John_and_Elizabeth_Procter's_Relationship

‘Discuss the changes in the relationship between John and Elizabeth Proctor in the course of the play’ In the Crucible John Proctor and Elizabeth’s relationship changes a lot. At the start it is awkward and tender. Their conversations are of nothing interesting and they are clearly avoiding the ‘elephant in the room’, which is John’s affair with Abigail. However, by the end of Act 2, when Elizabeth is accused, John is constantly trying to protect her from being taken by Hale and Cheever and Herrick. They also back each other up constantly, making sure that neither of them falls into the trap of being able to be accused of being a witch because of what they say. As the play progresses, their relationship becomes a very loyal and strong. They will not let bad things be said about the other one and when Elizabeth is called forward and asked whether John has always been loyal to her and has never committed adultery, she tells the court that he has always been loyal in order to protect him and not to blacken his name. I think that the final main change comes at the end of act four, when they have their final time alone with each other. I think that it is a realisation of just how much they truly love each other and also that if the witch hunt hadn’t happened then they would have still been where they were at the start of the trials; avoiding the ‘elephant in the room’ and that their relationship wouldn’t be as strong as it is at the end of the trials. Also I think that this is the time in their relationship where Elizabeth has the most power over John as he is asking her to help him decide what to do. We first see John and Elizabeth together at the start of Act 2. It is very clear from the conversation that they are having that they are avoiding a particular subject, which is John’s affair with Abigail. We can tell that they are avoiding the subject because of the other subjects that they are talking about; the weather, the food, the ‘rabbit’ and ‘cider’. They are avoiding the subject because they both feel guilty about the situation. John feels guilty because he is the one who committed the adultery whereas Elizabeth feels guilty because she feels that she wasn’t a good enough wife to John. Because of their guilt, both John and Elizabeth try to please the other one. John offers to ‘buy George Jacob’s Heifer’ and when he compliments her stew she ‘blushes with pleasure’. Although the Heifer and the stew are gifts to appease their guilt they are both ask whether it would ‘please’ the other one. This tells us that they are both unsure of each other and shows us that if they don’t know what pleases the other one then they either don’t know each other very well or they are so guilty about the affair that the both have become unsure of themselves around the other. I believe that it is the latter. Although, however cautious and unsure of each other when they are together, when one of them is in trouble the other will instantly spring to their side. When Cheever, Herrick and Hale come to arrest Elizabeth, John comes to her side and defends her as much as he can by asking questions for proof, ‘On what proof, what proof'’ and by threatening Cheever, ‘Out with you’ ‘Out of my house!’ This shows that he still loves Elizabeth as he is fighting to keep her and not to let them take her. We can also tell this from the way he reacts to her being taken at the end and how he turns on Mary Warren and forces her into trying to save Elizabeth. ‘You’re coming to the court with me, Mary. You will tell in it in the court’. Also when Mary Warren mentions John’s affair he has a ‘deep hatred of himself’. This tells us that he despises what he did with Abby and probably wishes that he could turn the clock back and never let it happen. Not only because he hates himself for being unfaithful to Elizabeth but because of the fact that it has ended up with her being accused and arrested for witchcraft. I think that the reason for this change from the ‘elephant in the room’ too protective of each other is because when John’s affair was uncovered they both became very insure of each other yet they still loved each other. And so they only needed something to happen and one of them would jump to the other’s side to help them out as much as possible. The next main change is where John Proctor has accused Abigail of being a whore and Elizabeth is brought in to be used as proof to whether John has ever had an affair with Abigail. The change I see here is one from just standing up and defending each other to actually becoming loyal to each other. Elizabeth does this by possibly sacrificing her life just to keep John’s name and status intact. ‘My husband – is a goodly man, sir’. The language here shows that she had a pause before she said that he was a goodly man. This may be because she struggles to lie but in this case she had to and so she had to choose her words very carefully. It mat also be because she is having to make a decision to tell the truth or not on the spot and as she doesn’t know what has happened before she has to go for the safer option, one which will guarantee that he will not be in danger of being accused or of having his name ruined. I think that she did this because she believed that she thought that she was going to be hanged and so that if she was going to hang the last thing that she could do to appease her guilt of being a bad wife by trying to save his life and protect him from anything that could ruin his name/reputation.