Two major themes emerge in the second act of The Crucible. The first of these is the line between public and private. The chapter itself moves from the intimate conversation between husband and wife to more public matters, but the division between these two spheres becomes obscure. Even in setting, the public discussions of the Proctors' guilt or innocence occurs within the home. More importantly, Reverend Hale and the other court officials use private information for their public matters, such as information about the frequency with which they attend church and their belief in the validity of witches. The second major theme of the act is the ambiguity of evidence. This begins even before Hale arrives at the Proctors' home, when Elizabeth Proctor construes John's late arrival at home as possible evidence that he may be guilty of additional indiscretions. This continues with Reverend Hale's misinterpretation of John's forgetfulness of one of the Ten Commandments and the evidence against Martha Corey, which deems her a witch for reading books. The most significant symbol of this theme in the second act is Mary Warren's poppet. Although Miller makes it clear to the audience that Proctor did not use the poppet as a charm against Abigail Williams, its presence in the house certain attests to this conclusion.
The poppet demonstrates that Abigail Williams is more villainous than earlier indicated. In the first act she behaved solely out of self-interest. She was ready to do harm to others, but only to save herself. However, in this instance she purposely frames Elizabeth Proctor out of revenge, planting the poppet as a means to engineer Elizabeth's murder. This event even serves to break the icy exterior of Elizabeth Proctor, who deems that Abigail must be "ripped out of the world." Act 2 opens on a rather quiet note eight days after the happenings of Act 1 in the main room of the Proctors house, the enclosed atmosphere of the previous scene still continues. We are immediately made aware of the strained relationship between Proctor and Elizabeth. When the curtain opens we can hear Elizabeth singing softly to her children this shows that she is a loving mother, a strong contrast to what Abby had earlier called her ‘a cold and snivelling Woman’. Proctor enters and goes over to the pot simmering on the fireplace, he tastes it and then finding that it is not to his liking he seasons it and then goes to wash his hands at a basin as Elizabeth enters. When Elizabeth serves Proctor the Stew he compliments her on the seasoning of it even though he has done it himself, she wants to please him and is glad that he likes it she tells him that she took care over the seasoning ‘I took great care’, Proctor is also glad that he has been able to compliment Elizabeth on her cooking they each want to please each other but they still have a very strained relationship. Proctor tells Elizabeth that he loves her and she finds it hard to say back, when proctor kisses her she does not return his kiss and Proctor is disappointed (this is part of the hope and disappointment pattern that is running continually throughout the play). ‘A sense of their separation arises’, this stage direction shows the audience that the relationship Proctor had with Abby has put a strain on things and a lack of honesty has arisen between Proctor and Elizabeth. Their relationship and the lack of honesty in it, illustrates the lack of honesty in all of Salem and it’s inhabitants lives. Tension starts to rise in this scene when Elizabeth asks him why he is not going into Salem he replies ‘I thought better of it since’ he is not going because Abby is there and he does not want to talk to her, when Elizabeth tells Proctor that Mary Warren (their servant girl) has gone to Salem today, Proctor starts to get angry with Elizabeth but holds back a full condemnation of her as he does not want to hurt her. Elizabeth tells John that Mary is an official of the court and whenever the accused are brought into the court room ‘if they scream and howl and fall to the floor - the person’s clapped in jail for bewitchin’ them’ Fourteen people have been jailed already. Elizabeth tells John that he must go to Salem and tell them that Abby told him it was all pretence, but John then says to her that he was alone with Abby when she had told him. Immediately Elizabeth loses all the faith she had in him and inquires ‘if it were not Abigail that you must go to hurt, would you falter now?’, in fact John’s indecision to go to Salem is the fact that if he tells people what Abby said to him, he would have to confess to adultery and his reputation, honour and good name would be blackened. Proctor obviously cares a lot about his good name as in Act 4 when Danforth try’s to get him to sign a false confession and inquires why he will not sign it Proctor cry’s ‘ Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!’. Elizabeth now gets suspicious of Proctor being alone with Abby (withholding of information and exposition). There is Conflict between the Proctors and Abby. It is ironic that the whole town thinks that Abby is a saint when in fact she’s the cause of all the witch craft troubles. When Elizabeth tells Proctor that she had forgotten about Abby, Proctor tells her that she forgives nothing and forgets nothing and he has never moved from one place to another without thinking to please her ‘and still an everlasting funeral marches round your heart’ this is an example of the use of imagery that Miller uses throughout the play. Proctor remarks to Elizabeth that it is ‘as though I come into a court when I come into this house!’, later he is pulled before a court about what happened in his house. Proctor then tells her that he wished he never confessed to her about his affair and she should stop judging him her reply to this is ‘I do not judge you. The magistrate that sits in your heart judges you’ John Proctor answers this with yet more imagery ‘Oh, Elizabeth, your justice would freeze beer!’.
Among the characters in the play, it is Reverend Hale who demonstrates the most prominent character development. While the other characters remain fixed in their particular allegiances and beliefs, Hale demonstrates the debilitating effects of the witchcraft trials by the change in his character. When he reappears in the third act he has none of the enthusiasm of before; although he clings to his belief in the absolute certainty of finding proof of witchery within Salem, Hale appears more tentative about the results. He demonstrates a strong feeling of guilt for his actions, as shown by his reliance on what he grasps as indisputable evidence; like Pontius Pilate, to whom Proctor compares Hale, he wants to play only a passive role in the proceedings without any feeling of personal responsibility. Hale's growing disillusionment foreshadows his later repudiation of the court's actions. The evil of the Salem tragedy recreated by Miller lies within the system and the people who promoted the system for their own evil purposes. It is evil human flaws within the flawed Theocratic system that bring about these tragic events. One such “flaw” is human guilt, which prompts the accusations of the girls in the court. The girls were feeling guilty about their unlawful witchery in the forest. Guilt also drives the characters we generally define as good, sometimes to evil consequences. Proctor’s guilt about his shenanigans with Abigail makes him confess to adultery in the court, linking him in their eyes to the Devil. Elizabeth’s guilt about her frigidity to Proctor makes her lie to the court about his adultery, again linking him to the Devil.
Other human “flaws” which are manipulated by people in the court system are vengeance (Abigail and the Putnams); jealousy (Abigail and the Putnams); fear and hysteria (the girls in the court); ambition and power (Abigail and Danforth); and greed and lust (the Putnams and Abigail). Indeed, it seems nearly the entire book is overrun with evil characters and evil intentions.
In a sense, Miller is asking the reader whether evil naturally exists in human nature. His ending reveals that good can triumph over evil, but at a great cost, and that evil is insidious and ongoing and can’t be easily eliminated. Although some ray of sunshine is evident at the end of the play, both figuratively and in the stage directions, there is still a sense of overriding evil.
