Reverend Parris, despite being a priest, is not a very well respected man in Salem. His character is driven by his selfishness and insecurities. This can be seen in the beginnings of Act One where he is found praying and crying over his daughter, Betty, as shown in Miller’s stage directions Parris ‘is overcome with sobs’. Although this can be depicted as him showing his worry for his daughter, it is later evident that he is simply worried about the reputation he will hold of having a daugther who could potentially be associated with activities of witchcraft. This is reiterated through Parris’ repetition of what his enemies will think of his family, he confronts Abigail and interrogates her in the hopes of finding out the truth as he ‘must know it now’ or his ‘enemies will, and they will ruin [him] with it’. Furthermore, he is led to believe that Abigail is lying about the incident in the forest having nothing to do with supernatural elements as he says that her name ‘is entirely white, is it not?’ in a way that is provoking her anger. This evokes images related to religious impurity as purity is often associated with the adjective ‘white’.
The people of Salem viewed dancing as a sign of corruption, ‘both dancing and nakedness were themselves seen as signs of corruption’ referring to what Betty, Abigail and Tituba are accused of. Tituba, being a slave, has evidently never been treated very well by Parris. Although she has great loyalty for Parris ‘she is also very frightened’ because Miller states that ‘trouble in this house eventually lands on her back. Moreover, the way Tituba is treated is due to both her status and her race as she is merely disregarded when showing her concern about Betty as Parris exclaims ‘Out of here!’ Moreover, the fear shown in the girls reflects the repression in the Salem society, this lack of individual freedom leads to the hysteria.
Miller describes Thomas Putnam as one who ‘regarded himself as the intellectual superior of most of the people around him.’ This character trait of his seemed to be one of the reasons why he felt the need to accuse several people of witchery. The other reason being that his wife had had seven babies ‘wither in [her] arms the very night of their birth’ and believed them to have been murdered due to the work of witchcraft. Putnam’s desperation for justice is shown as he tells Parris that people are ‘thirsting for [his] word’ of prayer against the Devil. This reflects the fact that the people of Salem require religious sustenance, and believe that religion will solve their problems.
Abigail’s speech to John Proctor highlights the corruption in their society as she ‘never knew what pretence Salem was;’ she feels like an outsider. She attempts to manipulate Proctor into feeling sorry for her as can be seen in her desperate cries to him: ‘John, pity me, pity me!’ Her frenzied state here emphasizes her loneliness in Salem which is also because of her loss of her parents at a young age as she ‘saw Indians smash [her] dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to [hers]’, she describes this with strikingly vivid imagery.
