Creating Tension in Act 2 of The Crucible by Arthur Miller Essay

Creating Tension in Act 2 of The Crucible by Arthur Miller Arthur Miller's play The Crucible is set in Salem in 1692. At that time there was a lot of tension, as many people were being accused of witchcraft and being against God. In the play Miller shows how the accusations affected everyone in Salem. Miller creates a sense of tension by setting the scene in a "low, dark room." This room is quiet and gloomy as very little light is getting in. Miller does this to create an atmosphere which is unhappy and depressing. The tension is already high as the scene before ended with satanic accusations. The room is bare, which is unwelcoming, and it seems unlived in as nothing is out of place. Miller uses the scenery to bring atmosphere to the stage before the characters enter, he also uses the bareness to get the audience to focus purely on the actors and the dialogue. The stage directions show how John and Elizabeth act when they are around each other, for example "a sense of their separation arises". Here we can see that even though they are married they seem very alone, the cause of this is due to their different personalities. "She doesn't want friction, and yet she must". Elizabeth dislikes the way John treats her. She also is upset with him as in previous scenes we see that he has had an affair with Abigail. Miller uses the affair and the fact that John is keeping secrets about the background to accusations, to build a sense of conflict between Elizabeth and John. The language used is from the period the play is set in, the 1600's. The dialogue in this scene, begins quite softly but becomes harsh, as Elizabeth and John argue at the climax of the scene. When Elizabeth and John converse they begin poli... ... John is shown as a deceiver, as he is in the dominant of the two and keeps secrets from Elizabeth. We see proof of this when he adds more salt to the food that she had prepared earlier, without her knowledge, and later compliments her, "it's well seasoned". This is an empty complement. He further expresses his dominance by ordering her around "Woman. I'll not have your suspicion anymore". Men of this period where at a higher position in society they where seen to be strong and forceful, this is why John tries to press his dominance on her. Miller draws attention to this side of his character in order to heighten the sense of conflict between them. In The Crucible Miller wanted to create a sense of tension and conflict. He successfully used the beginning of act 2 to achieve this by clever use of lighting, sparse scenery, characterisation and dialogue.