Summary
[A] person is either with this court or
he must be counted against it, there be no road between.
(See Important Quotations Explained)
Back in Salem, the court is in session. Giles interrupts
the proceedings by shouting that Putnam is only making a grab for
more land. He claims to have evidence to back up this assertion.
Judge Hathorne, Deputy Governor Danforth, and the Reverends Hale and
Parris join Giles and Francis in the vestry room to get to the bottom
of the matter. Proctor and Mary Warren enter the room. Mary testifies
that she and the other girls were only pretending to be afflicted
by witchcraft. Judge Danforth, shocked, asks Proctor if he has told
the village about Mary’s claims. Parris declares that they all want
to overthrow the court.
Danforth asks Proctor if he is attempting to undermine
the court. Proctor assures him that he just wants to free his wife,
but Cheever informs the judge that Proctor ripped up the warrant
for Elizabeth’s arrest. Danforth proceeds to question Proctor about
his religious beliefs. He is particularly intrigued by the information,
offered by Parris, that Proctor only attends church about once a
month. Cheever adds that Proctor plows on Sunday, a serious offense
in Salem.
Danforth and Hathorne inform Proctor that he need not
worry about Elizabeth’s imminent execution because she claims to
be pregnant. She will not be hanged until after she delivers. Danforth
asks if he will drop his condemnation of the court, but Proctor
refuses. He submits a deposition signed by ninety-one land-owning
farmers attesting to the good characters of Elizabeth, Martha, and
Rebecca. Parris insists that they all be summoned for questioning
because the deposition is an attack on the court. Hale asks why
every defense is considered an attack on the court.
Putnam is led into the room to answer to an allegation
by Giles that he prompted his daughter to accuse George Jacobs of
witchcraft. Should Jacobs hang, he would forfeit his property, and
Putnam is the only person in Salem with the money to purchase such
a tract. Giles refuses to name the man who gave him the information because
he does not want to open him to Putnam’s vengeance. Danforth arrests
Giles for contempt of court.
Danforth sends for Abigail and her troop of girls. Abigail
denies Mary’s testimony, as well as her explanation for the doll
in the Proctor home. Mary maintains her assertion that the girls
are only pretending. Hathorne asks her to pretend to faint for them.
Mary says she cannot because she does not have “the sense of it”
now. Under continued pressure, she falters and explains that she
only thought she saw spirits. Danforth pressures Abigail to be truthful.
Abigail shivers and the other girls follow suit. They accuse Mary
of bewitching them with a cold wind.
Proctor leaps at Abigail and calls her a whore. He confesses
his affair with her and explains that Elizabeth fired her when she
discovered it. He claims that Abigail wants Elizabeth to hang so
that she can take her place in his home. Danforth orders Abigail
and Proctor to turn their backs, and he sends for Elizabeth, who
is reputed by Proctor to be unfailingly honest. Danforth asks why
she fired Abigail. Elizabeth glances at Proctor for a clue, but
Danforth demands that she look only at him while she speaks. Elizabeth claims
to have gotten the mistaken notion that Proctor fancied Abigail,
so she lost her temper and fired the girl without just cause. As
marshal, Herrick removes Elizabeth from the room. Proctor cries out
that he confessed his sin, but it is too late for Elizabeth to change her
story. Hale begs Danforth to reconsider, stating that Abigail has always
struck him as false.
