The stage directions show how John and Elizabeth act when they are around each other, for example "a sense of their separation arises". Here we can see that even though they are married they seem very alone, the cause of this is due to their different personalities. "She doesn't want friction, and yet she must". Elizabeth dislikes the way John treats her. She also is upset with him as in previous scenes we see that he has had an affair with Abigail. Miller uses the affair and the fact that John is keeping secrets about the background to accusations, to build a sense of conflict between Elizabeth and John.
The language used is from the period the play is set in, the 1600's. The dialogue in this scene, begins quite softly but becomes harsh, as Elizabeth and John argue at the climax of the scene. When Elizabeth and John converse they begin politely as if they are trying to be nice, but both characters seem tense when they are talking. John addresses his wife as “Elizabeth” when being affectionate, but this changes to “woman” as the tension rises. Elizabeth appears to be suspicious of John, we see this when John tells Elizabeth that he was alone with Abigail. This builds up most of the tension in the scene. Miller has done this to show how upset the character is. We can see this in the way Miller makes the character speak. ”You where alone with her?”
The action in this scene is minimal, Miller does this so the audience focuses on what Elizabeth and John are saying, rather than what they are doing. The movements they make are also there to show a change in the characters emotion, for instance when John stands to kiss Elizabeth; "he gets up goes to her and kisses her". From this we can see he is trying to say sorry to her, but she merely received it, showing that she doesn’t forgive him. Miller does this to show that John has realised the mistake he has made with Abigail. Elizabeth wants John to be pleased with her “She sits and watches him taste it”. From this we can see that although there are problems, Elizabeth is trying to continue as normal.
Miller’s use of characters allows him to inform us of the purpose of his storyline. Elizabeth is portrayed as a caring mother figure, as she is heard by John singing her children to sleep. By displaying a cold front to John when he attempts to kiss her, we can see that she is cold. ”Oh, Elizabeth, your justice would freeze beer!” Here we see how cold and unforgiving she is. Women of this period where normally considered inferior and meek. Elizabeth is portrayed as a strong character which is unusual for this time. Miller makes her this way in order to create tension between John and Elizabeth.
John is shown as a deceiver, as he is in the dominant of the two and keeps secrets from Elizabeth. We see proof of this when he adds more salt to the food that she had prepared earlier, without her knowledge, and later compliments her, “it’s well seasoned”. This is an empty complement. He further expresses his dominance by ordering her around “Woman. I’ll not have your suspicion anymore”. Men of this period where at a higher position in society they where seen to be strong and forceful, this is why John tries to press his dominance on her. Miller draws attention to this side of his character in order to heighten the sense of conflict between them.
In The Crucible Miller wanted to create a sense of tension and conflict. He successfully used the beginning of act 2 to achieve this by clever use of lighting, sparse scenery, characterisation and dialogue.
