S4 Crucible essay plan from Steve

This is a basic plan for the following essay.
"John Proctor is clearly more of a hero than a villain." Discuss.
This question asks you to look at Proctor's actions and behaviour in the novel and assess whether he is more hero than villain.
You will have to look closely and analyse both sides of the equation.
In your introduction you will need to show the examiner that you understand exactly what the question is demanding of you. Keep the introduction brief and to the point.
My advice to you is that you structure the essay so that you take a positive and negative point turn by turn. This time it is your job to find the key quotes-but as yoyu are revising this play for the final exam it will be good revision for you. Below I have listed some of the key points on both sides of the debate. Try not to get hung up on constant quoting. When you make what you consider to be a key point, try to find a short quote to bolster your opinion and then analyse what you have said. Remember PQA.
Proctor the hero-below is some information about John-you can add anything extra of your own. these points are in no particular order of importance. They are simply here to get you thinking and provide a springboard for your own ideas.
First of all it might be worth defining what you understand by the term hero. I advise pointing out that in this play there are no true heroes and that all of the characters are complex individuals who possess a number of both positive and negative character traits. Proctor is a complex character-a truthful man who has told lies, an adulterer who tries to be a good husband.
He is a respected member of the community (pg 16 gives you a lot of information on John-most of it positive) even tempered, possessed of a certain type of wisdom.
John Proctor is a kind man in many ways. In Act One, the audience first sees him entering the Parris household to check on the health of the reverend’s ill daughter. He is good natured with fellow villagers such as Giley Corey, Rebecca Nurse, and others.
Even with adversaries, he is slow to anger. Though he is particularly harsh and unforgiving towards Parris.
He is an independent spirit who has cultivated the wilderness and transformed it into farmland. Furthermore, his sense of religion and communal spirit has led to many public contributions. In fact, he helped to construct the church in town.
His self-esteem sets him apart from other members of the town, such as the Putnams, who feel one must obey authority at all costs. Instead, John Proctor speaks his mind when he sees injustice. Throughout the play, he openly disagrees with the actions of Reverend Parris, an action that ultimately leads to his execution. IS THIS A POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE QUALITY?
Proctor’s flaws make him human. If he didn’t have them, he wouldn’t be a tragic hero. If the protagonist were a flawless hero, there would be no tragedy, even if the hero died at the end. A tragic hero, like John Proctor, is created when the protagonist uncovers the source of his downfall. When Proctor accomplishes this, he has the strength to stand up to the morally bankrupt society and dies in defense of truth.
Offered the opportunity to make a public confession of his guilt and live, he almost succumbs, even signing a written confession. His immense pride and fear of public opinion compelled him to withhold his adultery from the court, but by the end of the play he is more concerned with his personal integrity than his public reputation. He still wants to save his name, but for personal and religious, rather than public, reasons. Proctor's refusal to provide a false confession is a true religious and personal stand. Such a confession would dishonor his fellow prisoners, who are brave enough to die as testimony to the truth. Perhaps more relevantly, a false admission would also dishonor him, staining not just his public reputation, but also his soul. By refusing to give up his personal integrity Proctor implicitly proclaims his conviction that such integrity will bring him to heaven. He goes to the gallows redeemed for his earlier sins. As Elizabeth says to end the play, responding to Hale's plea that she convince Proctor to publicly confess: "He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!" This is his triumph at the end of th play.
In a sense, The Crucible has the structure of a classical tragedy, with John Proctor as the play's tragic hero. Honest, upright, and blunt-spoken, Proctor is a good man, but one with a secret, fatal flaw. Once the trials begin, Proctor realizes that he can stop Abigail's rampage through Salem but only if he confesses to his adultery. Such an admission would ruin his good name, and Proctor is, above all, a proud man who places great emphasis on his reputation. He eventually makes an attempt, through Mary Warren's testimony, to name Abigail as a fraud without revealing the crucial information. When this attempt fails, he finally bursts out with a confession, calling Abigail a "whore" and proclaiming his guilt publicly. Only then does he realize that it is too late, that matters have gone too far, and that not even the truth can break the powerful frenzy that he has allowed Abigail to whip up. Proctor's confession succeeds only in leading to his arrest and conviction as a witch, and though he lambastes the court and its proceedings, he is also aware of his terrible role in allowing this fervor to grow unchecked.
Proctor redeems himself and provides a final denunciation of the witch trials in his final act. Offered the opportunity to make a public confession of his guilt and live, he almost succumbs, even signing a written confession. His immense pride and fear of public opinion compelled him to withhold his adultery from the court, but by the end of the play he is more concerned with his personal integrity than his public reputation. He still wants to save his name, but for personal and religious, rather than public, reasons. Proctor's refusal to provide a false confession is a true religious and personal stand. Such a confession would dishonor his fellow prisoners, who are brave enough to die as testimony to the truth. Perhaps more relevantly, a false admission would also dishonor him, staining not just his public reputation, but also his soul. By refusing to give up his personal integrity Proctor implicitly proclaims his conviction that such integrity will bring him to heaven. He goes to the gallows redeemed for his earlier sins. As Elizabeth says to end the play, responding to Hale's plea that she convince Proctor to publicly confess: "He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!"
Proctor as villain
But he does get angry! One of his flaws is his temper. When friendly discussion does not work, Proctor will resort to shouting and even physical violence. There are occasions throughout the play when he threatens to whip his wife, his servant-girl, and his ex-mistress. Still, he remains a sympathetic character because his anger is generated by the unjust society which he inhabits. The more the town becomes collectively paranoid, the more he rages.
Despite his prideful ways, John Proctor describes himself as a "sinner." He has cheated on his wife, and he is loath to admit the crime to anyone else. There are moments when his anger and disgust towards himself burst forth, such as in the climactic moment when he exclaims to Judge Danforth: "I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours."
Proctor’s character contains a caustic blend of pride and self-loathing, a very puritanical combination indeed! One the one hand, he takes pride in his farm and his community
Despises injustice, yet feels guilty because of his extra-marital affair with 17 year old Abigail .DOES THIS MAKE HIM A HYPOCRITE IN YOUR EYES? HIS ADULTERY IS OBVIOUSLY HIS GREATEST CRIME
His lust for Abigail Williams led to their affair (which occurs before the play begins), and created Abigail's jealousy of his wife, Elizabeth, which sets the entire witch hysteria in motion. So in a sense it is possible to blame him for all the subsequent events. It was his behaviour that set everything off at the start
DOES HE FAIL HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN BY LETTING HIS PRIDE TAKE HIM TO THE GALLOWS? SHOULD HE HAVE LIED TO STAY ALIVE TO LOOK AFTER HIS FAMILY?

Conclusion
You have to make an overall decision. My opinion is that although Proctor is the closest thing in the play to a hero-he is a tragic hero. A man who only has one real flaw-but it is this that helps to bring him down (and in doing so destroy the community he has helped to build up).