ACT ONE
In the 1600's, people ascribed supernatural causes to things they could not understand, including the possibility of witchcraft. Reverend Parris, educated at Harvard, refuses to believe that witchcraft is involved, but has sent for Reverend Hale, an authority on witches, nonetheless.
Parris then reveals that he saw Abigail and others, including Tituba, dancing in the woods. Abigail denies that they were "conjuring", and claims that they were just engaging in "sport". Parris doesn't accept her explanation at face value, and makes reference to her being discharged from the service of John and Elizabeth Proctor, a respected farm family in the community. This is our introduction to the conflict that exists between Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail.
Ann and Thomas Putnam then enter. They reveal that their daughter, Ruth, is also suffering from the same symptoms as Betty, and then Ann Putnam confesses that she had sent for Tituba to conjure up the spirits of her other seven children, all of whom died in infancy. She is convinced that witchcraft was the cause of their deaths and is now the cause of the sufferings of Ruth and Betty. Horrified by this revelation, Parris extracts more information from Abigail, and learns that Tituba and Ruth were "conjuring" the night he discovered the girls dancing in the woods.
Parris and the Putnams exit to address a concerned crowd which has gathered outside, leaving the Abigail and Susanna, as well as two newcomers, Mercy Lewis (the Putnams' servant) and Mary Warren (the Proctor's servant). The girls are worried that they may be hung, for witchcraft at this time was a "hanging offense". While they are discussing their plight, Betty awakes and accuses Abigail of drinking a charmed potion to "kill John Proctor's wife". Abigail slaps Betty and threatens to kill any of the girls who reveal what they were doing in the woods that night.
The entrance of John Proctor interrupts the girls. The others leave him and Abigail alone and it is revealed through their conversation that the reason for her dismissal by Elizabeth Proctor was an adulterous relationship between John and Abigail. Abigail insists that John still desires her, but he strongly denies this. Suddenly Betty, who had lapsed into unconsciousness after Abigail struck her, awakens screaming. Parris and the Putnams, accompanied now by Rebecca Nurse and Giles Corey, rush in, followed shortly afterwards by Reverend Hale, who has arrived in the village. Hale begins to interrogate Abigail and, under his relentless questioning, she reveals that Tituba had engaged in conjuring. Tituba is then summoned and Hale extracts a confession from her and she begins to implicate others in her frightened attempt to save herself from punishment. The act ends with Abigail and the now conscious Betty hysterically naming others in the village as "witches".