igail. The scene that follows is the most intense confrontation between two people in the play. They no longer have time for fooling around; if John and Elizabeth must settle with each other, it's now or never.The danger is clear to both of them: Abigail means to cry out Elizabeth for a witch. What are they going to do? Proctor says be will go to the court and tell them what Abigail said to him. But Elizabeth is a woman, and she understands Abigail better than John does: Abigail thinks she still has a chance with John, if only Elizabeth can be removed. So John must go to Abigail and call her a whore, kill any hope she might have of ever getting him for herself. He agrees, but it makes him mad. He says, "it speaks deceit, and I am honest!"What does he mean by "deceit"? That he still loves Abigail, and that calling her a whore will be a lie? Or that he thinks this is a cheap trick? He doesn't explain. He goes back to his old complaint about Elizabeth: "I see now your spirit twists around the single error of my life, and I will never tear it free!"But Elizabeth knows what to think:You'll tear it free--when you come to know that I will be your only wife, or no wife at all! She has an arrow in you yet, John Proctor, and you know it well!NOTE: The Puritans' views on sex were not so "puritanical" as we usually imagine. Sexual intercourse between married persons was not only encouraged, it was required by law. If a husband proved impotent, his wife could have the marriage annulled. If the wife refused sex to her husband, this was considered "neglect of duty" and could be used as grounds for divorce. God had commanded his people to be fruitful and multiply, and the Puritans took this commandment seriously.Today we call sexual intercourse "making love," or "sleeping with." To the Puritans, a man and woman who had intercourse were "made one flesh." If you were married, it was your duty to be made one flesh with your spouse. But if you were made on...
