In this sparsely furnished room, a man is kneeling beside the bed, praying over a small child. The impression all is not well is given away by the fact that the child is very still, as if in a deep sleep, even though it is evident that it is daytime. Even before any dialog has begun the audience is already apprehensive, as they are able to sense the tension in the air.
As Tituba enter, she does not say anything that the audience has not already deducted from the scene that they have already seen. She clarifies the child, Betty, is seriously ill. Abigail enters the scene; she is entrancingly beautiful, the audience recognises that her beauty could be used to her advantage, to manipulate.
Within the first few minutes of the dialog, unnatural causes for Betty’s illness are mentioned. The audience is automatically compelled and prepares for a bewitching play. As this is going on, Parris, Betty’s father, becomes very secretive about the causes of betty’s illness, and the audience associated Parris with a man who is very conscious of his reputation, and what other people think, and have to say about him, and also one of the leading roles. Abigail reveals there have been rumours of witchcraft, the audience becomes more and more enthralled and fascinated by what is going on.
From the beginning it is apparent to the audience that Abigail is lying to her uncle, and at times it is even blatant. She delivers excuse after excuse, as if it had been practised, to convince Parris of their ‘innocent dancing’. The audience is able to conclude that Abigail is a very skilled fabricator, and that this will undoubtedly lead to trouble.
Mrs Putnam eventually enters, and tells that her daughter is also ill. She says her daughter flew, Abigail denies it. Mrs Putnam reveals that seven of her babies have died at birth and Ruth, her ill daughter, is the only one surviving. She says that Tituba, Parris’ slave can speak to the dead and she had asked her to speak to her dead babies and out who murdered her babies, saying ‘but who else may surely tell us who murdered my babies?’. The audience is astonished at this, and wonders whether this is a grieving mother trying to justify her children’s deaths, or whether she is actually right. Mr Thomas Putnam adds his thoughts to the discussion saying ‘there is a murdering witch among us’. Tension grows. The audience is now becoming more and intrigued about what is going on. The audience at this point is unsure of what Tituba has to do with the goings on in the forest, and if she is indeed a witch. Parris is astonishes at the Putnam’s accusation towards Tituba. The girls; Abigail and Mercy, the Putnam’s servant who has entered during the scene convince Parris to go downstairs to address the crowd who have formed wanting to know what is going on. The audience is suspicious of the reason for wanting Parris to leave the rooms
As soon as he leaves Mary and Abigail begin to discuss what happened in the forest and get their stories straight. Betty eventually rises and tells of how Abigail drank a charm of blood to kill Goody proctor. Abigail leaps into dialog saying: ‘Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you’, the threat is serious and the audience now know Abigail’s full potential. She goes on to say: ‘I saw Indians smashing my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine, I have seen some reddish work done at night.’ Abigail is an orphan, and probably bears mental scars from seeing her parents’ dead. The audiences have previously heard of how Abigail was discharged from working at Goody Proctor’s service. The audience wonders what has gone between Goody Proctor and Abigail, this prepares the audience for the future story lines.
John Proctor enters and the tale of his affair with Abigail unfolds. This is a change in themes in the play, from witchcraft and unnatural goings on to jealousy, deceit and hatred. This opens another plot line within the story, and prepares the audience for a wider variety of issues.