COMPLETE!

 

"The Salem Witch Project"

;-)


Commercial:

McCarthy: Good evening, my fellow Americans. My name is Senator Andrew McCarthy. Tonight, we bring you this announcment to warn you citizens of a terrible underlying threat. It is a threat many Americans are unaware of. You see, Communists are everywhere. They are a threat to our very way of life, and yet many remain undetected. That is why, good people, we must all be on our guard, looking for any un-American activity.

 

Intro:

All line up in a row in front of the stage.

Simone: This is the true story...

All: True story...

John: Of a tiny village...

Andrew: Thrown into mass hysteria...

Josh: While their lives are taped...

Michelle: To find out what happens...

Krista: When people stop being rational...

Andrew: And start getting scared.

Simone: Holds up the sign. The Reale Worlde, Salem, Massachusetts, 1692.

 

Act One

Abigail: Uncle? Mrs. Putnam's here from Doctor Griggs.

Enter Mrs. Putnam.

Parris: What does the Doctor say?

Mrs. Putnam: He have been searchin' his books since he left you, sir. But he bid me tell you, that you might look to unnatural things for the cause of it.

Parris: No-- no. There be no unnatural cause here. Tell him I have sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly, and Mr. Hale will surely confirm that. Let him look to medicine and put out all thought of unnatural causes here.

Mrs. Putnam: Aye, sir.

Exit Mrs. Putnam.

Abigail: Uncle, the rumor of witchcraft is all about; I think you'd best go and deny it yourself.

Parris: And what shall I say to them? That my daughter and my niece I discovered dancing like heathen in the forest?

Abigail: Uncle, we did dance; let you tell them I confessed it-- and I'll be whipped if I must be. But they're speaking of witchcraft. Betty's not witched.

Parris: Now look you, child, your punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now.

Abigail: But we never conjured spirits.

Parris: Then why can she not move herself since midnight? This child is desperate!

Abigail: It were sport, uncle!

Parris: You call this sport? Abigail, if you know something that may help the doctor, for God's sake tell it to me. I saw Tituba waving her arms over the fire when I came on you. Why was she doing that? And I heard a screeching and gibberish coming from her mouth. She were swaying like a dumb beast over that fire!

Abigail: She always sings her Barbados songs, and we dance. There is nothin' more. I swear it, uncle.

Parris: I have given you a home, child, I have put clothes upon your back-- now give me an upright answer. Your name in town-- it is entirely white, is it not?

Abigail: Why, I am sure it is, sir. There be no blush about my name.

Parris: Abigail, is there any other cause than you have told me, for your being discharged from Goody Proctor's service? I have heard it said that she comes so rarely to the church this year for she will not sit so close to something soiled.

Abigail: She hates me, uncle, she must. It's a bitter woman, a lying, cold, sniveling woman, and I will not work for such a woman! I will not have is said my name is soiled! Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar!

Parris: Will you leave me now? I would pray a while alone.

Abigail: Uncle, you've prayed since midnight. Why do you not go down and--

Parris: No-- no. I have no answer for that crowd. I'll lead them in a psalm, but let you say nothing of witchcraft yet. I will not discuss it.

Exit Parris.

Abigail: Betty? Now stop this! Betty! Sit up now! Listen; if they be questionin' us, tell them that we danced-- I told him as much already.

Enter Mary Warren.

Mary Warren: What'll we do? The village is out! I just come from the farm; the whole country's talkin' witchcraft! They'll be callin' us witches, Abby! We've got to tell. Witchery's a hanging error. We must tell the truth, Abby! You'll only be whipped for dancin' and the other things!

Abigail: Oh, we'll be whipped!

Mary Warren: I never done none of it, Abby. I only looked!

Abigail: Betty? Now, Betty, dear, wake up now. It's Abigail. I'll beat you, Betty! I talked to your papa and I told him everything. So there's nothing to--

Betty: I want my mama!

Abigail: What ails you, Betty? Your mama's dead and buried.

Betty: I'll fly to Mama. Let me fly!

Abigail: I told him everything; he knows now, he knows everything we--

Betty: You drank blood, Abby! You didn't tell him that!

Abigail: Betty, you never say that again! You will never--

Betty: You did, you did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!

Abigail: Shut it! Now shut it!

Betty: Mama, Mama!

Abigail: Now look you. We danced. And that is all. Let either of you breathe a word about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it; I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down! Now, you-- sit up and stop this!

