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Set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, at the height of the hysteria of the witch scare, a group of young girls, led by Abigail Williams convince the town folk, and most notably, the visiting judge, Deputy Governor Danforth, that they have been possessed by demons and that everyone in town is suspect of inviting the devil in to do his will. The girls plot and scheme through a show trial following the lead of Abigail until her revenge is metered out to all those who hoped to expose her manipulative ways and lies. Abigail flees town and the hangman’s rope claims its innocent victims.
Plot Overview
I
n the
Puritan New England town
of
Salem, Massachusetts, a group of girls goes dancing
in the forest with a black slave named Tituba. While
dancing, they are caught by the local minister,
Reverend Parris. One of the girls, Parris’s daughter
Betty, falls into a coma-like state. A crowd gathers
in the Parris home while rumors of witchcraft fill
the town. Having sent for Reverend Hale, an expert
on witchcraft, Parris questions Abigail Williams,
the girls’ ringleader, about the events that took
place in the forest. Abigail, who is Parris’s niece
and ward, admits to doing nothing beyond “dancing.”
While Parris tries to calm the
crowd that has gathered in his home, Abigail talks
to some of the other girls, telling them not to
admit to anything. John Proctor, a local farmer,
then enters and talks to Abigail alone. Unbeknownst
to anyone else in the town, while working in
Proctor’s home the previous year she engaged in an
affair with him, which led to her being fired by his
wife, Elizabeth. Abigail still desires Proctor, but
he fends her off and tells her to end her
foolishness with the girls.
Betty wakes up and begins
screaming. Much of the crowd rushes upstairs and
gathers in her bedroom, arguing over whether she is
bewitched. A separate argument between Proctor,
Parris, the argumentative Giles Corey, and the
wealthy Thomas Putnam soon ensues. This dispute
centers on money and land deeds, and it suggests
that deep fault lines run through the Salem
community. As the men argue, Reverend Hale arrives
and examines Betty, while Proctor departs. Hale
quizzes Abigail about the girls’ activities in the
forest, grows suspicious of her behavior, and
demands to speak to Tituba. After Parris and Hale
interrogate her for a brief time, Tituba confesses
to communing with the devil, and she hysterically
accuses various townsfolk of consorting with the
devil. Suddenly, Abigail joins her, confessing to
having seen the devil conspiring and cavorting with
other townspeople. Betty joins them in naming
witches, and the crowd is thrown into an uproar.
A week later, alone in their
farmhouse outside of town, John and Elizabeth
Proctor discuss the ongoing trials and the
escalating number of townsfolk who have been accused
of being witches. Elizabeth urges her husband to
denounce Abigail as a fraud; he refuses, and she
becomes jealous, accusing him of still harboring
feelings for her. Mary Warren, their servant and one
of Abigail’s circle, returns from Salem with news
that Elizabeth has been accused of witchcraft but
the court did not pursue the accusation. Mary is
sent up to bed, and John and Elizabeth continue
their argument, only to be interrupted by a visit
from Reverend Hale. While they discuss matters,
Giles Corey and Francis Nurse come to the Proctor
home with news that their wives have been arrested.
Officers of the court suddenly arrive and arrest
Elizabeth. After they have taken her, Proctor
browbeats Mary, insisting that she must go to Salem
and expose Abigail and the other girls as frauds.
The next day, Proctor brings
Mary to court and tells Judge Danforth that she will
testify that the girls are lying. Danforth is
suspicious of Proctor’s motives and tells Proctor,
truthfully, that Elizabeth is pregnant and will be
spared for a time. Proctor persists in his charge,
convincing Danforth to allow Mary to testify. Mary
tells the court that the girls are lying. When the
girls are brought in, they turn the tables by
accusing Mary of bewitching them. Furious, Proctor
confesses his affair with Abigail and accuses her of
being motivated by jealousy of his wife. To test
Proctor’s claim, Danforth summons Elizabeth and asks
her if Proctor has been unfaithful to her. Despite
her natural honesty, she lies to protect Proctor’s
honor, and Danforth denounces Proctor as a liar.
Meanwhile, Abigail and the girls again pretend that
Mary is bewitching them, and Mary breaks down and
accuses Proctor of being a witch. Proctor rages
against her and against the court. He is arrested,
and Hale quits the proceedings.
The summer passes and autumn
arrives. The witch trials have caused unrest in
neighboring towns, and Danforth grows nervous.
Abigail has run away, taking all of Parris’s money
with her. Hale, who has lost faith in the court,
begs the accused witches to confess falsely in order
to save their lives, but they refuse. Danforth,
however, has an idea: he asks Elizabeth to talk John
into confessing, and she agrees. Conflicted, but
desiring to live, John agrees to confess, and the
officers of the court rejoice. But he refuses to
incriminate anyone else, and when the court insists
that the confession must be made public, Proctor
grows angry, tears it up, and retracts his admission
of guilt. Despite Hale’s desperate pleas, Proctor
goes to the gallows with the others, and the witch
trials reach their awful conclusion.
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