Act 4 of The Crucible

The play, the crucible is a story of truth, individuality, society and honesty. These are the four things that control the lives of John and Elizabeth Proctor. John and Elizabeth change dramatically from act two to the end of the play. Different opinions and ideas about life it could be said that John and Elizabeth were never meant to be together! Although there personalities had changed had their love for each other?

The crucible is a story of people living in Salem in 1692.

It is a story of narrow minded ness and prejudice. Rather than standing up and speaking out people were under a lot of peer pressure. During this time people were controlled by both paranoia and the power of rumour. Due to that people found it very hard to have their own opinion. John Proctor on the other hand completely acted on his own opinion and didn’t “follow the heard” so to speak. John Proctor is a man of many different beliefs and many more characteristics.

He is a determined man who wishes to wash away his sins.

Proctor is a well thought of man, he is also very feared by some. He is a man of truth. He was ashamed for how he treated his wife. He had committed adultery and was ashamed for it. Despite all of this happening Proctor hated seeing Elizabeth being accused of not being an honest woman. Elizabeth is an honest puritan Christian all of a sudden is in a life full of lying and deceit. This is something that she has never had to deal with. From Act 1 Miller didn’t want the audience to think that there was a relationship between Elizabeth and John. Showing that there is not a connection there he shows the development of the couple’s relationship thru the play.

Act 2 At the start of act 2 John and Elizabeth Proctor are in there house. John has been out in the farm planting seeds with a gun and walks in. Elizabeth has been upstairs singing. The stage directions show distance between the two. On the bottom of page 42 there is a stage direction. It reads: There is a pause. She is watching him from the table as he stands there absorbing the night. It is as though should speak but cannot. Instead, now, she takes up his plate and glass and fork and goes with them to the basin her back is turned to him. He turns to her and watches her. A sense of their separation arises.

This shows that there relationship is “rocky”. They cannot communicate to each other as they normally would. Their behaviour presents the idea that they are not as close as they once had been. They talk as if they had not met each other before. There talking to each other but not the way a normal couple would. They are very cagey towards each other. They are not speaking their true feelings. At the start they are talking about the rabbit that Elizabeth had caught. This would usually be regarded as an odd topic. They discus things that people would not regard as being normal topics of conversation. There are many pauses the conversation does not flow.

Their sentences at the start of the act are very short from both. A few pages on Proctor starts to talk a lot more. He would probably have to say more as he feels guilty for what he did in the past. He feels as if he has to make it up to Elizabeth. Act 4 Their relationship is now one of love and hope, torture and desire. Proctor has been in jail and Elizabeth is being held. Elizabeth is now pregnant. Proctor is worried for the babies and there boys. Before Proctor walks in Parris and Danforth are pleading with Elizabeth to get Proctor to confess. Proctor is showing that he is worried for Elizabeth and this shows that there relationship is getting better.

When the Elizabeth is trying to persuade John to confess they talk more like a couple. They talk about family things like their kids and the baby. John is worried for both. The implications of the stage directions show that Elizabeth is worried for John and what he is to do. Confess or not. From the bottom of page 109 to the middle of page 110 they are both showing a lot of emotion. This is showing that they are caring for each other. Their language is that of many feelings. They are both showing love towards each other and of sacredness. Elizabeth is trying to persuade John to confess but he finds it hard to swallow his pride.

The development of there characteristics have changed from act 2. Elizabeth who would never lie has become a cold and bitter liar. John changes to being a loving person at the end as to not lose Elizabeth. Conclusion A Crucible is a vessel made of material that does not melt easily; used for high temperature chemical reactions. This could relate t the play because many people did not confess this links to a Crucible because it does not melt easily. It links to the Proctors’ because they did not give in to the pressure that was put upon them.

The major themes of the play are those of lying, deceit and peer pressure. These all link into the Proctors’ as they were the themes of their life at the time that this happened. Their changing relationship started when John committed adultery therefore lying and being deceitful. At the end of the play John does not give into the peer pressure of confession. This situation would not happen on the present time as there would be forensic science and fair trials to find out if they were witches.