Mary Warren: What's got her? Abby, she's going to die! It's a sin to conjure, and we--

Abigail: I say shut it, Mary Warren!

Enter John Proctor.

Mary: Oh! I'm just going home, Mr. Proctor.

Proctor: Be you deaf, Mary Warren? I forbid you to leave the house, did I not? Now get you home; my wife is waitin' with your work.

Exit Mary Warren.

Proctor: What's this mischief here?

Abigail: Oh, she's only gone silly somehow.

Proctor: The town's mumbling witchcraft.

Abigail: Oh, posh! We were dancin' in the woods last night, and my uncle leaped in on us. She took fright, is all.

Proctor: Ah, you're wicked yet, aren't y'! You'll be clapped in the stocks before you're twenty.

Abigail: John-- I am waitin' for you every night.

Proctor: Abby, I never give you hope to wait for me. That's done with.

Abigail: I have something better than hope, I think!

Proctor: Abby, you'll put it out of mind. I'll not be comin' for you more.

Abigail: It's she put me out, you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out, and you loved me then and you do now! You must.

Proctor: Child--

Abigail: How do you call me child!

Proctor: Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I'll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby.

Abigail: Aye, but we did.

Proctor: Aye, but we did not.

Abigail: Oh, I marvel how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be--

Proctor: You'll speak nothin' of Elizabeth!

Exit Proctor.

Abigail: She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her! Let her turn you like a-- Betty?

Enter Parris and Mrs. Putnam.

Parris: What happened? What are you doing to her? Betty!

Abigail: She heard you singin' and suddenly she's up and screamin'.

Mrs. Putnam: The psalm! She cannot bear to hear the Lord's name! Mark it for a sign, mark it!

Enter Reverend Hale.

Parris: Mr. Hale! Oh! it's good to see you again! Will you look at my daughter, sir? She has tried to leap out the window; we discovered her this morning on the highroad, waving her arms as though she'd fly.

Mrs. Putnam: She cannot bear to hear the Lord's name, Mr. Hale; that's a sure sign of witchcraft about.

Hale: No, no. The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are as definite as stone, and I must tell you all that I shall not proceed unless you are prepared to believe me if I should find no bruise of hell upon her. Now Betty, dear, will you sit up? Can you hear me? I am John Hale, minister of Beverly. I have come to help you, dear.

Parris: How can it be the Devil? Why would he chose my house to strike?

Hale: What victory would the Devil have to win a soul already bad? It is the best the Devil wants, and who is better than the minister?

Parris: Betty! Answer Mr. Hale! Betty!

Hale: Does someone afflict you, child? It need not be a woman, mind you. Perhaps some bird invisible to others comes to you, or any beast at all. Is there some figure bids you fly? Abigail, what sort of dancing were you doing in the forest?

Abigail: Why-- common dancing is all.

Hale: Did you call the Devil last night?

Abigail: I never called him! Tituba, Tituba...

Parris: She called the Devil?

Hale: How did she call him?

Abigail: I know not-- she spoke Barbados. Betty, wake up. Betty! Betty!

Hale: Why are you concealing? Have you sold yourself to Lucifer?

Abigail: I never sold myself! I'm a good girl! I'm a proper girl!

Enter Tituba.

Abigail: She made me do it! She made Betty do it!

Tituba: Abby!

Abigail: She makes me drink blood!

Parris: Blood!

Hale: Woman, have you enlisted these children for the Devil?

Tituba: No, no, sir, I don't truck with no Devil!

Parris: You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!

Tituba: No, no, don't whip or hang Tituba! I tell him I don't desire to work for him, sir.

Parris: The Devil?

Hale: When the Devil comes to you does he ever come-- with another person? Perhaps another person in the village? Someone you know.

Parris: Who came with him?

Tituba: Was-- was woman. Was Goody Good.

Parris: Sarah Good!

Tituba: Aye, sir, and Goody Osburn.

Hale: Take courage, you must give us all their names. How can you bear to see this child suffering? Look at her, Tituba. Look at her God-given innocence; we must protect her. God will bless you for your help.

Abigail: I want to open myself! I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil! I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!

Betty: I saw George Jacobs with the Devil! I saw Goody Howe with the Devil!

Parris: She speaks!

Hale: Glory to God! It is broken, they are free!

Betty: I saw Alice Bellows with the Devil!

Abigail: I saw Goody Hawkins with the Devil!


