What is a tragic hero? A tragic hero is someone who not only possesses courage and strength in combat, but also commits and comes to realize a tremendous error that leads him to fall from great esteem, but he faces this end with honor. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor, the man who fights bravely with fraud and injustice during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, best exemplifies the tragic hero.
 A tragic hero falls from great esteem. John Proctor’s demise is due to the Witch Trial. He is a farmer in his middle thirties, respected and even feared in the town of Salem. During the Witch Trials, to prove the shady motives of his former servant, Abigail Williams, who is falsely accusing others of witchcraft, admits his lechery with the girl in court. However, this attempt fails because his wife denies the affair. Meanwhile, their servant Mary Warren, unable to resist heavy pressure from Abigail, betrays Proctor:“You’re the Devil’s man,” Mary claims of him, “He come at me by night and every day to sign the Devil’s book”. As a result, Proctor is put in jail for sending spirits on Mary. Many believe that Proctor is a wizard who has smeared a girl’s name, and he loses all esteem.
 A tragic hero realizes the tremendous significance of his mistake. Proctor’s mistake is his affair with Abigail Williams, which, after being discovered by Elizabeth, makes him feel guilty for seven months. During those months, he hardly steps off his farm, trying to please Elizabeth with actions such as seasoning the rabbit. Later, when he is alone with Abigail, he keeps a distance with her and tries to make her forget their affair, but the girl does not give up, and accuses Proctor’s wife of witchcraft in order to be rid of her and to replace her. To save Elizabeth and other accused, Proctor knows he cannot not keep his irreversible mistake hidden any longer. In order to prove that Abigail is lying out of revenge, Proctor publicizes his affair with her, declaring her accusations to be “a whore’s vengeance!”. Still, his effort is in vain, and ends in tragedy.
 A tragic hero accepts death with honor. After several months in court, Proctor faces certain demise if he does not confess to witchery. The judges allow Elizabeth to meet with Proctor to persuade him into confession. At first, Proctor decides he would confess to the judge, and pleads for Elizabeth to forgive him, but as he signs the paper he realized his name would be posted on the church’s door, upon which “John Proctor” would be a name of shame, and his children would lean their head down because of his own name. On these grounds, Proctor tore the paper and crumpled it, fully knowing that he would be hanged at sunrise. The astonished judges ask Proctor for his rationale, to which he exclaims: “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! I haven given you my soul; leave me my name.” Although Proctor would be hanged in a minute, his heart is calm, he has the dignity of a man, and he would die with honor.
 John Proctor shows all the characteristics of the tragic hero. He is a brave man who fights to stop fraud and injustice. He falls from great esteem, commits and realizes a mistake, and dies with honor. His tragedy makes The Crucible a relevant and enduring work of literature.