Crucible

What exactly is a “tragedy” ? Is it just a story with a sorrowful ending? If someone dies in a sad way does that instantly make them a tragic hero? According to Aristotle and Arthur Miller, a tragedy is an act in which a noble or heroic character goes against what is popular and stands up for what he believes in, ultimately leading to their downfall.   In turn, this would mean that “The Crucible” is a tragedy and John Proctor is a tragic hero.
For a novel to be a tragedy, it has to have a character that goes against the public opinion, which leads to his fall. According to Aristotle, a tragedy must contain three elements: peripety, recognition, and pathos. Peripety is a change of what is attempted to the opposite (pg.2115). John Proctor is accused of being a witch and he falsely takes claim to it just to save his life. He realizes that if he chose to live, his name would lose its integrity, his soul would not be at peace, and he would have eternal guilt. Instead of going with the approved option of admitting he’s a witch, Proctor does the complete opposite and chooses death for his beliefs.   John Proctor changed his decision because he had finally been exposed to what he was truly giving up.   A tragedy must also contain recognition (Aristotle pg.2115).   John Proctor clearly recognized that by lying to save his life, he would be going against his own morals and diminishing his integrity as a person. The main point he truly recognized was how corrupt the Puritan society was. They viewed their witch hunting as a “divine act of God” and condemned innocent people to their deaths without a concrete premise to accuse them upon. Also, John recognizes himself as a sinner and that the guilt that has been built up inside of him has ultimately led to his final result.   By choosing to hang, John was forgiving himself for his wrongdoings. The clashing of John’s unwillingness to go against what he believes in, the realization of the true side of Puritan society, and the...