The beginning of scene five and the entrance of Mary Warren, who is John Procter’s’ servant is described as ‘a subservient, native, lonely girl’. Her character is crucial to the play because she is easily influenced by others and is easy prey to the demands of Abigail and Mercy. Mary wants to tell the truth about dancing in the forest ‘we’ve got to tell’, resulting in an outburst from Abigail and Mercy about being a traitor. The audience witness the weakness within her, by her lack of courage in not defying Abigail and Mercy ‘What a grand peeping courage you have!’ and how quickly she wants to give in ‘only be whipped for dancin’. Mercy sarcastically tells her that she has a ‘grand peeping courage’ is important, when John Proctor attempts to use her as a witness against the other girls. When Betty wakes, it is a significant point in this scene because it was thought to be that the ‘devil’ had possessed her. The introduction to the character of Betty reveals to the audience the extent of Abigail’s wicked and violent character. Betty is traumatised after the ruthless integration from Abigail and wakes up. This demonstrates to the audience that Betty was not really possessed and is an example of dramatic irony. When she is coherent she makes some allegations about Abigail’s sinister role in the previous evening’s events: ‘you drank blood, Abby! ...You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor’. These are important, which reminds the audience of Abigail’s earlier hatred of Mrs Proctor. She has now reached a point where she is forced by events to threaten the other girls into silence, something she does with relative ease. All the girls recognise that they are guilty, and Abigail makes sure she refers to them as ‘we’ so that they are united in their deeds. She has no qualms about frightening them by mentioning her own brutal past, ‘I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads’ and hinting that she is capable of such evil deeds herself. Miller has written the background of Abigail so that the audience can now realise why she is disturbed. The structure implicates the increase in tension as each dialogue is short; it is further increased as the mentioning of witchcraft is told. This intensifies the dramatic climax at the end of Act 1. The theme that is present in this scene is malevolent; this is shown by the slyness of Mercy’s character against Mary and the raise of power which is exposed by Abigail near the end of the scene.
In scene six there is a huge contrast change in Abigail’s mood, which leads to the powerful climax at the end of Act 1. As soon as John Procter enters, her mood changes from being aggressive to more clam and seduced towards him ‘stood on tiptoe, absorbing his presence’. The past relationship between Abigail and John Procter is revealed, but now he rejects her advances. John had committed adultery which was a major sin back in the seventeen century and was considered a devilish thing to do. However the audience experience, how their relationship was suggested in various ways: Abigail looks at him wide-eyed; she refers to his strength ‘such a strong man’; she laughs nervously and she ‘Winningly comes a little closer, with a confidential, wicked air’. There is a clearly an unspoken bond between them. John is curious about the mischief that Reverend Parris might be brewing. Abigail, however, is implying that he wanted to see her ‘you came five miles to see a flying girl? I know you better’. This suggests how disturbed Abigail is, because always thinking about herself and not other people. She said that she was waiting for him every night, hoping that he will have sympathy for her, but, when Proctor moves ‘her firmly out of his path’ she becomes angry. Stage direction reveals how angry she is by saying ‘she can’t believe it’. She thinks that Proctor is only ‘sportin’’ with her, and so far, Abigail has been seen as potentially violent and therefore dangerous. Her coarse references to Proctor’s passionate approaches ‘I have a sense for heat’, ‘clutches my back’ and ‘sweating like a stallion’ confirms the animal attraction she finds in him. She is earthy, very sexual and does not shy away from tempting John by referring to past passionate encounters. Abigail cannot resist talking about Goody Proctor as ‘sickly’, ‘cold’ and ‘snivelling’. This makes Procter furious ‘You’ll speak nothing of Elizabeth!’ and this first sign of anger is manifested by his physical shaking of Abigail. Also she switches immediately, when she is called a ‘Child’ because she had sex with John, making her feel like a woman and having the same power of a woman, which was not much compared to men. Unlike today, women and men have an equal opportunity to do what they like and do not have to carry out specific roles like cleaning. However this scene was not in the original performance, but was added by Miller to give the play more human warmth and emotion something that it had been criticised for lacking. Also this scene had been structured with a lot of stage direction so that the reader can experience the human emotion and gives insight into the characters true personalities. This brings it up to a powerful climax.
Scene ten is the last scene of Act1, in which the girls start their accusations, leading up to the powerful curtain. Tituba first started off the allegations against others in scene nine, so she can get herself out of trouble. When Abigail says ‘I want to open myself’ at the beginning of the scene she is afraid that she will be named by Tituba. Another reason could be that Abigail understands the mood of the room and sees the chance for her to escape. Abigail accuses Bridget Bishop to prove that she, too, has information for the interrogators. Betty’s sudden interruption has an electrifying effect on the company; Reverend Hale and the others see it as proof that the children were
indeed bewitched and that the spell is now broken. This can be related back to the 1950’s when HUAC (the House of UnAmerican Activities Committee) accused people
of communists and the only way out was to name other people. They key to Abigail’s outburst is seen in the stage direction ‘greet glee’. She enjoys this moment. Suddenly, she is no longer subject to interrogation or under threat of a whipping, but commands everyone’s attention and it is they who are under her influence or spell. The hysteria welling up within the girls is a foretaste of the dramatic end to Act3, particularly with Miller’s use of repetition, each sentence ending with an exclamation and the word ‘Devil’. The Act ends in a dramatic fashion contrasting with the beginning which was quieter and slower and at the end it accelerates to halt were it reaches a climax leading up to the all powerful curtain.
The words have qualities that are natural to the time in which Miller ‘set’ his play although not applicable to the present day. The characters appear to have respect and dignity due to the langue used a derivation of English. Their titles, ‘Goody’ suggest to us a ‘distance’ in relationships which we are not familiar to us today. Other ways of speaking 'I am thirty-three time in court in my life', are used by judge and peasants alike. All this demonstrates another way of life-in other era. The use of metaphors ‘sweating like a stallion’, the readers would expect from people whose daily readings was the Bible. With this knowledge, the language used, ‘I have made a bell of my honour’ does not sound out of context for the time. It is the language which heightens tension and importance throughout and experiences the important themes in the play which Miller is trying to express throughout.
This Act can be divided into scenes which create tension and bring it up to the all powerful curtain. The Crucible itself means a heatproof container in which substances may be melted or subjected to very high temperatures, which can cause any impurities to rise to the surface. Metaphorically it means a place of severe test or trails. Although the metaphorical use is the one which Miller intends, he shows us two and contrasting ‘heatproof containers’: the kettle a sort of witches’ cauldron. Images of heat and cold run through the text, ranging from John’s lust for Abigail (heat) to Elizabeth’s role as a wife (cold). The act is filled with intense conflict and much tension. The act has unity of place as it all happened in Parris’s home. The background and characters are revealed through the whole prose commentary, dialogue, and actions. Also I think that Miller uses the Salem Witch Hunt as his way of commenting on McCarthyism in the 1950’s, his own time and tells us how it was like for him during the time of McCarthyism. He has brought up a powerful climax at the end of Act1, through the parallel links between the two eras and through the dramatic tension which is build up between scenes all leads up to the powerful curtain.
