What is a Tragic Hero?

A tragic hero is regarded as a noble or heroic character with a fatal flaw that results in a literal or metaphorical demise. For example, in Hamlet, his inability to act as well as his indecisiveness is his fatal flaw, which is what causes his death in the end.

What makes Proctor a (Better) Tragic Hero?

Similar to Hamlet, Proctor has his own fatal flaw— he cares too much about his image, which leads to him refusing to share what he knows about Abigail until near the end of the film, which not only causes his own death, but the deaths of others within his town. Additionally, his secret itself- that he cheated on his wife- could also be interpreted as a fatal flaw, especially due to it being a betrayal of his wife, his town, and his religion.