Summary

The Crucible, Act

Two
Drama by Arthur Miller

Background
At the end of Act One of The Crucible, Reverend Hale scares
the slave Tituba into confessing that she is possessed by the
Devil. Fearing that they, too, will be called witches, the girls
Abigail and Betty begin naming the many townspeople they
say they saw with the Devil.

Summary
Act Two of the play begins eight days after the events of Act
One. In John Proctor’s home, his wife, Elizabeth, is putting their
children to bed when Proctor returns home from working in the
fields. Proctor tells her that their crops should begin to grow in
the warm spring soil. If their crops do well, he says he will buy a
new cow. He asks if that will make Elizabeth happy and says he
wants her to be happy.
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Elizabeth is quiet, and Proctor asks if she is sad again.

Elizabeth says that she thought he had gone to Salem. She says
that Mary Warren, their servant, is there now. When Proctor
asks why Elizabeth let Mary Warren go, she says that the girl
frightened her into letting her leave.
Mary Warren told Elizabeth that she is now an official of the
court and must go to Salem. Proctor is confused, and his wife
explains that judges from Boston and the Deputy Governor have
come to Salem. They will try, or put on trial, the 14 people now
held in jail for practicing witchcraft. If found guilty, the accused
will be hanged.

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 Summary

Proctor can’t believe that people he knows could be hanged

for witchcraft, but Elizabeth says the town has “gone wild.”
According to Mary Warren, various people in the town are shown
to a group of Salem girls, led by Abigail. If the girls scream and
fall to the floor when someone is brought before them, then that
person is thrown in jail for being a witch.
Elizabeth tells Proctor that he should go to Salem to tell the
townspeople that this is all a fraud, or trickery. Elizabeth asks him READING CHECK
to explain that Abigail told him that the girls were just having fun Why does Elizabeth want her
in the woods. ­husband to go to Salem?
Proctor struggles with the idea of telling the court that
Abigail, with whom he had a romantic relationship, is lying. He
is not sure that he can convince everyone that Abigail, who now
has so much authority, is a liar. He reveals to his wife that he and
Abigail were alone in the room when she confessed that the girls
were only having fun in the woods.
Elizabeth suspects that her husband still has feelings for
Abigail. Proctor gets angry with his wife for mistrusting him. He
blames her for not forgiving him when he confessed that he had
a relationship with Abigail.
Mary Warren returns to the Proctors’ home. Proctor is angry
with her for going to Salem when he told her not to go. He shakes
her and threatens her if she leaves again. Mary Warren says she
is sick and weak from being in court all day. Proctor reminds her
that she has a job taking care of the house. To say she’s sorry,
Mary Warren gives Elizabeth a small doll she made. She tells them
that 39 women have been arrested and Goody Osburn has been
sentenced to hang.
Crying, Mary Warren explains that Sarah Good, a poor old
woman, confessed to making a deal with the Devil and so she
will not be hanged. Proctor asks Mary Warren why she didn’t
tell the court that Sarah Good likes to tell stories. Mary Warren
explains that Sarah Good was able to “send her spirit out” into the
courtroom and silence her.
Mary Warren explains that Sarah Good has tried to kill her
many times. When Sarah Good came to their door, begging
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for food and drink, Mary Warren turned her away. Sarah Good
mumbled as she left, and then Mary Warren was sick for two days.
In court, Judge Hathorne decided that Sarah Good had been
mumbling curses and sentenced her to hang.
Proctor then forbids Mary Warren to return to court. Mary
Warren protests that her work at the courthouse is important.
Proctor says it’s strange that young Christian women’s work
should cause old women to be hanged. Mary Warren tells him
that because Sarah Good confessed to being a witch, she will not

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 Summary

be killed. Plus, she is pregnant (despite being close to 60 years

old), so she will only put in jail for a while.
Proctor threatens to whip Mary Warren if she doesn’t
stay home, but Mary Warren tells the Proctors that she saved
Elizabeth’s life that day. Someone had accused Elizabeth of
witchcraft, but Mary Warren said Elizabeth was innocent. Mary
Warren then demands the Proctors treat her with respect.
Mary Warren goes to bed. The Proctors are shocked at Mary READING CHECK
Warren’s bold disobedience. Elizabeth is afraid that Abigail is Why does Elizabeth think that
planning to have her hanged so that she can marry Proctor. ­Abigail has accused her of
Elizabeth begs her husband to go to Abigail and tell her that w­ itchcraft?

there is no chance they can ever be together again.

