2. Miller characterizes Parris as self-centered, arrogant, greedy, and egotistical. Parris looks down on his parishioners. When Parris is trying to convince Abigail to tell the truth, he says to her, “Abigail, I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character.” (265-268). This means that he sees the congregation and people as stubborn animals for him to control and less as leading them on a righteous path. He also is more worried about the people ruining his reputation rather than care for Abigail in her dilemma.
3. Thomas Putnam wanted more land. Miller explains about Thomas Putnam: “So it is not surprising to find that so many accusations against people are in the handwriting of Thomas Putnam, or that his name is so often found as a witness corroborating the super-natural testimony,…”. (364-367). This is proof that Putnam not only puts away his enemies, but he gains benefit by adapting there land. Ruth was sent by Mrs. Putnam to contact Mrs. Putnam’s dead baby’s spirits. According to the passage, “And so I thought to send her to your Tituba” and “Last night my Ruth were ever so close to their little spirits; I know it, sir.” (392-393). This shows that Mrs. Putnam had sent Ruth to Tituba to conjure up the spirits of Mrs. Putnam’s seven dead babies. She wanted to find out why they died if Tituba called up the dead.
4. Abigail is able to lie easily to her uncle, but when Hale arrives, he asks very pointed questions and demands answers. Abigail panics because she has no way to get off the hook with these questions. She thinks about the people that anyone would believe would be a witch. Hale asks her, “Did you call the Devil last night?” and Abigail responds by saying, “I never called him! Tituba, Tituba…” (879-880). Abigail is abusive and manipulative towards her uncle. In the beginning of the play, Parris asks her about what was going on in the woods, she said the biggest lie in the entire play. In lines 57-130, Abigail says that there was dancing, but nobody was naked nor was there witchcraft. The truth is that everybody was naked and Abigail drank blood as a charm to kill Elizabeth Proctor so she can have John. That was witchcraft. Abigail is in command of her sisters. It is illustrated permanently as she threatens them by saying, “Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam's dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it; I saw Indians smash my dear parents' heads on the pillow next to mine, and I have seen some reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!” (353-363).
5. Abigail is attracted to John Proctor. She says to John, "I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men: And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I can not! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!" (611-618). This shows that Abigail is in love with John and wants to marry him so she can have everything she wants. She wants to get rid of Elizabeth. Elizabeth knew that Abigail and John are having an affair and that Abigail is in love with him. Abigail tells John about Betty because she wants him to be on her side and believe her and she says that Betty is simply frightened.
6. Proctor and Rebecca that searching for witches will be difficult to handle. Rebecca then proposes, "…send Reverend Hale back as soon as he come. This will set us all to arguin' again in the society, and we thought to have peace this year." (553-556). Proctor set himself from Parris because he criticises Parris of his selfishness and his lack of reference of God after Proctor was criticized for not coming to church and working on the Sabbath day.
7. Abigail wanted to be innocent, so she blames Tituba which, is a black slave and nobody will believe her. It was human nature back then. Lines 890-933 shows how Abigail tries to blame it on Tituba by saying Tituba tried to force her to drink the brew. Tituba then said that it was chicken blood. Abigail is lying, she drank blood as a charm to kill Elizabeth Proctor so she can have John. She committed one of the seven deadly sins, which is lust. Hale believes Abigail because Tituba is one of the first people accused and she is black. Hale puts God into the conversation and to open Tituba up and tell him everything by saying, “Open yourself, Tituba-open yourself and let God’s holy light shine on you.” (974-975). If Tituba is a true christian, she will name the names. Abigail and Betty wanted to blame it on other people, so they can get the blame off them. Abigail blames it on Sarah Good, Bridget Bishop, Goody Osburn, Goody Sibber, Goody Hawkins, and Goody Booth by saying she saw them, “with the Devil.” Also, Betty blamed it on George Jacobs, Goody Howe, Martha Bellows, Alice Barrow, and Goody Bibber by saying she saw them “with the Devil” excuse.
