nobility, he certainly was a well respected member of his community. He had a house and worked hard to provide his family with everything they needed. On page 49, John comes back from plowing his fields after a hard day’s work, and his house is described as large and decorated with curtains and a fireplace, occupied by his wife and two children, and there is even a hot dinner waiting for him (Miller). It is quite evident that while John is not noble he does lead a life that would be considered a success in his time. In order to be considered a tragic hero he must also have a flaw that leads to his downfall, his downfall results in an increased awareness or discovery, and a sense of catharsis is evoked from the audience. If these three characteristics are proven to be present in John Proctor, it also proves that John is a tragic hero.
Many people argue that John Proctor’s tragic flaw is lust due to his affair with Abigail. The affair is what prompted Abigail to accuse John’s wife Elizabeth of being a witch because she believed that Elizabeth was keeping John from being with her, which lead to the eventual death of John. However, lust does not explain John’s refusal to become involved in the trials before his wife was accused when he knew that Abigail was lying. It seems that a more appropriate flaw would be selfishness; it encompasses both his lechery and the previous example. Furthermore, it provides a better explanation for his demise. It was not the act of adultery but his reluctance to admit to it and accuse Abigail of being a fraud that lead to him hanging from the gallows. Abigail told him that her accusations “had naught to do with witchcraft”, but even when Elizabeth pleads with John to go and tell the court he refuses because there is “no proof” (Miller 53). It is clear that John does not want to accuse Abigail of witchcraft, but why? From the start of the play it has been obvious that John places a great importance on his reputation; he states that “we vote by name in this society” (Miller 28) and that he cannot live “without [his] name” (Miller 143). By accusing Abigail of lying he runs two risks; she is considered “a saint” and accusing her could make him look bad and soil his name or by accusing her his lechery could be made public, again soiling his name. John is reluctant to accuse Abigail because he is afraid doing so will ruin his name even though his silence means that innocent men and women will hang. This quiet act of supreme selfishness is where the outcome of the play is really decided; John’s fate sealed. It was his last chance to act before Elizabeth was accused of witchcraft, which discredits John because it now looks like he is just trying to save his wife. While John Proctor hung for wizardry, it is evident that selfishness was his real flaw.
While John certainly was a flawed man, the events in The Crucible eventually lead to him realizing and overcoming his selfishness, though it is too late to save his own life. The first key example of Proctor acting in a selfless manor is during the court hearing where Mary Warren admits that she was lying about witchcraft and so is Abigail. However, when Abigail and her girls start to act like they are being frozen and Marry starts to falter it becomes clear that the only way John can prove Abigail is lying is to admit to adultery. While he waited till all else failed before doing so, he still does it; John Proctor “rung the doom of [his] good name” in a last attempt to prove that his wife and all the other accused are innocent and that Abigail is a lying “harlot” (Miller 111). He finally puts others before himself. While it was an admirable act of selflessness, it was also a desperate last attempt to prove his wife’s innocence. John displays a far more convincing act of selflessness later on when Danforth, Parris, and Hale try to convince him to admit to witchcraft in exchange for his life. At first his selfishness wins over; he acknowledges that “it is evil, and I do it!” (Miller 138). However, he refuses to accuse others of witchcraft, saying “They think to go like saints. I like not to spoil their names” (Miller 141). When Danforth reveals that he plans to show the entire town the document Proctor signed saying he admits to witchcraft, Proctor tears up the document. When given a choice between life and death, Proctor chose death so that his friends could die as saints. However, some argue that he acted not out of selflessness but out of pride, that he could not bare to befoul his name by lying to save his life. When asked why he would not give Danforth the document, he even says “Because it is my name!” (Miller 143). However, John already admitted to lechery which demonstrated that he was willing to sacrifice his name to save Elizabeth, and he admitted to witchcraft showing he was willing to sacrifice his name to save himself. Considering his previous willingness to sacrifice his name it is unlikely that pride kept him from turning over the document. A more logical explanation would be that he was willing to sacrifice his name to save himself, but when it became clear he would also “blacken [his friends] when this [document] is nailed to the church the very day they hang for silence”, he could not do it (Miller 143). Proctor even says that he is “not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang” (Miller 143). Because he believes that the reputations of those that hang are worth more than his life, he makes the ultimate sacrifice so they can die with honor. In his final hours it becomes clear that John Proctor has discovered how to act selflessly.
Even though John meets the previous two characteristics of a tragic hero, in order to be one he must also evoke a sense of catharsis from the audience. In order to create this sense of catharsis, Miller uses character development, a punishment that greatly outweighs the crime, and John’s eventual acceptance of his punishment. At the start of the novel, Proctor is introduced as “respected and feared”, but also “a sinner … against his own vision of decent conduct” (Miller 20). As the play continues we see his lechery is exposed, possibly causing more resentment to build up in the audience. However, when his wife’s life is threatened John’s reaction, to “fall like an ocean on that court” and his willingness to risk everything to save his wife shows that Proctor has a soft side as well (Miller 78). While not everyone may love John Proctor, he is by no means portrayed as evil and is one of the only voices of reason during the witch trials. By using him as the voice of reason, Miller paints him as one of the few “good guys” in Salem. The “good guy” is sentenced to death, tortured, and eventually hung for his crime of defending his wife. However, the real crime that he is being punished for is giving into his lust and having an affair with Abigail. Everybody makes mistakes and has a moment of weakness every now and then; it is hard to argue that what John is forced to go through is an appropriate punishment. So far, John Proctor is a hypocritical, feared and respected man who loves his wife and risks everything to save her, and in return is tortured and killed. In addition to this, Miller sends Proctor to his death willingly after choosing to die rather than soil the names of the others that were accused. Even if you hate John Proctor it is hard to not feel at least a small amount of pity for him, and it is clear that Miller’s intent is that the audience does feel that pity for Proctor. According to Aristotle’s definition, an “action that is serious or noble … will succeed in arousing pity and fear in such a way as to accomplish a catharsis” (Catharsis). John’s last act, already established as being noble, combined with the pity the audience is already meant to feel to evoke a sense of catharsis from the audience after Proctor’s death. Miller develops John as a character and the plot of The Crucible in an undeniable attempt to leave the reader feeling cathartic by the time the curtain closes and John is left hanging.
While John Proctor is not always likable, he has all the characteristics of a tragic hero. He is a respected man who, while selfish and certainly not perfect, was leading a successful life until the witch trials started. His selfishness is his tragic flaw which leads to his eventual demise, but on the way down John realizes his own flaws. In an act of extreme courage, John Proctor goes to the gallows with both a name and actions that he can be proud of; he truly dies a hero’s death.
Works Cited
"Catharsis." The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012. Credo Reference. Web. 28 October 2012.
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.
