"The Crucible" - Act 2 - key moments

A Dangerous Change in Mary Warren

Mary Warren is starting to lose her shyness as she begins to feel that she is important to the court. She has caught the communal hysteria and is embroidering fact with fantasy when she talks of Sarah Good. For the first time in her life Mary finds that adults will listen to her and treat her with respect. This goes to her head.

Behind her new-found bravery Mary is still terrified of Abigail and lacks the strength to stand up to her.

The Existence of Witchcraft is Questioned

Elizabeth is anxious about her own safety, as she is suspected of practising witchcraft. She forces John to tell Hale, "I knw the children's sickness has naught to do with witchcraft" but that they were "startled" at being caught dancing in the woods. Hale's onw beliefs are shaken by what Proctor tells him about the girls. He is forced to face up to the fact that he has been taken in by them.

Proctor agrees to make this statement in court. Hale then asks the Proctors whether they believe in witches. John says that he will not contradict the Bible, but Elizabeth insists otherwise: "If you think that I am one, then I say there are none". Hale tells them to baptise their third child, go to church each Sunday and to appear solemn in their manner. THis reminds us of the strict religious code of the time. It is now clear that Hale himself believes in witches, but he is uncertain as to the nature o the recent accusation.

The Poppet

The true events surrounding the poppet are:

* Mary Warren was sewing a poppet in court to pass the time as she was bored.

* she stuck the needle in the poppet to keep it safe.

* Abigail saw Mary do this.

* During dinner at Parris's house, Abigail fell to the floor screaming and a needle was found stuck two inches into the flesh of her belly.

* when the poppet is examined by Cheever it is found to have a needle stuck in it.

It is clear to the reader that Abigail has watched Mary stick the needle in the poppet and has later stabbed herself with a needle knowing thta by this time the poppet will be in Elizabeth Proctor's house. She wants to revenge herself upon Elizabeth.

Confusion

At this point in the play there is a great deal of confusion. the only characters who realise what is actually happeneing are the Proctors and Abigail. This is highly ironic as Abigail is now thinking of a way to hurt Elizabeth. The other characters are involved in different ways and for different reasons but confusion reigns:

* Hale is confused at the Proctors' seemingly good nature and still believes the girls are telling the truth.

* the Putnams are exploiting the confusion in order to settle old scores.

* the judges firmly believe in the testimony of the girls and have allowed themselves to be tricked.

* the townspeople are divided between wanting to stop the arrests and fearing the power of the court and the church.

* Mary Warren is so confused as to believe she is actually doing good work in the court.