The Crucible: Act II

In reading Act II of The Crucible, I began to finally see the true consequences of denying allegations of witchcraft versus confessing. The connection drawn to McCarthyism throughout the 50’s is very present throughout Act II. This witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts has the town desperate to save their own lives at the exchange of condemning others. This entirely parallels McCarthyism because those who were given subpoenas knew that if they did not confess and name other involved parties, they would be blacklisted and would be thought of as American traitors. In The Crucible, Goody Osburn refused to confess and will be hanged, but on the other hand, Sarah Good confessed and will only sit in jail for some time.

Something I specifically noticed that intrigued me while reading Act II was Mary Warren’s “marvelous secret insight” that Goody Osburn tried to kill her (Miller 55). Mary Warren’s claim was that when Osburn came to beg for food, she mumbled as she turned around. The “hard proof” was that Goody Osburn stated that she was only saying her commandments, but when asked to recite the commandments, she could not. I was shocked that the court considered mumbling as evidence that Goody Osburn had a death wish for Mary Warren.

Another aspect from Act II that I found to be interesting was the newfound feeling of power Mary Warren evidently felt after arriving home from accusing Goody Osburn of attempting to kill her. When John Proctor insists that Mary Warren will not be allowed to go to court again, Mary Warren responds in a defiant way claiming that “it’s God’s work [they] do” and that “[she will] be gone every day for some time” (Miller 56). It is interesting to see Mary Warren’s sense of power because after only one day in court accusing Goody Osburn, she already feels like she has the power to control situations that she most likely felt she could not control before.

Today in class I would like to discuss the new details that have been brought up in Act II regarding Elizabeth and John Proctor’s relationship. This is the first encounter the audience has had with Elizabeth and John together and I feel it is important to discuss the dynamic of the relationship. I think that it is especially important that we discuss John’s feeling of walking into a courthouse that is his own home each day and Elizabeth’s inability to see the good in John for the past seven months. I also want to discuss the importance of John’s hatred of hypocrisy in relation to his inability to remember the last commandment that “thou shalt not commit adultery.” I am curious if he actually forgot it or if he truly could not say it out loud.