The first act establishes the main characters of the play. As simple as this task may seem, miller does it with some flare and is able to grab our attention as soon as we start to read. Tension is created very early on in the first act as Parris confronts Abigail about the ordeal in the forest the previous night. Abigail becomes resentful at the accusation, but Parris presses her to confess. The original allegation is greeting by the audience with wonder, as they know the children have done wrong. But they do not know weather Abigail will tell. When she announces ‘we did dance’ this creates fear as we know it is strictly prohibited in this puritan society. A large amount of tension is created in the middle of the act when the girls are left alone with Betty. Abigail speaks of a ‘pretense’ they can create, as she plans not to get into trouble. The girls are pent up with tension at this point and the same feeling is created in the reader. Abigail is strong and in charge, she threatens the girls saying she will come ‘in the black of some terrible night’ and ‘bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you’. This vengeful threat creates uneasiness in the reader and the other girls. Her vicious attacks on her cousin Betty also fill the girls with fright. The greatest tension is seen when john proctor enters the scene and is coincidently left alone in the room with Abigail. The audience is instantly shown this by the denial of John Proctor and how desperate Abigail is to rekindle their past. He shows how being in this situation makes him uneasy by denying any knowledge of the affair. He also makes himself see Abigail as a child this eases his guilt, and his refusal. This is shortly followed by the screams of a distraught Betty. When she screams it creates a great amount of tension between the whole of the crowded room. As Putnam speaks of witchery Parris is eager to clam his wailing daughter down. When Giles enters another layer of tension arises. The rivalry between him and Putnam is still clear, and tension between the two is clearly shown. As is between Proctor and Parris who both disliked each other from the start. Proctor believes Parris is only worried about his name and not the good of the village. Soon after Hale arrives, this creates more tension. He has come from Beverly to help solve the problem. Putnam and the others in the room wait eagerly as does the reader to hear what Hale has to say about Betty. When he proclaims Betty is all right the reader and the others seem shocked, as it is clear she was dancing. Then starts the big climax towards the end of the scene. Abigail accuses Tituba of being the one who made contact with the devil. Hale presses and tension builds as Tituba confesses. This make the audience wonder what will happen to her and will it make the girls seem guilty. At the same point Abigail decides she ‘want to open myself’. Shocking the other members of the crowded room and the audience. But Miller doesn’t stop there. The climax at the end holds great tension as the girls scream out whom they saw with the devil. This shocks the audience and wants to make them read on more to find out what happens.
This is one of the most attention grabbing acts in the book, as it introduces the characters and the witch-hunt begins. The first scene including Parris and Abigail will take place in a minimalist wooden furnished room. The bed placed in the middle with Parris and Abigail on either side. Parris would be enraged with anger at this point, eagerly trying to squeeze the truth from Abigail. She will act resentful of these allegations using a higher snappy tone of voice. Miller builds its up bye coincidently the girls end up left in the room with the paralyzed Betty. Once again Abigail will be parted from everyone else, the girls scared to go with her. They act nervous using passive body language. And hysterical about what trouble they have got into. Then Abigail threatens them all. At this point she will speak with power and vigor to the audience. Delivering her lines ‘I will come to you in the black of some terrible night’ and ‘bring a point reckoning that will shudder you!’ the girls faces will become even more shocked and terrified. They are weaker people than Abigail. Next Miller shows how the effects of the affair with Abigail show tension between lots of the characters. They are both on one side close to the front of the stage. Abigail moving across as john is being kind, but she takes it the wrong way. As if he is trying to rekindle the past, like she is. In desperation holding his hand making him return. We can also sense desperation in her voice, showing the audience how much she loves or think she loves john proctor. Throughout this scene John is very blunt with Abigail. He will not even sympathize with her love for him. It will be shown by how stern his voice will be and the expression of anger on his face. Then as Betty leans up and screams, Abigail and John both turn round shocked at the scream. Whilst Parris and the rest filter in, Parris in desperation to see what is wrong with his child. Here the crowded room will become filled with private conversations of witchery. Tension here between the characters here will be shown by the stern, blunt voices they use to address each other. As many rivalries exist between the members of this room. The last bit of tension created is done by the arrival of Hale. When he arrives lots of anxiety lingers in the room as he assesses Betty’s condition. This will be shown by how everyone will stand still, trying to make as lesser noise as possible. Then when proclaiming she doesn’t have the devil contained within her the break out of conversation will show the relief they feel. From this part onwards Miller creates all the tension building it up to a climax, onstage this will be shown by how the characters react to each other. It mainly starts when Abigail delivers the line ‘Tituba! Tituba!’ in fear, that she may be found to have dealt with the devil. Hale beckons Tituba and breaks her down to confess, Tituba weeping and sobbing at the process of cleansing. Then when Abigail cleanses herself she breaks out sobbing to, dropping to her knees in a dramatic fashion. Then the girls start screaming and wailing people’s names, Betty rising suddenly to shout a name. They will shout them loudly and the shocked facial expressions and body language of the other members of the room will show tension. The lights will suddenly be cut out when the last word is shouted, before the actors move offstage.