Act 2 Transition:

In this scene, we meet Goody Proctor and learn more about the witch trials. The drama is building up and more women are being taken away. There is no way of escaping the hands of Danforth, who visits Proctor's home to search for a doll. The real surprise is when he finds something hidden in the doll.

 

Act Two

Elizabeth: What keeps you so late? It's almost dark. I thought you'd gone to Salem this afternoon.

Proctor: Why? I have no business in Salem.

Elizabeth: Mary Warren's there today. I forbid her go, and she says to me, "I must go to Salem, Goody Proctor; I am an official of the court!"

Proctor: Court! What court?

Elizabeth: Aye, it is a proper court they have now. There be fourteen people in the jail now, she says. And they'll be tried, and the court have power to hang them, she says.

Proctor: Ah, they'd never hang--

Elizabeth: The Deputy Governor promise hangin' if they'll not confess, John. The town's gone wild, I think. Abigail brings the other girls into the court, and if they scream and howl and fall to the floor-- the person's clapped in the jail for bewitchin' them.

Proctor: Oh, it is a black mischief.

Elizabeth: I think you must go to Salem, John. You must tell them it is a fraud. I think they must be told.

Enter Mary Warren

Mary Warren: I made a gift for you today, Goody Proctor. I had to sit long hours in a chair, and passed the time with sewing.

Elizabeth: Why, thank you, it's a fair poppet.

Proctor: Mary. There be fourteen women arrested?

Mary Warren: No, sir. There be thirty-nine now. Goody Osburn-- will hang!

Proctor: Hang! Hang, y'say?

Mary Warren: Aye.

Proctor: The Deputy Governor will permit it?

Mary Warren: He sentenced her. He must. But not Sarah Good. For Sarah Good confessed, y'see.

Proctor: Confessed! To what?

Mary Warren: That she-- she made a compact with Lucifer, and wrote her name in the black book and bound herself to torment Christians till God's thrown down-- and we all must worship Hell forevermore. I must tell you, sir, I will be gone every day now. I'm-- I am an official of the court, they say and I--

Proctor: I'll official you!

Mary Warren: I saved her life today!

Elizabeth: I am accused? Who accused me?

Mary Warren: I am bound by law, I cannot tell it. Good night.

Exit Mary Warren.

Elizabeth: Oh, the noose, the noose is up!

*Elizabeth interior monologue*

Proctor: There'll be no noose.

Enter Mr. Hale

Proctor: Why, Mr. Hale! Good evening to you, sir. Come in, come in.

Hale: I have some business with you. I know not if you are aware, but your wife's name is-- mentioned in the court.

Proctor: We know it, sir. Our Mary Warren told us. We are entirely amazed.

Hale: In my ignorance I find it hard to draw a clear opinion of them that come accused before the court. And so this afternoon, and now tonight, I go from house to house-- I come now from Rebecca Nurse's house and--

Elizabeth: Rebecca's charged! You will never believe I hope, that Rebecca trafficked with the Devil

Hale: This is a strange time. No man may longer doubt the powers of the dark are gathered in monstrous attack upon this village. There is too much evidence now to deny it. You will agree sir?

Elizabeth: I think you must tell him, John.

Hale: What's that?

Proctor: I-- I have no witness and cannot prove it, except my word be taken. But I know the children's sickness had naught to do with witchcraft.

Hale: Naught to do--?

Proctor: Mr. Parris discovered them sportin' in the woods. They were startled and took sick.

Hale: Who told you this?

Proctor: Abigail Williams. She told me the day you came, sir.

Hale: Why-- why did you keep this?

Proctor: I have never knew until tonight that the world is gone daft with this nonsense.

Hale: Nonsense! Mister, I have myself examined Tituba, Sarah Good, and numerous others that have confessed to dealing with the Devil. They have confessed it.

Proctor: And why not, if they must hang for denyin' it? There are them that will swear to anything before they'll hang; have you never thought of that?

Hale: I have. I-- I have indeed. And you-- would you testify to this in court?

Proctor: I-- had not reckoned with goin' into court. But if I must I will.

Enter Danforth

Proctor: Why, Mr. Danforth. Good evening. I hope you come not on business of the court.

Danforth: I do, Proctor, aye. I have a warrant for your wife.

Proctor: Who charged her?

Danforth: Why, Abigail Williams charge her.

Proctor: On what proof, what proof?

Danforth: Mr. Proctor, I have little time. The court bid me search your house, but I like not to search a house. So will you hand me any poppets that you wife may keep here?

