A tragedy should bring fear and pity to the reader. A man in this tragedy not
should be exceptionally righteous, but his faults should come about because of a certain
irreversible error on his part. This man should find a bad or fatal ending to add to the
tragedy of the story, for this man in the tragic hero. The protagonist John Proctor
portrays a tragic hero in The Crucible; his hamartia of adultery causes great internal
struggles, he displays hubris by challenging authority, and he encounters catastrophe
John Proctor's decision to betray his wife causes internal struggles and ultimately
leads to his catastrophe at the end of the drama. Hamartia is the primary error of the
tragic hero which provokes part of his misfortune. Proctor's serious mistake of adultery
delivers problems with Abigail Williams and indirectly causes his jailing. Abigail is a
grown young woman, and yet she is an orphan who mistakes John Proctor's sex for true
love. When Proctor tells Abigail that the relationship can no longer continue, the girl
becomes angry and sorrowful (1098). In order to prove Abigail's sinfulness and to
discredit her in front of the court, Proctor proclaims that he had an affair with this evil
child. The outraged court officials summon Elizabeth Proctor to find the truth. When
asked about her husband, Elizabeth's soul is twisted, for reporting the truth could destroy
her husband's reputation, but lying means breaking her solemn oath to God. Because she
is selfless, Elizabeth chooses to lie and save her husband, but perhaps condemn herself to
hell for such a sin. This scene indicates dramatic irony, for Proctor knows that which
Elizabeth is not aware of, and this is that he has already "confessed it" (1148). The court
jails Proctor; Elizabeth Proctor's selfless act backfires. Proctor's hamartia of adultery
indirectly causes his jailing...