English essay- The Crucible - Tension

When the Crucible was set in 1692, many actions that people did and the words they said lead to conflict between them which builds throughout the scene to a dramatic point which then leads to tension during the play between the characters and then leads to tension in the audience. The main characters that illustrate tension are John Proctor and Elizabeth Proctor (husband and wife) as they are both in an awkward position as John’s actions in the past had affected Elizabeth and still did in this moment of the play. Tension between these two confirms that their relationship is nothing but awkward, contrived and distant. In addition they add more tension to the play as the situation there in with Hale and Cheever is a very uptight condition and serious.

Starting of act two is Proctor and Elizabeth who both introduce tension straight away. Firstly Elizabeth starts to question John as he has come back “ so late”. This builds tension as the audience might think something differently from John due to his past and so might Elizabeth as she still does not have faith in John and has doubts in what he does as she still thinks he loves Abigail. After this question the conversation is continued to be extremely discomfited between them as their conversation leads to talking about “ rabbits” and their “dinner”. This proves tension as being married isn’t meant to lead to awkwardness as their should always be something to talk about therefore, this shows that their conversation isn’t free flowing and on the other hand is more measured and stilled. The fact that their talking about rabbit, which is his dinner, shows that the conversation is made up on the spot and that anything they see they’ll try make up a conversation, as they have nothing else to say to each other. This implies that there not truly in love as conflict between John and Elizabeth due to Abigail is leading to tension getting in the way of there marriage, however instead it should be less tension and conflict