Act 2
Proctor doesn’t go back to Salem and tell the court what he knows because he doesn’t
have any proof that Abigail said what she told him. Elizabeth thought Abigail was a saint and talks about how she has complete control of the court. “She speak of Abigail, and I thought she were the court, and where she walks the crowd will part like the sea of Israel. And folks are brought before them, and if they scream and howl and fall to the floor-the person will be clapped in the jail for bewitchin’ them.” (95-100). Proctor is nervous and afraid. He has no proof to tell the court. Even if he does have proof, the court will not believe him since Abigail has complete control of the court. “I am only wondering how I may prove what she told me, Elizabeth. If that girl’s a saint, now I think it is not easy to prove she is a fraud, and the town gone so silly. She told me in a room alone-I have no proof for it.” (127-131). Elizabeth wants Proctor to tell the truth and to be honest. Lines 102-126 has the dialogue between Proctor and Elizabeth explaining that she wants him to be honest. Elizabeth doesn’t trust him because he had an affair.
2. Proctor is astonished by the court and disagrees with the rulings. When Elizabeth tells Proctor about how Abigail has control of the court and much if its rulings, Proctor says, “Oh, it is a black mischief.” (101). Mary Warren is returns home from Salem after Proctor told her not to go. Proctor threatens her by saying, “I’ll whip you if you dare leave this house again.” (187). Mary has elevated her self-esteem through the witch trials and said that thirty-nine people are hanged after being accused of witchcraft. Proctor tells her not to leave for Salem the next day, she states, “I must tell you, sir, I will be gone everyday now. I am amazed you do not see what weighty work we do.” (291-293) When Proctor threatens her once more, she says, “I’ll not stand whipping any more!” (312). The witch trials have gave Mary a voice and she enjoys being held in high regard by the citizens of Salem.
3. Hale came to Salem confident thinking that seeking out the Devil wouldn’t be difficult. As time passes, he becomes less confident about everything he knows about the accusers. However, he is still in favor of the court’s idea of finding the truth. When hale is at Proctor’s house, Francis Nurse and Giles Cory come in the doorway to tell Hale that Rebecca Nurse is charged with the murder of all seven of Mrs. Putnam’s babies. After hearing this, Hale states, “Nurse, through our hearts break, we cannot flinch; these are new times, sir. There is a misty plot afoot, so subtle we should be criminal to cling to old respects and ancient friendships. I have seen too many frightful proofs in court-the Devil is alive in Salem, and we dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points.” (701-707). Hale tests Proctor and Elizabeth because they haven’t been in church. “Twenty-six time in seventeen months, sir.” (487). The reason Proctor wasn’t at church was because Elizabeth was sick for a few months. Proctor also says that he doesn’t need a church to pray and worship God.
4. Cheever heard about Abigail, and how Abigail charged Elizabeth about using a poppet to cause her to have a needle in her stomach. “The girl, the Williams girl, Abigail Williams, sir. She sat to dinner in Reverend Parris’s house tonight, and without a word nor warnin’ she falls to the floor. Like a struck beast, he says, and screamed a scream that a bull would weep to hear. And he goes to save her, and, stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle out. And demandin’ of her how she come to be so stabbed, she testify it were your wife’s familiar spirit pushed in it.” (799-808).
5. Mary tells everyone that the poppet is hers and was sewed in court the same day. She says, “I-I believe I did, sir.” (840) after she was asked if she stabbed the needle in the poppet. Then she says, “Ask Abby, Abby sat beside me when I made it.” (849). If this lie is true then Abby would’ve saw Mary stab the needle in the poppet. The real truth is that Abby stabbed the needle in her stomach and blamed Elizabeth. This means that Abby was plotting Elizabeth’s murder, but Elizabeth already saw it coming when she said to John earlier in the act, “She wants me dead, John, you know it.” (357).
6. John feels guilty for his wife being arrested in the first place. He blames himself because if he didn’t have the affair with Abigail, none of this would’ve happened. He now realizes how far Abigail will go, and Elizabeth was right when she said Abby wants her dead. He also has a sense of justice to clear his wife of all charges. “I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem-vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! This warrant’s vengeance! I’ll not give my wife to vengeance!” (879-884). It turns out that Mary has been with Abigail the whole time. She was in the forest and knows why the girls call people out and knows how fake the accusations of witchcraft are. Proctor wants Mary to testify against Abigail for everything she knows in court. However, Mary is afraid of the Abigail and the girls so she refuses by saying, “ I cannot, they’ll turn on me…I cannot do it, I cannot.” (986-987/993-994). Mary means that if she testifies and says that the girls are fake, the girls will unite, condemn her as a witch, and have her executed.
