The Crucible: Troubles in the Proctor Household

Emotions Run High in keep an eye on Household In the beginning of Act II of Arthur Millers play, The Crucible, the story presents an interaction amongst can buoy Proctor and his wife, Elizabeth. The interaction between the couple emphasizes that their relationship is anything but normal than that of a married couple. The main cause of their awkward relationship stems from prats travel lust. can buoy Proctor has conflicting emotions towards Elizabeth because both of them are trying to avoid the huge concomitant that he committed adultery.The conflicting emotions are present when John Proctor tries to avoid confrontations with his wife, the small talk between them where John eonianly tries to please Elizabeth, and the lack of mutual agreement between them. Through come out the scene, John Proctor tried very expectant in order to avoid altercations with his wife. In a remote society of the 1600s, it would be very common for a cleaning woman to be subservient towards her hus band.In the Proctor household, it is no different since Elizabeth quietly questions her husbands authority because she fear(s) to anger him although she has all the leverage she needs in an wrinkle by simply stating the fact that he cheated on her (Miller 53). However, John displays the complete opposite behavior of what is expected of a staminate in a patriarchal society. Firstly, when John comes home and tastes the soup his wife prepared, he is not quite pleased with it for it was not seas aned well (Miller 49).After adding more salt himself, John notices that Elizabeth is intently watching him taste the soup. Instead of being a typical husband back in the 1600s by criticizing such a small mistake almost how his food is seasoned, he compliments on how good-tasting the soup is while knowing that it was the product of his handy-work. By holding his tongue, he avoids a confrontation between him and his wife over a very small issue of not putting enough salt in the soup.Additionall y, John seems not to be the typical male in his society when he, as gently as he can gestates for some cider (Miller 51). It is clear that this is not what his normal behavior would be because, as Elizabeth is fetching him his cider, she feels a sense of reprimandfor having forgot (Miller 51). Because Elizabeth felt as if she did something to wrong her husband, she expects that John will reserve a huge fuss over the issue. However, John casually brushes off her mistake by just changing the subject to him tending to the fields.His careful behavior towards Elizabeth makes him adopt the tone of a husband that has do something to immensely displease his wife and is trying not to anger her. Clearly, it shows that John has conflicting emotions towards his wife because he wants to act as a typical husband back in the 1600s, but he remembers the heinous crime he committed and tries to avoid confrontation and the possibility of the two of them talking approximately his mistake. John Proc tors entire conversation with Elizabeth is mostly saying things to please her in an attempt to make-up for his affair.For example, while eating his meal he makes constant remarks about their farm being extremely big and the reason for coming home so late was because he was busy planting far out to the forest edge (Miller 49). In this obvious attempt to please Elizabeth, John hints at the fact that he has worked very hard on their farm. By hinting at this, he hopes to show Elizabeth that he is working for the greater good of the family and that he is not spending time with Abigail.Furthermore, John wants to make sure that Elizabeth sees all his hard work when he suggests that on Sunday (theyll) walk the farm to together (Miller 51). The above passage clearly shows how much John is trying to please Elizabeth because he openly said that they would go explore the farm on Sunday which is supposed to be dedicated to a day of prayer where no one is supposed to do any work and if an individ ual skips church service, they would get in trouble.Secondly, John tries to please Elizabeth with material wealth when he breaks the awkward conquer between them by explicitly saying that if the crop is good Ill buy George Jacobs heifer. How would that please you? (Miller 50). By asking Elizabeth her opinion on what she thinks about his decision to buy a heifer shows an atypical relationship between a husband and wife back in the 1600s since the male usually does not ask for their wifes opinion on their decisions and that John is to a fault trying hard to please his wife.The typical male attitude toward women voicing their opinions on things is also present in Johns demeanor when he explodes at the slight thought that Elizabeth has lost all faith in him due to the fact that he faltered slightly at the thought of hurting Abigails reputation (Miller 54). The constant battle in Johns demeanor to act as the man of the house as well as the caring husband act he is struggling to put up in order to make up for his mistake is an example of the conflicting emotions he is experiencing while dealing with his wife.