John and Elizabeth in the Crucible
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play which portrays an important relationship between John and Elizabeth Proctor. The play is set in Salem in 1692 and surrounds the ongoing witchcraft trials. It begins when Abigail Williams and the other girls are caught dancing and conjuring spirits in the forest by Reverend Parris. The play also surrounds the lengths Abigail will go to win back John Proctor after their affair but John wants nothing more to do with the girl. This essay will explore Abigail’s urge to rekindle the affair with John, the tension this has put between John and his wife, Elizabeth’s arrest and John’s urge to free Elizabeth.
In Act One we are introduced to John Proctor – a local farmer and well respected member of the community. We find out that John had an affair with Abigail Williams, an orphan and unmarried girl. The fact that she is unmarried and an orphan puts her at a low rung on the Salem social ladder and she may have had the affair because she felt unloved and an outcast. The affair is revealed when Abigail says to John “Oh John, give me a word. A soft word.” This shows she is being flirtatious in order to rekindle the affair but John’s response is “I will cut off my hand before I ever reach for you again”. This shows he deeply regrets the affair and is willing to hurt himself rather than touch Abigail again. We can see from this act that John cannot bear the fact that he committed such a terrible sin against his wife who he loves and cares for.
In Act Two, we learn about the tension that the affair has put between John and Elizabeth. They sit down to dinner and are civilised to each other but perhaps too civilised for a married couple. John goes to kiss Elizabeth but the stage direction simply says that she “receives it”, as in she does not kiss him back which shows that she is still holding a grudge against him for the sin he has committed. Reverend Hale arrives at their household to tell them that Abigail has mentioned Elizabeth’s name in court for practicing witchcraft. After this news, Cheever and Herrick arrive to arrest Elizabeth. John’s hatred towards Abigail becomes even stronger now as he is furious that his wife has been arrested even though she has done nothing wrong because she is a good, moral woman who has never committed a sin her in her life. He knows he will do everything to free his wife.
During Act Three in the court scene, John confesses