Elizabeth never actually appears in act one instead she is somewhat mentioned by Abigail. However, the minute Elizabeth’s name is mentioned, this is like a catalyst, bringing John to his senses and begins to show us the battle that is taking place within John. Had Abby not mentioned Elizabeth the tension may have been released in a way that fitted with Abby’s flirtatious intentions. ‘ The tension that is built up is shortly released from Proctor, when he ends up shaking Abigail. ‘ John’s battle with desire is also shown earlier on, in the words ‘burning in your loneliness. Abigail does well to put John under pressure until she mentions Elizabeth, at which point John recoils and ‘angered-at himself’ he says, ‘you’ll speak nothin’ of Elizabeth.

‘ The two sides to John Proctor are clearly shown. ‘ It’s clearly evident that Abby’s words have some truth as she manages to put so much pressure on him that he eventually admits he ‘thinks of softly from time to time. The reader and audience can see this clearly as the words to do with pressure are repeated.įor instance, ‘I have a sense for heat, John’ and ‘burning in your loneliness. ‘ Miller skilfully creates an atmosphere in which we see Proctor having pressure piled onto him by Abigail. A good illustration of this is ‘his smile widening’ and ‘ah you’re wicked yet aren’t y’. As well as this, Proctor’s dialogue and stage directions are suggestive. This is shown through the dialogue, for example the repeated use of the words ‘wicked’ and ‘mischief’ which work to show this aspect of John’s character to the audience. However, when it is just Proctor and Abigail alone we see the side of him that is drawn into flirtation with Abby. ‘ Until then Miller, had shown the audience mostly that Proctor was an upright and respected member of society. The audience learns this when Abby says,’John I am a waitin’ for you every night.

We soon find out that Proctor’s sin is lechery, as he had a sexual relationship with his former servant Abigail Williams. ‘ This shows the sexual charisma of Proctor. ,’ ‘wide-eyed’ and ‘absorbing his presence. ‘ The rest of the girls react in a similar way as her stage directions show her nervousness for example, ‘with a nervous laugh…

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