The Crucible by Arthur Miller

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

During the course of the play “The Crucible”, written by Arthur

Miller, the relationship between John + Elizabeth Proctor sees many

changes. For example – at the beginning of the play, Elizabeth is very

suspicious of John. By the end of the play, she is a lot more open

with him, and they are able to communicate more easily.

We hear about Elizabeth first of all through Abigail Williams. She has

had an affair with John, who is a farmer in his mid-thirties in Salem,

Massachusetts. Abigail accuses his wife of being a witch.

Abigail first describes Elizabeth to her uncle, the Rev. Parris, as a

“gossiping liar” and a “bitter…lying, cold, snivelling woman” which

makes it plain to us that she does not care much for Elizabeth. The

whole play revolves around the witch trials, and the effect it had on

John and Elizabeth. The character’s development is mainly based upon

the fact that they have to stick together through the witch trials and

protect each other. As their marriage is going through a bad patch,

this helps them to regain the trust, love and respect for one another

that they had before.

Abigail says to John that she waits for him – John says that he made

no promises to her, as if he doesn’t want anything more to do with

her. She snaps back that he can’t claim that he has no feelings for

her, because she has seen him looking up to her window, “burning in

loneliness”. He grudgingly concedes that he still thinks of her softly

sometimes, but is adamant that their affair is done with.

In Act Two, we see John at the very beginning adding some more

seasoning to the stew. He then lies to Elizabeth, telling her “It’s

beautifully seasoned.” This causes Elizabeth to blush “with pleasure”.

Here we get the feeling that something is wrong with their marriage,

as he lied to her, albeit to please her. John and Elizabeth are very

cool towards one another – all they are saying is small talk, to fill