The play begins in 1692, in Salem , Massachusetts. The scene opens inside the house of Reverend Samuel Parris. His house is dark and sparsely furnished. He kneels beside a bed, and prays. On the bed is his 10 year old daughter, Betty, who appears lifeless.
The audience is given an overview of the background of the play. The town of Salem is about forty years old. The people who settled it fled from Europe to form a new life, where they would be free from religious persecution. The people were a God-fearing group, who believed that if a person sinned, they had to admit that sin in order to be "saved." These people also believed that their religion, Christianity, was the only religion for the people, and straying from this religion was heresy. If a person tried be a loner, they were looked down upon, for that would mean they were leaving the community of belief that was supposed to be held by all members of society. Salem was a theocracy, a type of government formed by combining the institutions of state and church. When certain people began to be individualists, fear set into the community. It was this fear that prompted the Salem Witch Trials, the story that the play begins to tell.
Reverend Parris is kneeling on the floor praying next to Betty's bed. Tituba, Parris' slave, comes in and asks if Betty is going to be OK. Parris hurries her out of the room. Parris' seventeen-year-old niece, Abigail comes in. She says that Susanna Walcott is here with news from the doctor. Susanna enters and says that the doctor can be of no help. Parris tells her that he sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly. Susanna leaves and Abigail has a long talk with her uncle. He tries to make Abigail admit that she and the other girls were performing witchcraft in the woods. Parris says that when he caught them dancing in the woods, he also saw a girl naked. Abigail admits they were dancing with Tituba; she says they were dancing to Tituba's songs from Barbados. He says that he is going to be ruined in the town if word gets out that his daughter and Abigail were conjuring spirits. Parris asks Abigail why she was dismissed from Goody Proctor's service. Abigail says that she hates Goody Proctor and that she did nothing wrong to deserve the dismissal.
Mrs. Ann Putnam and Thomas Putnam enter. They are very disturbed over the situation. They think that Betty's fainting is a sign that hell is near. They tell that their daughter, Ruth, has taken ill, and Ann Putnam believes her illness to be caused by something evil falling on the town. She explains that she sent Ruth to Tituba to conjure spirits. Ann hoped that Ruth would be able to communicate with her seven dead siblings. And now, Ann thinks she is ill because of this whole event. Thomas Putnam tells Parris to admit to the people waiting downstairs in his house that he's seen witchcraft. Parris says he'll be ruined.
The Putnams' eighteen-year-old servant, Mercy Lewis enters. She says that Ruth sneezed, and that this is a good sign for her health. Thomas pleads with Parris to go downstairs and give a comment. Parris refuses. Mrs. Putnam leaves to go home to see Ruth. Parris finally agrees to make a comment. He leaves with Mr. Putnam and makes his way downstairs.
Act 1-Scene 2
Abigail and Mercy talk. Abigail tries to get Betty to move and talk, but Betty remains still and mute. Mary Warren enters and talks with the girls over what they should do. They're worried that they are going to get into trouble with the town. Betty whimpers and Abigail goes over to her. Betty gets hysterical and she says that Abigail drank blood to kill Goody Proctor. Abby tells Betty to shut up and Abby threatens the girls. She says that if they open their mouths and tell about what they did last night, then she will make something awful happen to them: "'I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you . . .. I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!'"
Act 1-Scene 3
John Proctor enters. Mary and Mercy both leave. Abigail tries to make him confess his love for her, but he refuses to have any further involvement in their affair.
Abby cries desperately over her love for John Proctor, but he still refuses her. Betty whines out and Abby hurries over to her.
Act 1-Scene 4
Parris enters because he hears Betty scream. He hopes that she is alive and well. Mrs. Putnam, Thomas, and Mercy all enter. They all watch Parris as he tries to get Betty to talk. Soon, Rebecca Nurse and Giles Corey enter. Parris asks Rebecca to help Betty. She is a woman of seventy-two, and very gentle. Her husband, Francis Nurse is a widely respected man in the community. He is a wealthy landowner and looked upon to settle disputes. Rebecca walks over to Betty and stands over her. Betty quiets down. Everyone in the room wants to know what Rebecca did. They all start to get hysterical and want to know whether or not the Devil is falling on the town. Mrs. Putnam says: "'There are wheels within wheels in this village, and fires within fires!'"
They all start arguing. Proctor gets angry with Parris over the content of his sermons. Proctor thinks they are too riddled with talk of hell: "'I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God any more.'"
Parris gets defensive and makes a comment about how some people are not following their obligations to the church. He continues to defend himself and the church. He says that if people do not obey the church, then they will burn just like Hell burns.
Putnam says that there is a party in the church against authority and Proctor says that he wants to find it and join it. He also says that he does not like the "smell of this authority." Proctor and Putnam get into a minor argument about the wood John is carrying. Giles sides with Proctor and the two of them leave.
Act 1-Scene 5
Reverend John Hale from Beverly arrives carrying half a dozen heavy books. Parris and everyone else are happy to see Mr. Hale. Parris makes a comment about the heavy books, and Reverend Hale says, "'they are weighted with authority.'"
Reverend Hale is introduced to everyone in the room and then he goes over to Betty to examine her. He asks what symptoms she's been having that would imply she is under the Devil's hands. Parris says that Betty was dancing in the woods. Mrs. Putnam explains about her seven dead children and how she sent her daughter Ruth to conjure the spirits of the dead. Rebecca Nurse reprimands her for doing such a thing. Reverend Hale looks in his books and says that if the Devil is among them, Hale will surely find him. Rebecca Nurse exits, and they continue. Giles asks Hale about his wife, Martha and what it means that she reads books. He says that she reads books, and hides them. Also, whenever her book is open, he cannot pray, but whenever it is closed, he can pray again. Hale thinks this is interesting, and then continues with Betty. Hale tries to get Betty to talk and answer his questions. She doesn't answer. Hale finally asks Abigail what they did that night in the forest. She says that they were only dancing. When Hale asks if Parris saw anything in the kettle of the soup, Parris says he did see some movement. Abby admits that a frog jumped in the kettle. They are all aghast. Abby starts to get very nervous and jittery and says that Tituba is the one responsible for all of this. She says Tituba tried to make her drink the broth from the kettle.
Tituba is called in. Hale questions Tituba and she denies having had relations with the Devil. He says that he is going to whip her until she dies if she does not release Betty from the spell Tituba cast on her. Tituba pleads with Hale that she loves God and does not have a compact with the Devil. Hale asks her if she has seen the Devil with anyone, and Putnam asks if Tituba has seen Sarah Good with the Devil. Tituba says she saw four people with the Devil and was even bid by Sarah Good to kill Parris. Hale tells Tituba that she has admitted to witchcraft, and now she will be blessed. Hale asks for more names and soon, Abby and even Betty are calling out the names of all the people they saw with the Devil. The scene closes with the girls yelling out these names.
