In Scene II, Miller shows us the private life of John and Elizabeth Proctor. As they share a meal around their table, the conversation turns to what is occurring in Salem with the accusations of witchcraft growing each day. John makes an off hand comment that there is no witchcraft afoot it is all just innocent fun that the girls were having in the woods. Elizabeth wants to know how he knows this, he says that Abigail told him.
She insists that he go to the court and tell the authorities immediately so that the whole witchcraft court process will stop. He refuses, she persists, he says he can't go and tell the court because he was alone with Abigail when she said it and that no one else heard her say it.
Instantly, Elizabeth is suspicious of her husband. She believes that he has resumed his affair with Abigail Williams. He becomes very angry with his wife, accusing her of being unable to forgive him. He accuses her of being unwilling to believe him, now, when he is telling the truth. She feels a growing distance between then, which is obvious and provides a nice contrast to their emotional reunion towards the end of the play.
The affair that John Proctor has with Abigail has caused Elizabeth to become insecure, she has a very low self-esteem and easily falls back into believing that her husband is cheating on her again.
That is why it is so sad that Proctor must hang at the end, because he and Elizabeth have found each other again, they are united. And in this new union, they agree that it is better for John to sacrifice his life than to be used by the court and admit to witchcraft.
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