The Crucible
Acts III and IV Notes
Act III
As the court is in session Giles Corey
interrupts by shouting that Putnam is
making a grab to obtain more land and
claims to have evidence to back it up.
Judge Hathorne, Deputy Gov. Danforth,
and Hale and Parris join Giles and Putnam
in the vestry room to discuss the matter.
As this is going on, Proctor and Mary
Warren enter the room. Mary testifies that
she and the other girls were only
pretending to be afflicted with witchcraft.
Danforth wants to know if Proctor has told
the village about Mary’s claims and also
wants to know if Proctor is attempting to
undermine the court.
Proctor states that he just wants to free his
wife. Cheever interjects that Proctor
ripped up the warrant for Elizabeth’s
arrest.
Danforth then questions Proctor about his
religious beliefs, especially about the fact
that he only attends church once a month.
Cheever also adds that Proctor plows on
Sunday, a serious offense!
Proctor is informed that Elizabeth will not
be executed right away because she
claims to pregnant.
She will be hanged after she delivers!
Proctor then submits a deposition to
Danforth signed by 91 land-owning
farmers who attest to the good character
of Elizabeth, along with Martha and
Rebecca.
Parris insists they all be summoned for
questioning, as the deposition is an attack
on the court.
Meanwhile, Putnam is led into the room to
answer to an allegation by Giles that he
prompted his daughter to accuse George
Jacobs of witchcraft.
Giles refuses to name the man who gave
him the information and arrested for
contempt of court.
As a result, Giles is pressed to death by
heavy stones!
Danforth sends for Abigail and her troop of
girls who deny Mary’s testimony and the
explanation of the doll in the Proctor
home.
Mary maintains that the girls are only
pretending.
 Hathorne asks her to pretend to faint but Mary
can not, saying she “does not have the sense of
it” now.
 Under continued pressure, she gives in and
says she only thought she saw spirits.
 Danforth pressures Abigail to be truthful and she
begins to shudder. The other girls follow her
lead and they accuse Mary of bewitching them
with a cold wind!
Proctor leaps at Abigail and calls her a
whore! He then confesses his affair with
her and tells all to the court.
Danforth orders both Procter and Abigail to
turn their backs while Elizabeth is
questioned.
Elizabeth givers her testimony and is
removed from the room.
Proctor states that he has confessed his
sin but it is too late for Elizabeth to change
her story.
Abigail and the girls scream and state that
Mary is sending her spirit at them. As
Mary pleads with them to stop, they repeat
her words verbatim and the room erupts in
a hysterical frenzy!
As Proctor tries to calm her, she calls him
the devil’s man and accuses him of
consorting with the Lucifer!
Danforth orders the arrest of Proctor
against Hale’s vocal opposition. Hale then
declares he is quitting the court.
ACT IV
Later in the fall, Danforth and Hathorne
visit a Salem jail to see Parris and demand
to know why Hale has returned to Salem.
Parris assures them that Hale only wants
to save the holdout prisoners from the
gallows. He reports that Abigail and Mercy
have vanished from Salem.
Hale appears and begs the men to pardon
the prisoners because they will not
confess.
Danforth replies that pardoning them will
only cast doubt about the guilt of the
seven remaining prisoners and the twelve
that have already hung!
As a result of the trials, the town of Salem
has gone to ruin. Cows are wondering
around as well as orphaned children
because their parents are in jail!
EVERYONE lives in fear of being accused
of witchcraft!
Danforth hopes that Elizabeth can
persuade John to confess and agrees to
speak with him but makes no promises.
As Elizabeth and John are alone, she
states that almost one hundred people
have confessed to witchcraft and that
Giles was put to death.
The treatment of Proctor reveals an
obsessive need to preserve the
appearance of order and justification of the
actions of Danforth and Hathorne, as well
as their hypocrisy!
They want Proctor to sign his own
confession admitting him a witch and
agree with the court’s findings.
Danforth and Hathorne take advantage of
Proctor’s honesty to support their claims of
having conducted themselves justly.
Proctor’s refusal to sign his name shows
that he will be destroyed as an honest
person.
If he were to sign his name, his honesty
would be forfeit.
Thus Proctor is able to die heroically and
his honesty that was lost in the affair with
Abigail is recovered.
Hale and Parris plead with Elizabeth to get
Proctor to sign his name but she refuses,
saying that he doing what he feels is just.
Epilogue
After the death of Proctor, Parris is voted
out of office and leaves Salem, never to be
heard from again.
According to rumor, Abigail became a
prostitute in Boston.
Elizabeth remarries a few yrs. later after
her husband’s execution.