Suddenly, Mr. Hale appears at the Proctors’ home. He tells
them that Elizabeth’s name has been mentioned in court. He
is going from house to house to meet the accused. He says he
has just come from Rebecca Nurse’s house. The Proctors are
shocked that a good person like Rebecca could be charged with
witchcraft.
Mr. Hale says that things are so bad in the village that even
Rebecca may be working with the Devil. Hale asks if he can ask
some questions about the “Christian character” of the Proctors’
household. He asks why they have been absent from church.
Proctor says that his wife was sick over winter, and when he
wasn’t in church, he prayed at home. He also points out that he
is angry with Mr. Parris for demanding that the church have gold
candlesticks, which the villagers had to pay for. Mr. Hale also
asks why only two of the Proctors’ children are baptized. Again, baptized: to be officially made
Proctor says that he doesn’t like Parris and has been reluctant to a member of the Christian
­community.
have Parris baptize his youngest child.
Mr. Hale then asks the Proctors if they know the the Commandments: in
Commandments. When John Proctor is asked to recite the ­Christianity, rules given by God
Commandments, he forgets the rule against adultery, or having that tell people how to live.

a sexual relationship with someone who is not your spouse. Hale

is unsure whether the Proctors are guilty and gets ready to leave.
However, Elizabeth asks her husband to tell Mr. Hale what he
knows about Abigail and the other girls. Proctor explains that
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Abigail told him that Reverend Parris discovered the girls in the
woods. To cover up what they were doing, the girls pretended to
be sick.
Mr. Hale asks Proctor if it’s true that Proctor does not believe
in witches. Proctor says that it is hard for him to believe in witches
but if the Bible says witches exist then he won’t deny it. When
Mr. Hale asks Elizabeth, however, she says that she doesn’t believe
that the Devil can control a woman who does only good things,
as she does.

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 Summary

Suddenly, Giles Corey and Francis Nurse appear at the

Proctors’ house to say that their wives have been accused.
Francis Nurse begs Mr. Hale to help him. Rebecca Nurse has been
charged with murdering Goody Putnam’s newborn babies, and
Martha Giles was charged with cursing a man whose pigs have
all died.
Ezekiel Cheever, the clerk of the court, arrives. He tells John
Proctor that Elizabeth has been charged with witchcraft by
Abigail Williams. Cheever finds the doll that Mary Warren made
and sees that a needle has been stuck in it.
Cheever explains that at dinner at Parris’s house earlier that
day, Abigail suddenly screamed and fell to the floor. Parris pulled
a needle from Abigail’s abdomen, which she claimed was placed
there by Elizabeth’s spirit.
Mary Warren explains that she made the doll while at the
courthouse, sitting next to Abigail. Disgusted with the accusation
against his wife, Proctor rips up the warrant, or official document,
for Elizabeth’s arrest. He kicks Cheever and Hale out of the house,
saying that the children of Salem have gone crazy.
Elizabeth agrees to go with the men, despite her husband’s
protests. Before leaving, Hale warns Proctor that he should
not dismiss what is happening. He doesn’t believe that Abigail
has caused all the trouble; instead, he thinks there must be
something that the villagers have done, such as commit murder,
to make God angry with them.
After everyone is gone, Proctor confronts Mary Warren. He
tells her that she must come to court with him and explain that
she made the doll and Abigail stuck the needle in it. Mary Warren
protests that if she does, Abigail will kill her and charge John
Proctor with lechery. lechery: having an unhealthy
Proctor realizes then that Mary Warren knows about his affair interest in sex.

with Abigail. He tells her they will both confess to the court what
they know. When Mary says that she will not confess, Proctor
grabs her violently. He swears that his wife, a good woman, will
not die for him. The act ends with him saying they are now naked
before God’s judgment.
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TURN & TALK

With a partner, discuss why John Proctor does not
immediately go to court to tell everyone that Abigail is a liar.

The Crucible, Act Two  4