Elizabeth: I never kept no poppets, not since I were a girl.

Danforth: I spy a poppet, Goody Proctor. Now, woman, will you please come with me?

Proctor: She will not! Fetch Mary here.

Hale: What signifies a poppet, Mr. Danforth?

Danforth: Why-- it is a needle. The girl, Abigail Williams, sir. She sat to dinner in Reverend Parris's house tonight and falls to the floor, and screamed. And he goes to save her, and stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle out. And demandin' of her how she come to be so stabbed, she-- testify it were your wife's familiar spirit pushed it in.

Proctor: Why, she done it herself! I hope you're not takin' this for proof, Mister! Here now! Mary, how did this poppet come into my house?

Mary Warren: Why--I made it in the court sir, and-- give it to Goody Proctor tonight.

Proctor: You stuck that needle in yourself?

Hale: May it be, perhaps, that someone conjures you even now to say this?

Mary Warren: Conjures me? Why, no, sir, I am entirely myself, I think. Ask Abby, Abby sat beside me when I made it.

Proctor: Out with you!

Danforth: Proctor, you dare not touch the warrant.

Proctor, ripping the warrant: Out with you!

Danforth: You've ripped the Deputy Governor's warrant, man! I have nine men outside. You cannot keep her. The law binds me, John, I cannot budge.

Elizabeth: John-- I think I must go with them.

Proctor: I will bring you home. I will bring you soon.

Elizabeth: Oh, John, bring me soon!

Elizabeth is taken away and everyone leaves but Proctor and Marry Warren

Mary Warren: Mr. Proctor, very likely they'll let her come home once they're given proper evidence.

Proctor: You're coming to the court with me, Mary. You will tell it in the court. You will tell the court how that poppet come here and who stuck the needle in.

Mary Warren: She'll kill me for sayin' that! I cannot, they'll turn on me--

Proctor: My wife will never die for me!

Mary Warren: I cannot do it, I cannot...

Proctor: Make your peace with it! Now Hell and Heaven grapple on our backs, and all our old pretense is ripped away-- make your peace! Peace. It is providence, and no great change; we are only what we always were, but naked now. Aye, naked! And the wind, God's icy wind, will blow!


Commercial:

Andrew: And now a word from our sponsors...

Hi, are you tired of those pesky neighbors who borrow your churn but never gives it back? Wanna get even?

Well here's how! Introducing the new (haven't thought of a name yet)! It's small, it's portable and it's washboard safe. No longer are the days of fighting with your annoying neighbors. Not with the _______. So you might be wondering how this fabulous invention works. Simply put the name of your desired victim on the doll. Take the power prodder and insert it anywhere of your choice to ensure hours of gleeful screaming pain.

And here is my assistant... (Josh walks out to demonstrate the effectiveness of

this product.)

Josh: Comes out waving, whispers to Andrew. This isn't really going to hurt, right?

Andrew: Of course not... You know this isn't real, just do it like we planned.

Josh: Nods. Okay, okay.

Andrew: As I said, just put the name of your desired victim as so, then... Stabs doll on left arm.

Josh: Grabs his right arm in pain.

Andrew: Whispers. Wrong arm.

Josh: Changes arm.

Andrew: This product can be used for absolutely anything. Tired of those teachers who just don't give you enough time for projects? This is the perfect opportunity. Now let's see what our past consumers think of this new product.

Josh (as another person): Oh, it's wonderful. The first time I bought it, I tried it on everyone in town. Now everyone running scared and doing whatever I want. The ____ changed my life.

Andrew: And what do you think of this product?

Josh (as a different person): Oh, I loved it. I got a fight with my boyfriend recently and I just took away his manhood like that! Snaps his fingers.

Andrew: And there you have it folks. And I know what you're thinking. How much does this wonderful product cost? No, you won't find it in your local market for thirty dollars or even twenty dollars, but it'll be yours for yours for only five easy payments of six dollars! And if we receive your order in the next week we'll throw in this book, 101 Easy Ways to Become a Witch absolutely free! So just send your money to "I Got Scammed" at P.O. box 666 Massachusetts and you'll receive your (name of product) in only two weeks. Until next time, this is (have to think of a name for myself) saying so long.

