The Crucible

Act I opens on the attic of Reverend Parris, who presides over the Puritan colony of Salem, Massachusetts. In Salem’s theocratic society, religion serves as law, and the Reverend holds great power over the community.

Ten-year-old Betty Parris lies motionless in bed, and a distraught Parris interrogates his niece, Abigail Williams, about her activities the previous night. Abigail is a beautiful young woman with a violent spirit, orphaned when Native Americans killed her parents in King Phillip’s War.

Parris tells Abigail that the night before, he saw her in the woods with his Barbadian slave, Tituba, dancing and attempting to conjure spirits. He claims he saw a dress in the grass and someone naked running away. Parris warns Abigail that if the villagers believe she was conjuring spirits—and practicing witchcraft—the congregation will rise up against him. Rumors of witchcraft are already spreading through the village, and Parris knows that he must respond quickly before he loses all control.

Abigail denies her uncle’s accusations, claiming that she was simply dancing to Tituba’s Barbadian songs. Parris does not believe her, and he questions her reputation prior to joining his household. He recalls that Abigail’s former mistress, Elizabeth Proctor, fired her and turned her away. Moreover, no other household in the village will accept her as a servant. He also observes that Abigail doesn’t regularly attend church services. Abigail again denounces her uncle’s suspicions, claiming that the villagers refused to hire her because they prefer to have slaves working for them.

Thomas Putnam and his wife, Ann, enter the scene. Putnam harbors a grudge against Parris because his brother-in-law vied for the position Parris holds. Ann believes that her daughter, Ruth, is bewitched. She claims that Ruth is walking about as though possessed by evil spirits, and that she does not respond to her. She also claims that she saw Betty flying over a neighbor’s barn. This is not the first time, however, that Ann has concerned herself with witchcraft. After seven of her babies died upon birth, she sent Ruth to Tituba, believing Tituba would conjure her dead children’s spirits.

Parris worries that accusations of witchcraft will send the village into a frenzy. Putnam urges Parris to deflect suspicion from himself by preceding their accusations, announcing that he has “discovered” witches within the community. Parris agrees to preach to the anxious residents of Salem, though he will not mention witchcraft until he consults with Reverend Hale (a man who is known for “discovering” a witch in his own village of Beverly, and is widely accepted as an “expert” on witchcraft).

The Putnam’s servant, Mercy Lewis, enters the room, joined by Mary Warren, the servant of a local farmer, John Proctor. Once Parris and the Putnams leave, Abigail instructs Mercy and Mary to claim that they merely “danced” in the woods. As Mary worries that the town will accuse them of witchcraft, Betty rises from bed and begins to cry out for her dead mother. Betty claims she will fly to her mother, and the other girls must restrain her. Betty also cries out that Abigail was attempting to conjure spirits to murder John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth (because Abigail is in love with John). Abigail threatens violence against all of them if they confess her murderous and adulterous intentions.

John enters the scene. He harshly orders Mary to return to work, and she departs with Mercy. Once alone with John, Abigail alludes to their extramarital affair, explaining that she loves John because he taught her to see the hypocrisy of Salem’s villagers. Abigail denounces Elizabeth Proctor, who dismissed her after discovering the affair. John tells Abigail that their affair is over, and he must be loyal to his wife.

A crowd of villagers gathers around the room, singing psalms. Betty suddenly becomes hysterical, and Ann Putnam claims she is reacting to the Lord’s name (and that this is proof of witchcraft). A highly-respected elderly woman named Rebecca Nurse, her husband (an influential land-owner named Francis Nurse), and Giles Corey, an elderly farmer, join the Putnams. Rebecca says that she believes Betty is only acting. Furthermore, Rebecca worries that accusations of witchcraft could stir tensions between competing factions of the village.

Proctor speaks out against Parris’s decision to summon Reverend Hale, and Putnam retorts that Proctor has no right to speak about community politics because he does not attend church. Proctor claims that he does not ascribe to Parris’s narrow-minded obsession with “fire and brimstone.” Proctor and Putnam then bicker about who rightfully owns the land where Proctor obtains his wood.

Reverend Hale arrives with many books. He explains that these books are catalogues of the many forms demons and witches assume. Parris tells Hale that he saw Abigail, Mercy, Mary, Betty, and Tituba attempting to conjure spirits in the woods. Ann tells Hale about her seven children who died upon birth. Giles Corey also tells Hale that he has seen his wife reading from “strange books” that mysteriously prevent him from praying. As Hale consults his own library of books, Rebecca leaves, claiming she is “too old” for this kind of hysteria.

When Hale questions Abigail about her activities in the woods, she attempts to claim they were only dancing. Suspicions rise, however, when Parris mentions the presence of a nearby kettle. Abigail tells Hale it was soup; Hale pursues this line of questioning, asking if any living creature was in the kettle. When Abigail claims a frog “jumped in,” Hale suspects evidence of witchcraft. Panicking, Abigail claims that Tituba made her drink from the kettle, and that Tituba conjured the devil.

Hale and Parris then turn on Tituba. Frightened for her safety, Tituba claims that the devil ordered her to kill Parris (playing into his paranoia about others rising against him). They order her to tell them if she saw anyone from the village with the devil. Tituba claims that she saw the devil with two local outcasts, Sarah Good and Goody Osburn. Ann tells the men that she believes Tituba because Goody Osburn was her midwife. Abigail and Betty join in this frantic tide of accusations, naming numerous other villagers whom they “saw with the devil.”