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Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Act 2
Explanation and Analysis—Your Spirit Twists:
In this passage, Miller uses an implied metaphor and foreshadowing to convey the intensity of John Proctor’s resentment for Elizabeth’s reaction to his affair with Abigail. After she brings his indiscretion up, Proctor expresses his frustration with his wife’s inability to forgive him:
PROCTOR: I'll plead no more! I see now your spirit twists around the single error of my life, and I will never tear it free!
The implied metaphor here compares Elizabeth’s spirit to a rope that twists around John’s “single mistake,” suggesting that the guilt she makes him feel has a suffocating grip on him. Miller does not make an explicit comparison in this passage, but the image he provides here implies that Elizabeth’s ill-concealed anger and shame are constricting John. This metaphor shows how her unrelenting resentment creates a sense of entrapment for her husband. Because she’s always moments away from making a reference to his affair, she makes him feel claustrophobic and hysterical. The “twisting of [her] spirit” around his error points to the way her feelings are entangling and overpowering him. Because she can’t help bringing it up, he feels she is preventing him from moving past his mistake.
This line also serves as a moment of foreshadowing. During the later witch trials, the girls involved will accuse Elizabeth (and other women) of “sending their spirits against them” in an effort to make them frightened and compliant.
Related Themes:
