We see John making a determined effort to please Elizabeth -- he kisses her perfunctorily, he praises her cooking -- all this being done in a desperate effort to compensate for his guilty feelings. Elizabeth's coldness, however, augments his failure. Once her love has been betrayed, she lives in a continuous suspicion and doubts John's reasons as to why he would not testify against his former lover, Abigail, when Elizabeth urges him to. She is proud, slow to forgive and very accusatory: "I cannot speak but I am doubted," John defends himself, "every moment judged for lies, as though I come into a court when I come into this house!" (The Crucible, 54) Nevertheless, in spite of her self-righteous and her seemingly intolerant posture, Elizabeth loves John. She proves her endless love for him in Act Three when she lies to the committee of the court, against her principles, denying...
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