John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

I don’t pretend that John Proctor is a hero, or anywhere close to perfect. But he’s definitely a lot closer to “hero” than he is to “stooge.” In fact, outside of Hale (as we reach the end of the play), I would say he is probably the closest character to “hero.”

In the end, he is hung for witchcraft. He obviously did not commit this crime. The two crimes he committed were his affair with Abigail (which, along with Parris catching the dancing in the forest, was a key part of the setup that led to Abigail’s “confession” and subsequent accusations), and lying (which did get a bit out of hand at points). He also had an unfortunate tendency to rip up official court documents that he did not like.

But other than that, I believe he was a good person. His wife Elizabeth refuses to attempt to convince him to confess again, saying that “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!” (1358). This is the truth of the matter—by not confessing, he tells God and the world that the true story is the one he had Mary Warren begin to tell in Act III, which is in fact the truth. Despite his lies, he goes to his grave holding to the true story.

Additionally, he is guided by the idea expressed in Act II that “the magistrate sits in your heart that judges you.” Elizabeth furthers this by telling him that “there be no higher judge under Heaven than Proctor is!” He doesn’t want the public to see his confession, and I think that may be because he in his heart was confessing to adultery, even though on paper he was confessing to witchcraft. I think he has confessed to himself and God and that is all he feels that matters. I realize that this is a theory that lacks solid evidence, but I feel that it might be the best explanation for him confessing, but refusing to take it public and subsequent destruction of his confession.

While John Proctor is a very complex character and I cannot even begin to go into detail about him, I feel that this short summary is a good approximation of his beliefs and ideas as he goes to his grave—that is, he is right by God and right by himself (both through not lying and through his confession), so he has no regrets in that sense.