As an audience, we see Abigail's first conversation of the play, when she is being questioned by Parris. She seems to be innocent- and she acts it- but Parris is aware that not everything is as it should be in the peaceful town of Salem and he persists, asking her questions, then reaching the subject of Abigail's departure from her services at the Proctors' home and why she was let go. He questions her on this and Abigail begins to show annoyance for the first time of the play. Parris' questioning angers her; 'Abigail (in a temper): "My name is good in the village! I will not have it said my name is soiled." (With ill concealed resentment at him) "Do you begrudge my bed, uncle?" ' This is the issue that firstly creates suspicion amongst the audience, because this is the first thing that Abigail immediately reacts to and she is very angry that the subject has been raised.
Abigail's true colours are really shown to the audience when she is talking to the other girls (Mercy, Mary Warren and Betty) about what happened in the woods. No one else is in the room, but these girls. She is very violent towards them. Betty wakes and says, "You drank blood, Abby! You didn't tell him that!" ('him', being Parris). Then: "You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!" Abigail then 'smashes her across the face' and she shows her true potential violence, by threatening the girls; "Let either of you breathe a word about the other things...I will come to you in the middle of the night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it...I can make you wish you never saw the sun go down." I chose this as a quote because I feel it shows that fear and desire for control and power motivates Abigail's actions and speech. Abigail wants control over these girls and her fear that they will spill the secrets of what she did turns her violent, trying to gain control.
Now the audience are aware of what really happened in the woods and they also know that only these other girls are aware of this, but there are no adults in this part of act one, so only the audience and the girls in this part actually know what happened. Proctor, Hale, the Putnams, Rebecca nurse and the rest of Salem are blind to this.
Shortly after, Proctor interrupts the conversation and John Proctor and Abigail are left alone to engage in conversation. They are friendly and humorous towards each other, but the conversation suddenly changes dramatically and the audience see a softer side to Abigail that they have never seen before. The mood changes when Abigail says to John, “Give me a word, John. A soft word.” Then he replies, ”No, no, Abby. That’s done with.” His reply is short, as if he is closing the subject’ he does not want anything else mentioned about this subject. This is where the audience first know that Proctor and Abigail have an intimate history, though we do not know how intimate, yet. Abigail is angry that he is not responding the way she wants him to; giving her ‘a soft word’ and she says, “I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I come near. Or did I dream that?” Her use of a simile and rhetorical question emphasises how strongly she thinks he felt about her. Here, her speech is motivated by lust.
Miller, on several accounts, creates dramatic tension throughout much of act one; when Abigail is being cross-examined is the most common example of this. When Parris firstly interrogates her, and she is at breaking point when the subject of her departure from the Proctors’ home is raised, Goody Putnam enters the room and this subject is dropped. Before Mrs. Putnam enters, Abigail speaks these last words, in a somewhat ferocious temper; “My name is good in the village! I will not have it said my name is soiled! Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar!” In the stage directions, it says she is ‘in a temper’ and the audience can tell, even though they are not fully aware of what is yet happening, that this subject hits a raw nerve of Abigail’s. The stage directions for Goody Putnam’s entrance describe her as ‘a twisted soul of forty five, a death ridden woman, haunted by dreams.’ These are somewhat dramatic, because the audience have to adjust to going from a lively, angry scene, to silence. The audience sense a morbid and somewhat sinister character, from Ann Putnam’s description and just from the stage directions they already have painted a picture of her in their minds.
Also, when the audience discover the truth about what happened in the woods (when she is liasing with the other girls) and she is getting violent because the truth has been spoken, Proctor enters just as the tension is really starting to accumulate and there is a sudden change in mood. There is definite shock shown, particularly in Mary Warren and Mercy Lewis, especially as Mercy is described to be as a ‘sly, merciless girl of eighteen.’ However, when Proctor enters and humiliates Mary Warren she is said to be ‘afraid of him and strangely titillated’, I think she does not know what to think about him and, because of this, does not show her true colours, saying, “I’d best be off. I have my Ruth to watch. Good morning, Mr. Proctor.” The effect Proctor’s entrance has is not only clear with Mercy Lewis, but with Mary Warren. As an audience, we have not yet seen any other interaction between Mary Warren and John Proctor, but when he enters, she ‘jumps in fright’ and obeys as he orders her to go out, humiliating her. Now the audience see the relationship between both of their characters; Mary Warren being the Proctors’ slave and he being the clear ‘boss’.
Abigail may blind the community with her lies, but the audience know what she is really like when she reveals her true colours and intentions in the middle of act one. This is dramatic irony, and the audience know what Abigail is really like and therefore feel cooled towards her, as she is not a likeable character. The irony is that the audience know the outcome of the hysteria and lies and the other characters do not and still are manipulated by Abigail. The audience know about the affair between Abigail and Proctor and they know how she drank blood to kill Goody Proctor, and Parris and the others are unaware of this.