Act 3
1. Giles Corey made a statement about Putnam putting his daughter Ruth up to accused George Jacobs of witchcraft just so Putnam can have his land. Danforth asks Corey about how he heard this, and Corey said that he heard it from someone and isn’t going to name the name. Corey is expelled from the court and arrested because he wouldn’t name his source of information concerning Putnam's accusation against George Jacobs. Danforth wouldn’t hear his evidence because to testify, you have to be called up by the court.
2. Proctor needed to tell her the truth and free his wife. Danforth didn’t know about this before and he doesn’t believe everybody lied. Danforth is suspicious of Mary and Proctor because he thinks Proctor is threatening Mary and he tells her “God damns all liars.” (1071). Proctor reminds Mary of the angel Raphael by saying “Do that which is good, and not harm will come to thee.” (1079-1080), but he is interrupted in the middle of the statement. This means that Proctor wants Mary to believe that by telling the truth, she is doing that right thing, which is ironic, since the signers of the deposition have already come to harm.
3. Parris started to accuse Proctor of mischief and having plans of overthrowing the court. Parris felt vindicated after Cheever stated that Proctor ripped the warrant as evidence to his disobedience to the court. Mary became overwhelmed by the girls and turned against John. Danforth then asked Proctor if he had an relationship with the devil, and his response was “God is dead.” (1148-1149). Parris then relied on the statement to damn Proctor as a warlock. Corey makes his claims and files his deposition against Putnam because Putnam accuses people of witchcraft so he can gain their land. Danforth then demands Corey to name names. He understands that a small mention of his wife caused her to be imprisoned. There was a shift from Corey demands justice to him being silent.
4. Danforth states that the purpose of the court is uphold the law, as stated in the Bible. Since the Puritans live in a theocracy, where religious laws are enforced by the court. If you break a moral or religious law, you will be punished in court, jail, and any societal means. Danforth clearly states that, in case of witchery, “the witch and the victim”. Since the witch herself isn’t gonna testify herself, they testify what happened to the victim. Danforth states, “they do testify, the children certainly do testify.” (539-540). The only person that would really see witchcraft is the victim. This isn’t a trustworthy system. The court has its own agenda and is seperate from the truth.
5. Proctor wanted to get rid of the court’s faith in Abigail by mentioning to one, get the court’s attention, and two since it is such a terrible sin, anybody would be punished for including Abigail and Proctor. Proctor’s confession of lechery came after Abigail said to Danforth, “Let you beware, Mr. Danforth. Think you to be so mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits? Beware of it.” (796-798). She told Danforth to be very careful to not distrust her word. Proctor was very cautious about what he was going to say about her, since she intimidated him. Proctor believed that the court will believe him since he is a respected citizen and thought that the court would be interested in how the witchcraft situation started. The court doesn’t believe him however. The court brings in Elizabeth and asked about the lechery that Proctor mentioned, but she lied so she can protect his good name.
6. Elizabeth doesn’t tell the truth about Proctor and Abigail’s affair and proves that John is lying. Proctor admits that he has committed adultery with Abigail to discredit her. Also Proctor says that Abigail has a motive to condemn people as witches to get what she wants. He says, “She thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore's vengeance and you must see it.” (863-868). Elizabeth’s testimony is unfair because Proctor was telling the truth the whole time, but the court never believed him.
7. Proctor asked Mary to testify the court if the girls are lying, but Abigail, fearing Danforth, proclaims that there are evil spirits in the courtroom. Hale finally sees that the girls are lying. He notices that “it is a natural lie to tell” (965) after Elizabeth lies to save John and neither Elizabeth nor John were witches. What should’ve happened was that the accused would be released and the girls should have been taken into custody and stand of trial for the deaths of many. Unfortunately, when Hale pleads that all jailed should be released, Danforth says "I cannot pardon these when twelve are already hanged for the same crime. It is not just.” This is very ironic because Danforth can’t release the ones that the minister finds innocent since he hung twelve others.