 

Commercial:

McCarthy: This is Senator McCarthy again, and I would like to talk to you now about sticking together and making sure we don't turn our backs on each other. This is a major thing we have to do in order to rid this community of witches and the Devil. We have to get rid of all Communists and stop them from coming; Communists are the source of witchcraft. They will turn your children against God and make them work for the Devil. Communists are Devil worshippers and will turn our innocent Community into a doorway to Hell. We have to stick together and not let Communists take over our town.

 

Act 3 Transition:

Proctor tries to save his wife. Like many other women, Goody Proctor is prosecuted without real evidence. In Act 3, we witness the struggle to prove Goody Proctor's innocence and other women, and try to convince the court that Abigail is lying. Danforth , the deputy, tries to keep Parris' and Proctor's sparring from getting out of hand. Unfortunately, getting out of hand is what happens when Abigail and her friends show up in court.

 

Act 3

*Mary Warren interior monologue*

Proctor: I am John Proctor, sir. Elizabeth Proctor is my wife.

Parris: Beware this man, Your Excellency, he is mischief.

Hale: I think you must hear the girl, sir, she--

Danforth: Peace. What would you tell us, Mary Warren?

Proctor: She never saw no spirits, sir.

Danforth: Never saw no spirits!

Parris: They've come to overthrow the court, sir! This man is--

Danforth: I pray you, Mr. Parris. Do you know, Mr. Proctor, that the entire contention of the state in these trials is that the voice of Heaven is speaking through the children?

Proctor: I know that, sir.

Danforth: And you, Mary Warren, how came you to cry out people for sending their spirits against you?

Mary Warren: It were pretense, sir.

Danforth: Ah? And the other girls? They are also pretending?

Mary Warren: Aye, sir.

Danforth: Indeed.

Parris: Excellency, you surely cannot think to let so vile a lie be spread in open court!

Danforth: Indeed not. I understand well, a husband's tenderness may drive him to extravagance in defense of a wife. Are you certain, Mister, that your evidence is the truth?

Proctor: It is.

Danforth: Now, sir, what is your purpose in so doing?

Proctor: Why, I-- I would free my wife, sir.

Danforth: I tell you straight, Mister-- I have seen marvels in this court. I have seen people choked before my eyes by spirits; I have seen them stuck by pins and slashed by daggers. I have until this moment not the slightest reason to suspect that the children may be deceiving me. Do you understand my meaning?

Parris: He's come to overthrow the court, Your Honor!

Proctor: Now remember what the angel Raphael said to the boy Tobais. "Do that which is good, and no harm shall come to thee."

Mary Warren: Aye.

Danforth: Come, man, we wait you.

Proctor: You cannot weep, Mary. Remember the angel, what he says to the boy. Hold to it, now; there is your rock. This is Mary Warren's deposition. I-- I would ask you to remember, sir, while you read it, that until two week ago she were no different than the other children are today. You saw her scream, she howled, she swore familiar spirits choked her; she even testified that Satan, in the form of women now in jail, tried to win her soul away, and when she refused--

Danforth: We know all this.

Proctor: Aye, sir. She swears now that she never saw Satan; nor any spirit, vague or clear, that Satan may have sent to hurt her. And she declares her friends are lying now.

Hale: Excellency, a moment. I think this goes to the heart of the matter.

Danforth: It surely does. In an ordinary crime, how does one defend the accused? One calls up witnesses to prove his innocence. But witchcraft by its nature is an invisible crime, is it not? Therefore, who may possibly be witness to it? The witch and the victim. Now we cannot hope the witch will accuse herself. Therefore, we must rely upon her victims and they do testify, the children certainly do testify. Mary Warren, how came you to this turnabout? Has Mr. Proctor threatened you?

Mary Warren: No, sir.

Danforth: Then you tell me that you sat in my court, callously lying, when you knew that people would hang by your evidence? Answer me!

Mary Warren: I did, sir.

Danforth: How were you instructed in your life? Do you not know that God damns all liars? Or is it now that you lie?

Mary Warren: No, sir-- I am with God now.

Danforth: I will tell you this-- you are either lying now, or you were lying in the court, and in either case you have committed perjury and will go to jail for it. You cannot lightly say that you lied, Mary. Do you know that?

Mary Warren: I cannot lie no more. I am with God, I am with God.

Enter Abigail and the girls.

Danforth: Sit you down, children. Your friend, Mary Warren, has given us a deposition. In which she swears that she never saw familiar spirits, apparitions, or any manifest of the Devil. She claims as well that none of you have seen these things either. Now; children, this is a court of law. If she speak true, I bid you now drop your guile and confess your pretense, for a quick confession will go easier with you. Abigail Williams, rise. Is there any truth in this?

