In Act IV of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor sits in jail because he has been condemned for practicing witchcraft. He will be hanged unless he confesses to the crime. Consequently, his wife Elizabeth visits him and tries to convince him to confess so the court will spare his life.
John does not confess -- for the charge is false -- but he begs Elizabeth to forgive him for committing adultery with Abigail....
In Act IV of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor sits in jail because he has been condemned for practicing witchcraft. He will be hanged unless he confesses to the crime. Consequently, his wife Elizabeth visits him and tries to convince him to confess so the court will spare his life.
John does not confess -- for the charge is false -- but he begs Elizabeth to forgive him for committing adultery with Abigail. Elizabeth then makes a confession of her own: she was suspicious of John and Abigail, but she did not confront him. Consequently, she holds herself responsible for John being caught up in the witchcraft hysteria in Salem.
Moreover, Elizabeth blames herself -- at least partly -- for John's decision to cheat on her, as shown in this excerpt:
I have sins of my own to count. It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery...I counted myself so plain, so poorly made, no honest love could come to me! Suspicion kissed you when I did; I never knew how I should say my love. It were a cold house I kept.
Elizabeth believed if she had been more openly affectionate toward John, he would not have committed adultery and subsequently been accused of witchcraft.
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