The Crucible Act 2 Analysis

Abigail falls further into delirium when she speaks to John in Act Two Scene Two, where she confesses that she believes she is doing God’s work. She tells John, “God gave me strength to call them liars, and God made men to listen to me, and by God I will scrub the world clean for the love of Him!” (Miller 137). The reader and John being to see the depth of Abigail’s sickness at this point. Schissel explains, “Miller wants us to believe, as Proctor does "seeing her madness" when she reveals her self-inflicted injuries, that Abigail is insane: … While Miller may have intended her madness to be a metaphor for her inherent evil … he must have realized he ran the risk of making her more sympathetic than he intended.” (Schissel 6). Schissel’s point

John explodes and shouts at her, “No more! I should have roared you down when first you told me your suspicion. But I wilted, and, like a Christian, I confessed. Confessed! Some dream I had must have mistaken you for God that day. But you’re not, you’re not, and let you remember it! Let you look sometimes for the goodness in me, and judge me not.” (Miller 70). Here again John shows hypocrisy. He berates his wife for keeping such a cold and judgeful disposition, as if he is free of qualms. In fact, John was flirting with Abigail in the first act. John reprimands Elizabeth for playing God, when he does the same to the community. What makes John’s vicious and uncalled for assertion even more distasteful, is the fact that he says he should have “roared” Elizabeth down when she first accused him. Again, John seems to forget that he is the transgressor. His harsh behavior and tone towards Elizabeth almost makes it seem as if he is putting the blame on her, as if she was not suppose to confront him about adultery and just metaphorically be a doormat. He expects women to do as he says and mold to the ideas he wants so his life can be easier. Miller writes this dialogue with John to show how his guilt is causing him to be defensive. Schissel explains, “John 's sense of guilt is intended by Miller to act as salve to any emotional injuries given his wife and his own conscience. When his