How Does the Dialogue Between John and Elizabeth Proctor in Pages 41 - :: English Literature

How Does the Dialogue Between John and Elizabeth Proctor in Pages 41 - 46 Reflect the Tensions and Strengths in their Relationship? During the first part of act two, the scene is set in the Proctors house, and a conversation takes place between Elizabeth and John Proctor. He has arrived home late, and the conversation that takes place between husband and wife seems, at first to be polite, maybe a little bit static, as thought they had both first met. We can tell from John words that he is trying to please her, and make up to her for being unfaithful. Elizabeth, his wife can tell that he is trying to please her, but she is still not sure of what John thinks of Abigail, and whether she still has a place in his heart. This topic is never raised between the two of them, but we can see that it is the main thing that they are both thinking. John Proctor, we can tell is very guilty about being unfaithful to his wife. He is very upset by the fact that Elizabeth doesn't trust him, and is doing everything in his power to try and gain her trust and make her happy. He wants his wife to know that he is ashamed of what he has done He doesn't feel like a very good husband and regrets what he has done. Even though John knows that he has hurt his wife, he doesn't feel that what he has done is unforgivable and still can get very angry with her, very easily. Elizabeth Proctor is a very kind, intelligent, but unhappy woman that has been deeply hurt by her husband. Whenever she is around her husband she tries to please him, as if she is inadequate for him, and replies to his questions quickly and pleasantly. She doesn't have the courage to say what she thinks at first, but eventually gets up the courage to tell him to go to Salem and tell the court about Abigail. In many of the questions she asks John, you can sense that she is still suspicious of him. Tensions between Elizabeth and John Proctor are prominent at first in the act. Miller describes in the stage directions that John "is not quite pleased. [With the food that his wife has prepared] He reaches to the cupboard, takes a pinch of salt and drops it into the pot". We can see from this stage direction that he doesn't want to make anything even more awkward between him and his wife, and if she sees what he is doing then she may feel insufficient.