Act 4
1. Tituba and Sarah Good believe that the devil will come and fly them to Barbados. Sarah Good’s description of the event was said to Marshal Hettrick, "Oh, it be a grand transformation, Marshal!" (20-22). Marshal thinks Sarah is deranged after she says this. The “credible” people say that devils and witches are very similar to Tituba and Sarah Good. However the people believe because the people are not outcasts nor liminal figures as Tituba and Sarah Good are. Miller foreshadows the tone of paranoia in act four.
2. Parris relies on Proctor to confess to witchcraft, and he is no longer a confident man hiding behind the court’s authority. Parris doubts the court and feels that the court is no longer a safe authority over Salem. He fears the most that he will die if the citizens will rebel against the court like Andover. Abigail and Mercy skipping town didn’t do anything to affect the decision of the court because Danforth believes if he postpones the executions, it will show “floundering” on his part. He says that since he hung twelve other people that were accused of witchcraft, and it is impossible to pardon Proctor and others. Danforth in his stubborn nature says, “I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolution of the statutes.” (262-264). Danforth constantly relies on the witnesses and becomes a victim of his own logic.
3. Hale came back to fix what he caused. He tries to get Rebecca Nurse (because Hale worries about her the most) so she can receive salvation. Hale tells Danforth that he needs more time, but Danforth refused and he says that all the executions go as planned by saying, “Now hear me, and beguile yourselves no more. I will not receive a single plea for pardon or postponement. Them that will not confess will hang. Twelve are already executed; the names of these seven are given out, and the village expects to see them die this morning. Postponement now speaks a floundering on my part; reprieve or pardon must cast a doubt upon the guilt of them that died till now. While I speak God's law, I will not crack its voice with whimpering. If retaliation is your fear, know this-I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolution of the statues. Now draw yourselves up like men and help me, as you are bound by Heaven to do. Have you spoken with them all, Mr. Hale?” (252-267). Hale has boasted his ability to fix the situation by trying to get the accused to lie so they can live. He also tries to postpone the executions, but Hale was unlucky.
4. Danforth allows Elizabeth to speak to Proctor because Danforth hopes she can get Proctor to confess to witchcraft. Danforth tells her, "Be there no wifely tenderness within you? He will die with the sunrise. Your husband. Do you understand it? What say you? Will you contend with him?" (369-372). If they can get one person to confess, it would seem to validate that all the others convicted would die. Elizabeth is now willing to accept some of the responsibility of the affair. She says, "I have sins of my own to count. It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery." (507-508). She no longer blames Proctor alone for the problems, she blames herself too. She doesn’t take Hale’s advice because she feels that she can’t instruct or judge Hale. She says, "Do what you will. But let none be your judge. There be no higher judge under Heaven than Proctor is!" (523-525). She still thinks Proctor is a good man even through his self-doubt. Also she wants him to make the right decision about what to himself. In the end, she was right.
5. Giles’s wrongdoing put his innocent wife on trial by claiming that his wife was reading strange books. According to Elizabeth Proctor (446-553), Danforth and the court tortured Giles and put him on a stone table and stacked stones on him everytime he wouldn’t confess or name names. Everytime he was asked, he only said his two and final words, “More weight.” He knows that by him kept silent, the court can not confiscate his land, and therefore his sons will inherit the land. Giles outsmarted Putnam. Giles wasn’t hanged because he was convicted of anything.
6. Proctor confesses because he wanted to save his own life and provide for his family, and he doesn’t feel righteous to die as a martyr. Proctor tells Elizabeth, "I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man." (481-484). Danforth then questions about naming names about who was involved, but Proctor doesn’t name names because he knows they are innocent. He doesn’t want Rebecca Nurse’s and Martha Corey’s blood on his hands and is overwhelmed. He tells Danforth, "I have three children – how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?" (703-705). He doesn’t want to falsely accuse his friends.
7. Proctor was struggling with self doubt throughout the play. When Elizabeth discovered the affair in act two, Proctor was very defensive of her and she says to him, "The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you." (177-178). She means that Proctor is the one to forgive himself. In act four Proctor thought about confessing to witchcraft to save his own life by saying, "I am no saint. Let Rebecca go like a saint; for me it is fraud!" (548-549). However after John confesses and tears up the confession, he says, “You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs.” (746-749). Proctor finally finds the goodness in himself again. Proctor discovers that he can die with his integrity still intaked. Elizabeth understood this and she told Hale, "He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him." (782-783). Proctor regained his goodness with his loyalty to his friends and his death.