Post by mslewis on Jan 29, 2013 9:38:18 GMT
Quote of the day...
"I do not judge you. It is the magistrate that sits in your heart that judges you."
Elizabeth Act 2
Elizabeth's words here make clear to the audience the guilt that John still feels over his affair with Abigail. He wrestles with the inner conflict between his public reputation as a man of integrity and his private knowledge that he has sinned and been dishonest. Elizabeth knows that John needs to redeem himself in his own eyes as a man of integrity; her forgiveness alone is not enough. In the rest of the play, John is on a quest to expose the lies of the witchcraft trials and in doing so, prove that he is truly a man of integrity. He will not "swear to anything before [he'll] hang", unlike so many of the townspeople. He stands by the truth.
"I do not judge you. It is the magistrate that sits in your heart that judges you."
Elizabeth Act 2
Elizabeth's words here make clear to the audience the guilt that John still feels over his affair with Abigail. He wrestles with the inner conflict between his public reputation as a man of integrity and his private knowledge that he has sinned and been dishonest. Elizabeth knows that John needs to redeem himself in his own eyes as a man of integrity; her forgiveness alone is not enough. In the rest of the play, John is on a quest to expose the lies of the witchcraft trials and in doing so, prove that he is truly a man of integrity. He will not "swear to anything before [he'll] hang", unlike so many of the townspeople. He stands by the truth.