Reverend Parris also starts questioning Tituba asking her whether she saw a man or woman and weather they where from Salem. Parris may be doing this because he wants to shift blame onto others in the village because of his pure pious image. Tituba is flummoxed and doesn’t know how to answer them although her life depends on answers.
Hale tries to befriend Tituba by taking her hand Hale tells Tituba “you must have no fear to tell us who they are… You know that, do you not?” Tituba Is relived at Hales kindness “aye, sir, oh, I do. Hale now tries to make Tituba feel special “you are Gods instrument…face God- face God Tituba, and God will protect you Tituba now starts to join with him “ oh, God, protect Tituba!” Hale no starts questioning Tituba again. Tituba “pants, and begins rocking back and forth again, staring ahead”. She does this as though she is in a trance like state. By now the tension in the scene is quite high because everyone is centred on Tituba and they are trying to prise answers from her and until now she has relented to give much away. But she knows by answering their questions with false answers she will gain their respect and more importantly the privilege to live.
After Hale has won her over he starts asking questions again “who came to you with the Devil? Two, Three, Four? How many? Tituba feeds of his questions, and answers to him, “there was four”. Parris desperate to know whom also starts to question her quite pressingly. Then Tituba suddenly bursting out “oh, how many times he bid me kill you. Mr Parris” Tituba now realises she is the one in control and she completely changes her tone and her tact. Tituba “in a fury” tells Mr Parris that the Devil has offered her better things than he has gave her, but she has refused. She says that the Devil told her “look! I have white people belong to me”. Tituba feeding off Putnam earlier reveals that goody Good was the Devil. This toys with the emotions of the people of Salem because they have a real desire to purge the town of the devil.
By now nearly the whole room is caught up in the drama because Tituba has told them that Goody Osburn came with the Devil also. Mrs Putnam exclaims, “I knew it! Goody Osburn were midwife to me three times. I begged you, Thomas, did I not? I begged him not to call Osburn because I feared her. My babies always shrivelled in her hands!” by now we feel that everyone in the room is involved even the very self obsessed Mrs Putnam who is only concerned with her babies. Hale who is the calmer one of the group plays on Tituba’s feelings for Betty. Hale tells Tituba “the Devil is out and preying on her like a beast upon the flesh on the pure lamb. God will bless you for your help.” This provokes Tituba’s maternal instincts. We feel the tension has built in the room with Tituba in a spell like state and starling interventions from others.
Abigail feels as though she is being left out of all the attention that is being given to Tituba. So Abigail, “staring as though inspired and cries out” “I want to open myself… I want the light of God; I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss his hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” This rhythmic chanting adds dramatic intensity to the scene. The short stunted sentences Abigail uses also add to the tension of the scene. Abigail spent the first act worrying desperately about the possibility of being disgraced for having cast charms with her friends in the forest. Tituba’s confession, however offers a way out, and Abigail takes it. She “confesses” to consorting with the devil, which according to the theology of Salem means that she is redeemed and free from guilt. Than, as the next step in absolving herself of sin she accuses others of being witches, thus shifting the burden of shame from her shoulders to those she names.
As Abigail is speaking “Betty is rising from the bed a fever in her eyes and picks up the chant”. “I saw George Jacobs with the devil! I saw goody Howe with the devil!” reverend Parris is exceptionally jubilant at the fact that Betty has started speaking, as Hale is also “glory of God! It is broken, they are free!” Betty then “calling out hysterically and with great relief” “ I saw Martha Bellows with the Devil” the tension is rising very fast now they both are reeling names off the top of their heads. Betty is now relieved because she has found a way to come out of her false trance without being questioned about it. Abigail pipes up and says, “ I saw goody Sibber with the devil!” the chanting in the room is rising to a great glee. The tension in the room is growing even higher.
The climax comes when Putnam says, “the Marshall ill call the Marshall”. While this is going on “Parris is shouting a prayer of thanksgiving” and Abigail and Betty are still shouting accusations “I saw Goody Hawking with the Devil” “I saw goody Bibber with the Devil!” “I saw Goody Booth with the Devil!” the girls chanting and Parris praying all adds to the climax of the end of the scene on which the curtain falls to end the first act.
The tension as we can see grows from peoples language, actions and interventions making the scene all the more spectacular for the audience to watch.
(1262 words)
