Vocabulary

Act 1

1. Heathen (n.) -an irreligious or uncivilized person

2. Conjure (v.) - to practice magic

3. Faction (n.) - a group within a larger group

4. Abomination (n.) - a vile action, condition, or habit

5. Gibberish (n.) - meaningless talk; nonsense

6. Deference (n.) - respectful yielding to another

7. Naught (n.) - nothing

8. Dwindling (v.) - to shrink or diminish

9. Abyss (n.) - a vast chasm; Hell

10. Intimation (n.) - a hint; suggestion

11. Formidable (adj.) - strong; powerful; causing fear

12. Trepidation (n.) - tremulous fear, alarm, or agitation

13. Titillate (v.) - to excite agreeably (14 across) 

14. Notorious (adj.) widely and unfavorably known

15. Prodigious (adj.) - extraordinary; arousing admiration

16. Fathom (v.) - comprehend; understand

17. Defamation (n.) - the injuring of one’s reputation

18. Anarchy (n.) - confusion; chaos; disorder

19. Avidly (adv.) - enthusiastically, eagerly

20. Licentious (adj.) - sexually unrestrained; immoral

21. Blanched (adj.) - to become pale

22. Evade (v.) - to escape or avoid

Act 2

23. Pallor (n.) - extreme paleness

24. Ameliorate (v.) - to improve; to make better

25. Indignant (adj.) - offended; insulted

Characters

Reverend Samuel Parris 

The minister of Salem, Betty’s father, and Abigail’s uncle. Tituba is his slave. As a minister, Parris delivers harsh fire and brimstone sermons that sometimes turn off his parishioners. As a father and master, he's inattentive and quick to anger. Parris's insecurity and obsessive concern with his reputation result from his near paranoid belief that someone is plotting to persecute him, steal his position, ruin his good name, or harm him in some other way. 

• Widower 

• No interest in children 

• Father of Betty 

• Uncle of Abigail 

• Says he's not getting paid enough 

Betty Parris 

Reverend Parris's teenage daughter. In many ways she seems like a typical teenager rebelling against her overly protective father. A follower, she quickly falls in line with Abigail's plot. 

• Fainted in the woods 

Abigail Williams 

The 17-year-old niece of Reverend Parris. Marauding Native Americans killed Abigail's parents when Abigail was young. While a servant in John Proctor’s household, Abigail briefly became John's lover before Elizabeth found out and fired her. Abigail is beautiful, intelligent, crafty, and vindictive. She's also a skillful liar. She is the leader of her group of girlfriends and is willing to do anything to protect herself. 

• Niece of Parris 

• Was fired by Elizabeth because of her affair with John 

Tituba 

A slave of Reverend Parris, she is originally from Barbados. Tituba is terrified of Parris, who generally blames her for everything that goes wrong in the house. As a black female slave, she represents the lowest rung of Salem society. 

• Parris’s slave 

• Sang songs for the girls in the woods 

  • Abigail 

  • Betty 

  • Ruth 

  • Mercy 

  • Mary 

• From Barbados 

• Confesses because she feared being hung 

• Blames Sarah Good and Osburn of witchcraft because Putnam said their names earlier 

Thomas Putnam 

The husband of Ann Putnam, and one of the richest farmers and landowners in all of Salem. Putnam is a bitter man who feels that the citizens of Salem have not given him the respect that he and his family deserve. He seeks to gain respect and revenge by increasing his wealth, landholdings, and influence however he can. 

• Father of Ruth Putnam 

• One of nine sons 

Ann Putnam 

The wife of Thomas Putnam. Mrs. Putnam is as bitter as her husband, but for different reasons: just one of the many babies she has given birth to has survived past infancy. 

• Mother of Ruth Putnam 

• 7 out of her 8 children died in infancy 

  • Believes when Tituba claims Sarah Good and Osborne are witches because they were her midwives for her dead children

• Sent Ruth into the forest to conjure her sisters' spirits to find out what happened to them 

Ruth Putnam 

• Daughter of Thomas & Ann Putnam 

• Her mother sent her into the forest with the girls to conjure her dead sisters’ spirits to find out why they all had died during infancy 

Mercy Lewis 

A teenage girl and a servant in the Putnam household. She is Abigail's closest friend and confidant, and the second in command of the group of girls behind the trials. 

