Abstract
The first scene of the act I takes place in Parris' house, who is the reverend of the parish.
His daughter, Betty, is lying on the bed, unconscious. He's worry about his reputation because there is a rumor in the village about Betty, that her "disease" was caused by "unnatural causes", which reveals the witchcraft wich was heavily punishable at that time, and in a society like Salem's obey, which was a theocracy. Indeed, if someone was accused of being a witch, he or she would be sentenced to death!
Therefore, Parris tries to mute this rumor.
He talks to his niece, Abigail, who was with Betty when he discovered them, with other girls, "dancing like heathen in the forest", as he tells her. He tries to make her admit what they have done in the forest because he feels she is lying, she's hiding something... But Abigail doesn't admit anything, and claims that they just "did dance". She manipulates him to defend herself, because she knows that she could be hanged by the court if she was accused of being a witch. Thereby, she claims that she and the other girls with who she was were victims of witches.
Putnam's family, another family in Salem, is worry because their daughter looks to have the same "disease" as Betty, and they come to question the reverend Parris, who tells them that he has sent for Reverend Hale, from Beverly, a nearby village, who already has a certain experience in "unnatural causes". This arrival fed the idea that Betty's disease was caused by witchcraft, what Abigail enjoys to manipulate her uncle, and the other girls. In one scene, she is alone with John Proctor, the man she loves, but who is married, and she declares him her love.
The arrival of reverend Hale fed the idea that this situation was caused by witchcraft, by "unnatural causes", and people ate getting paranoid.
At the end of the act I, the girls are giving names to reverend Parris, names of some people who were, according to these girl, "with the devil", who are practicing witchcraft and who could bewitch Betty... Actually, the end of the act I end with some denunciations...
