How Does the Dialogue Between John and Elizabeth Proctor in Pages 41 -
46 Reflect the Tensions and Strengths in their Relationship?
During the first part of act two, the scene is set in the Proctors
house, and a conversation takes place between Elizabeth and John
Proctor. He has arrived home late, and the conversation that takes
place between husband and wife seems, at first to be polite, maybe a
little bit static, as thought they had both first met. We can tell
from John words that he is trying to please her, and make up to her
for being unfaithful. Elizabeth, his wife can tell that he is trying
to please her, but she is still not sure of what John thinks of
Abigail, and whether she still has a place in his heart. This topic is
never raised between the two of them, but we can see that it is the
main thing that they are both thinking.
John Proctor, we can tell is very guilty about being unfaithful to his
wife. He is very upset by the fact that Elizabeth doesn't trust him,
and is doing everything in his power to try and gain her trust and
make her happy. He wants his wife to know that he is ashamed of what
he has done He doesn't feel like a very good husband and regrets what
he has done. Even though John knows that he has hurt his wife, he
doesn't feel that what he has done is unforgivable and still can get
very angry with her, very easily.
Elizabeth Proctor is a very kind, intelligent, but unhappy woman that
has been deeply hurt by her husband. Whenever she is around her
husband she tries to please him, as if she is inadequate for him, and
replies to his questions quickly and pleasantly. She doesn't have the
courage to say what she thinks at first, but eventually gets up the
courage to tell him to go to Salem and tell the court about Abigail.
In many of the questions she asks John, you can sense that she is
still suspicious of him.
Tensions between Elizabeth and John Proctor are prominent at first in
the act. Miller describes in the stage directions that John "is not
quite pleased. [With the food that his wife has prepared] He reaches
to the cupboard, takes a pinch of salt and drops it into the pot". We
can see from this stage direction that he doesn't want to make
anything even more awkward between him and his wife, and if she sees
what he is doing then she may feel insufficient.
The floor creaks between each one of their pauses. The silence is deadly. Should I dishonor my lord? The pressure I just can’t stop pacing back and fourth, my skin is tender and sweaty. Salem’s gone mad! All the women be crying witchcraft! But the only one that bewitching is that whore Abigail Williams. Reverend Parris caught her in the forest leading the young ones into the depths of sin, yet I am the one to blame. Its as if I’ve gone crazy myself. They all be believing the devil is loose in Salem. But the Lord may not shine through the unfaithful. She be confessing that my Elizabeth Proctor be practicing witchcraft. I will not believe none of it. She is the biggest sinner in the house of the lord, a liar. How may she call heaven? She may think God sleeps, but God sees everything. God knows a sinner.
Abigail and John’s affair seven months ago is still causing problems between Elizabeth and him. There’s a lot of tension in one of the beginning exchanges between Elizabeth and John. “Elizabeth: ‘Then go and tell her she’s a whore. Whatever promise she may sense- break it, John, break it.’ John:
Elizabeth Proctor was probably one of the characters faced with the most stress and problem throughout the duration of “The Crucible” After a long period of illness, she try to live life as normal, despite having found out her husband committed adultery and, later, that she has been accused of witchcraft. Although she proves brave and strong and endures the experience, when the most important decision in the fiasco comes, she makes a controversial choice.
tries to make her disinterested in him so that again, he may concentrate on the
John is a loving husband. He proves that by telling Elizabeth, “It is well seasoned” (p. 48) in reference to the rabbit she cooked, in which he had to add salt to. He likes to make her happy, which shows he loves her, and so he asks, “Would that please you?” (p.48) He is asking in reference to buying a heifer for her if the crops are good. He assures her he will “fall like an ocean on that court” by which he shows his love in caring for her freedom (p.73). To the court he admits he has “known her” he is talking about Abigail and their affair (p.102). He is showing his love towards his wife by throwing away his freedom, life, honor, dignity, and pride to prove Elizabeth’s innocence and have her freedom. He tells Elizabeth to “show honor now” as he is to be hanged in the gallows (p. 133). He is showing his love for her by letting her know he cares about her enough to want her to be strong even though he is to die.
Elizabeth is angry that John was having an affair with Abigail. John feels that he has endured enough. He knows what he did was not right, but he demands to Elizabeth that he needed a passion that she was not giving him. John uses emotional appeal to enforce his claim. She is offended at his suggestion that it was her fault that he was cheating on her. John says that he is only
A soft word” (Miller 22). Abigail evidently still wishes for involvement with John, pleading with him to ‘give [her] a soft word’. This hints that her devotion to John takes place on an emotional level, rather than just a physical one, as she wants him to comfort her. She is telling lies about me!
have for him but to keep his life. To lose his dignity but to keep his
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, various characters, whether it is from physical trials or unseen personal struggles, experience some kind of major conflict. There are those who spend every day in fear, wondering whether or not they will be falsely accused of witchcraft. There are others who struggle with more internal trials, such as forgiving those who have hurt them. The protagonist, John Proctor, was a man of strong moral constitution, and held himself to a high standard for the sake of his good name and family. As a result of this, he struggled with a major internal conflict throughout the play.
can be seen when she says to John 'Give me a word, John. A s...
The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations. The confession of Proctor would convince others in the town to confess to their
People make life or death choices every day. In The Crucible, John Proctor and others decided dying honestly was better than living a lie. At this time, countless were accused of witchcraft and working with the devil in the town of Salem, MA. In this play, Reverend Hale told Elizabeth proctor “no principle, however glorious, is worth dying for.” He argued that living a life of dishonesty is better than dying for the truth, trying to persuade John to live, but as a devil's advocate. But John believed no life was worth living if it was full of falsifies information.
“John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him."(162). She feels that she should be "a good girl" and appreciate the protective love John offers to her.
Even though her husband treats her with what seem at first as love, it becomes clear she is nothing more to him than a piece of property. Every time he talks to her, he asks her to get better for his sake and the children's, and only after mentions hers interests. He doesn't think that she has any normal human feelings or worries and attributes her behavior to minor nervous depression. He doesn't see her true suffering since he believes "there is no reason to suffer" (574). He could never understand that a woman can be unsatisfied with the role imposed on her by society. Even though the heroine recognizes that her condition is caused by something other than John's theory, she is too scared to voice her opinion.
...nd alarmed to see her behaving that way. She has to keep "creeping" over John, even in the end, and it shows that a woman is not much different from a man, in the aspect of being a self-governing individual. People need to have control over their own lives and the ability to make their own decisions, even women. People cannot always make assumptions for what is best for others. We have learned this from John: John demonstrates that the best way to help someone is to have the patience to really listen and find out what that person truly wants, not simply making assumptions about what is right when its not in the other's best personal interest. But until every woman is treated in this manner, she will be driven into her own world of insanity where she continues "creeping" over all who try to control her.