Abigail: No, sir.

Danforth: A poppet were discovered in Mr. Proctor's house, stabbed by a needle. Mary Warren claims that you say beside her when she made it, and that you saw how she herself stuck her needle into it for safe-keeping. What say you to that?

Abigail: It is a lie, sir.

Danforth: Proctor, you are charging Abigail Williams with a marvelous cool plot to murder, do you understand that?

Proctor: I do, sir. I believe she means to murder.

Danforth: This child would murder your wife?

Parris: You say you never saw no spirits, Mary, were never threatened or afflicted by any manifest of the Devil or the Devil's agents.

Mary Warren: No, sir.

Parris: But when people accused of witchery confronted you, you would faint, saying their spirits choked you.

Proctor: She only pretended to faint. Your excellency, they're all marvelous pretenders.

Parris: Then can you faint now? Prove to us how you pretended in the court.

Mary Warren: I-- I cannot faint now, sir. I have no sense of it now.

Danforth: Might it be that here we have no afflicting spirit, but in the court there was?

Mary Warren: I never saw no spirits. But I cannot do it.

Parris: Then you will confess, that it were spirits that made you faint!

Mary Warren: No sir. I-- I used to faint because I-- I thought I saw spirits. But I did not, Your Honor. I cannot tell you how, but I did. It were only sport in the beginning, sir, but then the whole world cried spirits. But I promise you, Mr. Danforth, I only thought I saw them but I did not.

Parris: Surely Your Excellency is not taken by this simple lie.

Danforth: Abigail, is it possible that the spirits were illusion only, some deception that may cross your mind. Search your heart and tell me this.

Abigail: I have been hurt, Mr. Danforth. I have been near to murdered every day because I done my duty pointing out the Devil's people. There is-- face turns, frightened.

Danforth: Apprehensively. What is it, child?

Abigail: Looking in the air; clasping her arms about her as though cold. I-- I know not. A wind, a cold wind has come.

Eyes fall on Mary Warren

Proctor: She's pretending!

Danforth: Mary Warren, do you witch her? I say to you, do you send your spirit out?

Abigail: Oh, Heavenly Father, take away this shadow!

Proctor: How do you call Heaven! Whore! Whore! Abigail is a whore!

Danforth, dumfounded: You charge--?

Proctor: Mark her! Now she'll suck a scream to stab me with, but--

Danforth: You will prove this! This will not pass!

Proctor, trembling, his life collapsing about him: I have known her, sir. I have known her.

Danforth: She-- she is a lecher?

Proctor: She used to serve me in my house, sir.

Danforth: And when she put this girl out of your house, she put her out for a harlot?

Proctor: Aye, sir.

Danforth: Your wife, you say, is an honest woman.

Proctor: In her life, sir, she have never lied.

Danforth: Bring her out!

Enter Elizabeth.

Danforth: Come here, woman. Elizabeth comes to him, glancing at Proctor's back. Look at me only, not at your husband. In my eyes only.

Elizabeth, faintly: Good, sir.

Danforth: We are given to understand that at one time you dismissed your servant, Abigail Williams. For what cause did you dismiss her?

Elizabeth, not knowing what to say, sensing a situation, wetting her lips to stall for time: She dissatisfied me. Pause. And my husband.

Danforth: In what way dissatisfied you?

Elizabeth: I came to think he fancied her. And so one night I lost my wits, I think, and put her out on the highroad.

Danforth: Your husband-- Did he indeed turn from you?

Elizabeth, faintly: No, sir.

Danforth: Remove her, Marshal.

Proctor: Elizabeth, tell the truth!

Danforth: She has spoken. Remove her!

Proctor, crying out: Elizabeth, I have confessed it!

Elizabeth: Oh, God! The door closes behind her.

Proctor: She only thought to save my name!

Danforth: She spoke nothing of lechery, and this man had lied!

Hale: I believe him! This girl has always struck me false! She has--

Abigail, to the rafters: You will not! Begone! Begone, I say!

Danforth: What is it child? But Abigail, pointing in fear, is now raising up her frightened eyes and awed face toward the ceiling. The girls are doing the same-- and now Parris and Danforth do the same. What's there? He lowers his eyes from the ceiling and now he is frightened; there is real tension in his voice. Child! She is transfixed with all the girls, she is whispering open-mouthed, agape at the ceiling. Girls! Why do you--?