• Servant of the Putnam’s 

• 18 

• Fat, sly merciless 

Mary Warren 

A teenage girl and a servant in the Proctor household who replaces Abigail Williams. She is a generally good and quiet girl. She fears wrongdoing, but she fears Abigail even more. 

• 17 

• Naive, lonely, subservient 

• John Proctor’s servant 

John Proctor 

A farmer, and the husband of Elizabeth. Proctor had an affair with Abigail Williams while she worked as a servant in his house. A powerful man in both build and character, Proctor refuses to follow people he considers hypocrites, including Reverend Parris. Feared and resented by the many people in Salem he has made feel foolish, Proctor has a powerful sense of personal integrity. For this reason, his affair with Abigail makes him see himself as a hypocrite. 

• Farmer 

• Middle 30s 

Elizabeth Proctor 

The wife of John Proctor. She fires Abigail Williams as her servant when she discovers that the girl is having an affair with Proctor. Elizabeth is a good woman known for never telling a lie. She loves her husband deeply but seems to have the sense that she doesn't deserve him, and therefore often responds coldly to him. His affair with Abigail had both shaken the trust she had in her husband and convinced her that she was right in her assumption that she didn't deserve him.

Francis Nurse 

A wealthy farmer and landowner in Salem and the husband of Rebecca Nurse. Francis Nurse is generally considered by the Salem community to be a good man, but many people resent his recent rise to wealth. He's had arguments over land with Putnam that have risen even to the level of physical fights. Families related to Francis Nurse were involved in refusing to allow Putnam's wife's brother-in-law to become the minister of Salem, a slight that Putnam has not forgotten. 

• Husband of Rebecca Nurse 

Rebecca Nurse 

The wife of the wealthy farmer Francis Nurse. Rebecca is a much beloved and admired figure in Salem for her religiousness and good sense. She has also served as the midwife at many births. 

• 72 years old 

• White haired 

• Wife of Francis Nurse 

• People had very high opinion of her 

• 11 kids, 26 grandkids 

• Disliked by Ann Putnam 

  • Because Ann is jealous that she only has one living child

Giles Corey 

A farmer who owns a farm near Salem, Giles is an old man and somewhat of a rascal, but also very brave and moral at heart. In his many years he's been involved in numerous court cases and lawsuits, and therefore knows the law inside and out. He is married to Martha Corey. 

• 83 

• Canny, inquisitive, still powerful 

• Making his wife sound like she is a witch 

Reverend John Hale 

A minister in the nearby Massachusetts town of Beverly, and an expert in identifying witchcraft. An intelligent man, Hale sees himself as a scientist and philosopher, a kind of physician of the soul. At the beginning of the play he's something of an innocent, taking for granted that the world is black and white and that he, with his expertise, can tell the difference between the two. By the end of the play his outlook has changed considerably. Unlike the other priests, his insistence on uncovering facts makes it impossible for him to overlook the evidence indicating that those condemned of witchcraft in Salem were innocent. 

• Nearing 40 

• Tight-skinned, eager eyed intellectual 

• Summoned to Salem to identify witches 

  • Later realizes that there is no witchcraft in Salem; only corruption 

  • Leaves and returns later 

Plot

• Betty fainted the night before after Reverend Parris catches her and the other girls dancing in the woods and has yet to wake up 

• Ruth has as well 

• 7 out of Ann’s 8 children died in infancy 

• Tituba conjured Ruth’s sisters to come out of the grave 

• Betty wakes up, saying Abigail drank blood 

• Says Abby killed John Proctor's wife 

• Abby threatens to kill them if any of them tell on her for witchcraft

• John had an affair with Abby 

• Reverend Parris believes he is not being paid enough 

• Abigail blames Tituba saying that she is forcing her to sin

• Tituba confesses and tells names of witches 

  • Because she doesn’t want to be hung

• The names were just names Putnam had said earlier 

• Sarah Good & Osborne

• Abigail and Betty then join in, naming others