The Crucible

How has Elizabeth changed toward her husband?

Act 4

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Elizabeth Proctor serves as the moral conscience in this act of The Crucible, and she has warmed to her husband throughout the trials. It is she who puts forth the most prominent arguments for Proctor accepting his own death, despite her stated wish that she wants her husband to remain alive. This could be interpreted as another manifestation of Elizabeth's cold nature, for she remains seemingly more concerned about abstract moral principles than her husband's life; Danforth even questions whether Elizabeth has any tenderness for her husband at all. Elizabeth is not to be played as a cold character, however. She refuses to influence her husband's decision despite her own wishes – he has earned her respect as a free moral agent, and she loves him all the more for his ability to make the right decision on his own.

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http://www.gradesaver.com/the-crucible/study-guide/summary-act-four

Elizabeth is seemingly more gentle and trusting towards her husband. She exchanged the same emotional response Proctor gave her when they met each other again in jail, which is perhaps delight but sorrow and/or a mix of other emotions: "The emotion flowing between them prevents anyone from speaking for an instant" (pg 133). She also shows to be more closer and honest with Proctor now, as she makes no hesitation to tell her husband what's wrong with him this time: "John, it come to naught that I should forgive you, if you’ll not forgive yourself. ... It is not my soul, John, it is yours" (pg. 136). She also expresses her wish for Proctor to live, showing how much she truly cares for Proctor now - if she did not love him much then. Finally, while some may interpret it as part of her cold nature, Elizabeth's wish at the end to allow Proctor to hang is not out of indifference or cold-heartedness, but rather respect for Proctor's wish to die in peace with himself and his name still white for his sons to bear. One will know this once they fully understand these words Elizabeth cry at the end of Act IV: "He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!" (pg. 145). Note that Elizabeth was "supporting herself against collapse, grip[ping] the bars, of the window, and [wailed out her words] with a cry" (pg. 145). She clearly still did not want Proctor to throw away his life like he was doing - yet she let him out of her good will and respect for her wishes. She ended the play beautifully but tragically as a whitehearted to-be widow, to my respects.

Source(s)

The Crucible https://archive.org/stream/TheCrucibleFullText/The%20Crucible%20full%20text_djvu.txt