Abigail: It's on the beam! Behind the rafter! Why--? She gulps. Why do you come, yellow bird?

Proctor: Where's a bird? I see no bird! Frantically. They're pretending, Mr. Danforth!

Abigail: Oh, please, Mary! Don't come down. Her claws, she's stretching her claws!

Proctor: Lies, lies!

Abigail: Mary, please don't hurt me!

Mary Warren, to Danforth: I'm not hurting her!

Danforth, to Mary Warren: Why does she see this vision?

Mary Warren: She sees nothin'!

Abigail, stares at Mary Warren as if hypnotized: She sees nothing.

Mary Warren, pleading: Abby, you mustn't!

*Mary Warren interior monologue*

Abigail and the girls: Abby, you mustn't!

Danforth, horrified: Mary Warren! Draw back your spirit out of them!

Mary Warren: Mr. Danforth!

Abigail and the girls, cutting her off: Mr. Danforth!

Danforth: Have you compacted with the Devil? Have you?

Mary Warren: Never, never!

Abigail and girls: Never, never!

Danforth: Why can they only repeat you?

Mary Warren: They're sporting. They--!

Abigail and girls: They're sporting.

Mary Warren, turning on them and stamping her feet: Abby, stop it!

Abby and girls: Abby, stop it!

Mary Warren, screaming and raising her fists: STOP IT!!!

Girls: STOP IT!!!

Danforth: A little while ago you were afflicted. Now it seems you afflict others; where did you find this power?

Mary Warren, staring at Abigail: I-- have no power.

Girls: I have no power.

Danforth: You have seen the Devil, you have made compact with Lucifer, have you not?

Mary utters something unintelligible, staring at Abby, who keeps watching the "bird" above.

Abigail, pointing upward: The wings! Her wings are spreading! Mary please don't, don't--!

Danforth: Will you speak!

Mary Warren, staring in horror: I cannot!

Girls: I cannot!

Abigail, looking up: Look out! She's coming down!

Girls run to one wall, shielding their eyes. They let out a gigantic scream, and Mary, too screams. Proctor strides to her.

Proctor: Mary, tell the Governor what they-- Mary rushes out of his reach, screaming in horror.

Mary Warren: Don't touch me-- don't touch me! Girls halt at the door. Mary points at Proctor. You're the Devil's man!

*Mary Warren interior monologue*

Parris: Praise God!

Girls: Praise God!

Proctor, numbed: How--?

Mary Warren: I'll not hang with you! I love God, I love God.

Danforth, to Mary: He bid you do the Devil's work?

Mary Warren, hysterically, indicating Proctor: He come at me by night and every day. My name, he wants my name. "I'll murder you," he says, "if my wife hangs! We must go and overthrow the court," he says!

Proctor: Mary, Mary!

Mary Warren, screaming at him: No, I love God; I go your way no more. I love God, I bless God.

Danforth, to Proctor: I have seen your power; you will not deny it! What say you, Mister? Will you confess yourself befouled with Hell, or do you keep that black allegiance yet? What say you Mister? Will you confess yourself befouled with Hell, or do you keep that black allegiance yet? What say you?

Proctor: I say-- I say-- God is dead! Laughs insanely. A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face and yours DanforthÉ God damns our kind especially and we will burn, we will burn together!


 

Commercial:

McCarthy: Many people wonder how it is we can prove someone is a Communist or not. The answer is simple, good people: if a person in good standing with the American way of life says that someone is Communist, they must be Communist. After all, that good citizen would never lie, would they? And of course the Communist will try to deny it to save their own skin! That is why we must prosecute each and every Communist to the full extent of the law, whether or not there is any so-called "proof"--makes the quotation marks with his fingers-- behind it.

 

Act 4 Transitions:

In this final scene, we watch as Proctor decides to choose life over pride. Parris has a change of heart and tries to do everything he can to postpone the hangings. Hale too, strives to save Proctor's life and convinces Elizabeth to talk to him. Though Elizabeth loves her husband, she tells Proctor to do what he think is right, and that nobody, not even herself will judge him.

 

Act 4

Parris: There is news, sir, that the court-- the court must reckon with. My niece-- I believe she has vanished. I think she be aboard a ship. My daughter tells me how she heard them speaking of ships last week, and tonight I discover my-- my strongbox is broke into.

Danforth: She have robbed you?

Parris: Thirty- one pound is gone. I am penniless. I would postpone these hangin's for a time.

