The Crucible - Proctor's Character Flaw

A detailed Summary of The Crucible - Proctor's Character Flaw

Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, is a very powerful statement about Puritan ethics in the 17th century. The play depicts a character, John Proctor, against both his inner conscience to do what is right, and against the courts of Salem, where he is involved in a crucible to rid the city of witches. These circumstances arise for Proctor because of his affair with Abigail Williams, the leader of the girls who have started the witch hysteria,. Throughout the play, Proctor is depicted with a character flaw, his passiveness. Because of this character flaw and his tragic ending to his life, Proctor can be regarded as a tragic hero.

A tragic hero is an individual, usually the protagonist, who the audience recognizes as a "good guy," but who possesses a "character flaw" leading to his or her downfall. In the case of The Crucible, John Proctor fits this model of a tragic hero. He is the protagonist of the novel, and is seen as a good all-around person. But his character flaw, his passiveness, led to his downfall, which is his hanging.

Proctor's passiveness, or unwillingness to involve himself, is evident in many aspects in the play. In the first Act, it is seen that Proctor wishes to distance himself as much as possible fr

In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, John Proctor, with his tragic flaw of passiveness, is a tragic hero. His passiveness-at first when he kept distance from the proceedings, when he needed to be convinced by his wife to get involved in the trial, when he used Mary Warren to testify instead of himself, and when accused of being a witch-led to his ultimate downfall. Proctor's final dilemma, choosing between living a lie or dying for the truth, further illustrates the type of person that Proctor is, and the type of hero that he is: a tragic hero.

Another episode illustrating Proctor's passiveness occurs when Hale arrives with a warrant for his wife's arrest. His wife is then taken, and Proctor goes to court to present his argument to the officials. But instead of giving his own argument, because of his passive nature, Proctor uses Mary Warren to appeal to the court. In just getting Mary Warren to agree to go before the court, Proctor has to try very hard to convince her to do; this shows his unwillingness to go before the court himself. After insisting over and over that she cannot testify against Abigail, Proctor says to Mary Warren, "Make your peace with it! Now Hell and Heaven grapple on our backs, and all our old pretense is ripped away-make your peace!" (p80) This is one of the many powerful speeches that Proctor gives to convince Mary Warren that she needs to testify. While in court at first, Proctor himself doesn't speak, but instead, in a sense,

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Approximate Word count = 990
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English