Mr Hale begins by examining the girls who are still in a trance for signs of the devil. The first girl he examines is Betty Parriss then he asks to see Ruth Putnam. Whilst seeing Ruth Putnam he asks the people in the room if there had been any unusual behaviour and Reverend Parriss tells him what he saw in the woods and who he saw including his niece Abigail and his daughter Betty. Of course Abigail who is in the room is questioned about the events of that evening and she just tries to explain that they were dancing, dancing was not allowed but did not hold the penalty of death.
When it appears that Mr Hale is becoming more concerned about the ‘soup’ they were making and a frog jumping into the soup Abigail realizes that she could be in deep trouble. All the girls were brought to the church to be questioned by Mr Hale and when Mr Hale asked if there was a casting of spells Mary Warren points at Abigail and Abigail denies casting any spells and blames Tituba. All the blame is now being laid on this poor black girl who was at no more fault than any of the other girls seen in the woods.
Abigail says that all the spells cast were from Tituba and this puts Tituba in a terrible position she also has to find a way out of. To get out of this dangerous situation Tituba admits that the devil is with her but Mr Hale says Tituba is the eyes of God and it is at this point that things take a dramatic turn for the worse. Tituba starts naming people she has seen with the devil Sarah Good, Goody Osbourn… When this name is mentioned Mrs Putnam who has three dead children now blames Goody Osbourn for the loss of these children as she was the midwife.
Suddenly Betty wakes and names George Jacobs as being with the devil and also Goody Howe with the devil and Martha Bellows. They carry on screaming names out not realizing what terrible problems will occur because of this. The girls now see their way out of being condemned as witches, all they have to do is say they have seen other people with the devil and that they are the eyes of God. John Proctor is told of the imprisonment of many women from Salem and he cannot believe that so many women have been put into jail.
His wife tells him that Abigail is apparently the most afflicted of all the girls. The scenes in the film show John and his wife speaking as equals to one another. John tells his wife that Abigail told him exactly what went on in the woods and Goody Proctor tells him he must go to the court and tell the judges just what Abigail has said but John knows that when Abigail told him these things they were alone and it will be difficult to prove.
There is a lot of tension between John and his wife with regard to what happened between John and Abigail and their story is really only the same as a story today of adultery and a wife forgiving but not forgetting what has happened. Many judges have been brought in to Salem to judge the accused. The ladies have to confess to being witches and if they do so they will not hang. This must be very very difficult for the accused because they have to admit to something that they are not and be branded a witch for life.
We also see at this time Putnam having heated arguments with both John Proctor and Mr Jacobs with regard to land lines. Eventually Mr Jacobs is also branded a witch by Ruth Putnam which shows how the village as a whole was using this witch hunt to get back at people who they hated. Now we see a servant of the Proctors, Mary Warren who is going every day to the witch trials and John is very annoyed with her for doing so. Mary Warren tells the Proctors that she has to go to court as she is an official and she informs Goody Proctor that she has been accused of being a witch but that this had been dismissed by the court.
She presents Goody Proctor with a little rag doll she has made whilst sitting in court. Mary Warren will not tell the Proctors who accused Goody Proctor of being a witch. Goody Proctor is aware that it is Abigail who has accused her of witchcraft, she knows and it was apparent to me that Abigail was trying to find a way of getting rid of John’s wife. In reality Abigail knows that Goody Proctor does not lie and will not admit to being a witch and will therefore hang.