*Parris interior monologue*

Danforth: There will be no postponement.

Parris: Rebecca will not confess?

Hale: The sun will rise in a few minutes. Excellency, I must have more time.

Danforth: Now hear me, and beguile yourselves no more. I will not receive a single plea for pardon or postponement. Have you spoken with them all, Mr. Hale.

Hale: All but Proctor. Excellency, if you postpone a week and publish to the tow that you are striving for their confessions, that speak mercy on your part, not faltering.

Danforth: Mr. Hale, as God have not empowered me like Joshua to stop this sun from rising, so I cannot withhold from them the perfection of their punishment.

*Danforth interior monologue*

Enter Elizabeth.

Hale: Goody Proctor, your husband is marked to hang this morning.

Elizabeth: I have heard it.

Hale: Will you plead with him? I cannot think he will listen to another.

Elizabeth: I think that be the Devil's argument.

Hale: Woman, before the laws of God we are as swine! We cannot read His will!

Danforth: Will you plead for his confession or will you not?

Elizabeth: I promise nothing. Let me speak with him.

Enter Proctor.

Proctor: None-- have confessed?

Elizabeth: There be many confessed.

Proctor: And Giles?

Elizabeth: Giles is dead. He would not answer aye or nay to his indictment; for if he denied the charge they'd hang him surely. They press him, John. Great stones they lay upon his chest until he plead aye or nay. They say give them but two words. "More weight," he says. And died.

Proctor: I have been thinking I would confess to them, Elizabeth. What say you? If I give them that? What would you have me do?

Elizabeth: As you will, I would have it. I want you living, John. That's sure. Do what you will. But let none be your judge. There be no higher judge under Heaven that Proctor is! Forgive me, forgive me, John-- I never knew such goodness in the world!

Proctor, to Danforth: I want my life.

Danforth: Praise to God; you shall be blessed in Heaven for this. Now then, let us have it. Did you see the Devil?

Proctor: I did.

Danforth: And you bound yourself to his service?

Proctor: I did.

Danforth: Mr. Proctor. When the Devil come to you did you see Rebecca Nurse in his company? Pause Come, man, take courage-- did you ever see her with the Devil?

Proctor: No

Danforth: Did you ever see anyone with the Devil?

Proctor: I did not.

Danforth: Proctor, you mistake me. I am not empowered to trade your life for a lie. You have most certainly seen some person with the Devil. Mr. Proctor, a score of people have already testified they saw this woman with the Devil.

Proctor: Then it is proved. Why must I say it?

Danforth: Why "must" you say it! Why, you should rejoice to say it if your soul is truly purged of any love for Hell!

Proctor: I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it.

Hale: Excellency, it is enough he confess himself. Let him sign it, let him sign it.

Danforth: Come, then, sign your testimony.

Proctor: You have all witnessed it-- it is enough.

Danforth: You will not sign it? Proctor, the village must have proof that--

Proctor: I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are. It is enough!

Danforth: Mr. Proctor, I must have good and legal proof that you--

Proctor: You are the high court, your word is good enough! Tell them I confessed myself; say Proctor broke his knees and wept like a woman: say what you will, but my name cannot--

Danforth: Then explain to me, Mr. Proctor, why you will not let--

Proctor: Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; Leave me my name!

Danforth: Is that document a lie? If it is a lie I will not accept it! You will give me your honest confession in my hand, or I cannot keep you from the rope. Which way do you go, Mister?

Hale: Man, you will hang! You cannot!

Proctor: I can. And there's your first marvel, that I can. You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs. Give them no tear. Tears pleasure them! Show honor now show a stony heart and sink them with it!

Danforth: Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for these weeps for corruption.

Hale: Go to him, Goody Proctor! There is yet time! Woman, plead with him! Woman! It is pride, it is vanity. Be his helper! What profit him to bleed? Shall the dust praise him? Shall the worms declare his truth? Go to him, take his shame away!

Elizabeth: He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!


Commercial:

McCarthy: In conclusion, folks, if you know a Communist or are a Communist yourself, I suggest you turn yourself in. If this is done, then our nation's government will deal with you in a more lenient manner. Honestly, would you rather make a date with the electric chair after the government finds out your secret Communist schemes, or beallowed to live and at the most have your name be blacklisted? What will it be? Death or life? I think your name is a small price to pay for coming clean. The chair or the lists? Communists are everywhere, so confess or else...

 

THE END