As the conversation goes on it becomes noticeable that the conversation is extremely polite.
‘Are you well today?’
‘I am’
This seems very unusual considering that they are a married couple. This indicates that there is a lot to be said but the Proctors either still feel uncomfortable or just do not want to talk about their situation perhaps suggesting that they feel if they do not talk about their problems they will just go away. Also judging by the above example the conversation appears strained; Proctor initiates it and Elizabeth abruptly ends it. Their conversation here reflects their relationship. Proctor is trying hard to make it work and Elizabeth is making it extremely difficult for him to find redemption maybe because she feels that he needs to work harder at redeeming himself or maybe she just doesn’t know what to say.
Later on in this scene after Elizabeth has been accused of witchcraft she encourages John to go to Salem and uncover Abigail as a liar. John falters and Elizabeth picks up on this.
‘If it were not Abigail that you must go to hurt, would you falter now?’
Here Elizabeth may actually have a point suggesting that John may still have feelings for Abigail. Elizabeth feels that he needs to make a choice between her and Abigail. If he does not expose Abigail as a liar then Elizabeth views this as john still loving Abigail resulting in him choosing Abigail over herself however there may also be another explanation, John may be afraid of Abigail, of what she could do to him, more so of what she could tell others about him. He has committed lechery with Abigail and during this time period this was a serious crime and often resulted in hanging.
Once Hale and the other townspeople enter their home to accuse and arrest Elizabeth for the alleged witchcraft John is quickly on Elizabeth’s defence. He speaks for her reflecting the time the play was set in, in the sense that men were seen as superior to women and spoke for them. It may also imply that John does not trust Elizabeth to keep his lechery a secret or perhaps he is just trying to protect her.
‘She believe in the Gospel every word’
The fact that John is quick to jump to Elizabeth’s defence shows that he does not want her to be thought badly of and still sees her as innocent even though she is making it hard for him to redeem himself, he probably feels guilty for what he has done and perhaps blames himself for the accusations against Elizabeth due to the fact that it is Abigail making the accusations, probably a direct result of his lechery.
When it comes to Elizabeth being taken away she is determined not to show John that she is afraid.
‘(With great fear) I will fear nothing’
This implies that she wants to appear as a strong woman to John, she fears that he compares her to Abigail and yet it is also possible. And very likely, that she compares herself to Abigail and therefore is constantly on the defensive, when in reality she doesn’t need to be. In this scene the stage reflects the time it was set in, as the living room is low and rather long, yet this also has an impact on the audience as it makes the atmosphere oppressive and fits the scene extremely well.
Elizabeth is then taken away. Later on John appears in court to try and clear Elizabeth’s name. In order to do this he must first blacken Abigail’s name. He does this by admitting to his lechery.
‘I have known her, sir’
This shows that he is finally willing to put his wife before his own good name and his fear. Proctor has gone to great lengths to keep his lechery a secret and yet he has forgotten all that for his wife. This suggests that he is now willing to do anything to save her even risk jail or at worst death.
When Elizabeth lies about John’s lechery it is very ironic as Elizabeth is a godly honest woman and yet she lies to ‘save’ her husband.
‘Is your husband a lecher!’
‘(Faintly) no sir’
Here she could actually be destroying him as his lechery will blacken Abigail’s name and could also save Elizabeth. As she has denied his lechery it also makes him out to be a liar and therefore it may make people question how truthful he has been about other events.
Weeks later the two are in jail. On the morning that John is to be hung Elizabeth is asked to speak to John and persuade him to confess despite the fact that he is innocent.
Their appearance is significant as Proctor’s clothes are in rags, probably due to torture, suggesting that his emotions are in shreds. Also the style of this period-the corset is loose on Elizabeth. This is a symbol her of her pregnancy and is significant as this is the start of a new life and new beginning for herself and her baby.
The lighting in this scene is very different from act 2 as the sun is now rising. This is significant as it symbolises a new start for Elizabeth but also an end for John. It also shows that John has found goodness. Unfortunately he has done this through the fact that he is going to die.
Their relationship now is at peace. They are happy with each other and the barrier that Elizabeth has built up has gone. She is speaking her feelings at last.
‘I never knew how I should say my love’
John’s crisis of conscience is very like Arthur miller’s experience of McCarthyism. John feels forced to confess to something that he did not do as did Miller the difference between the two being that Miller did not confess where as John did although he could not follow his confession through.
By the end the Proctor’s relationship is the opposite of what it was in the beginning.
‘John kisses her passionately’
They seem to have finally been able to put the affair behind them.
They are at ease with one another and although it does not actually say she kisses him back it is very different from the kiss in act 2:
‘Kisses her, she receives it’
The significance in the title is that a crucible is a container made of a substance that can resist great heat however a crucible is also defined as a severe test. Within the context of the play the term takes on a new meaning not only is the crucible a test, but a test that brings about a change or reveals an individual’s true character. The witch trials serve as a metaphorical crucible, the characters facades are burned away and their true intentions are revealed. In other words, the audience observes the character as he or she is tested, and the audience ultimately determines if he or she passes the test. It links in particularly with John Proctor as he passed his test and he came out of the ordeal pure, as do metals etc which are burned in a crucible.
