This passage comes near the beginning of the book, when the town has caught news Betty

may have
been negatively affected by the devil due to some sort of witchcraft. And hence John Proctor has
come to Reverend Parris house where Betty resides unconscious meeting Abigail when he arrives.
This scene is very significant as it is a turning point in Salem and is the beginning of factions within
the town beginning to arise due to difference of opinion. From what was said earlier in the book by
Abigail ‘I will be whipped if I must be’ It is clear the consequences of moral transgressions are very
high. This makes this scene extremely intense as we learn of some moral transgressions that could
lead to serious consequences. Furthermore, the scene introduces us to the true nature of many of
the characters including Abigail, who is a character that is very manipulative and is not afraid to use
violence to get her way. We can tell this by the fact she ‘has seen some reddish work done at night’,
Overall, this leads to a sense of tension, with Abigail continuously at Johns throat over their
relationship.

The first part of the passage is made dramatic through the constant fear presented of Johns secret
getting out. We know from earlier in the text moral transgressions can have serious consequences,
and the fact that John has committed adultery remains in the back of the readers mind while this
passage plays out. Despite Johns efforts to brush Abigail off and pretend nothing has happened she
continues to hint at some sort of previous interaction saying to John ‘I am waiting for you every
night’. This is the first hint she gives towards some sort of adulterous activity, and it is clear John
wants to pretend he doesn’t know anything about saying ‘Abby, I never give you hope to wait for
me’. This gives the reader an initially sense of some secrecy which is going on. Only a few pages
earlier the whole town flocked to see some claims of witchcraft which almost foreshadows what
could happen if John’s secret gets out. This makes the whole scene tense as it is as if it could all go
downhill for John at any moment if Abigail let out what happened, this is emphasised by what
appears to be her somewhat careless nature when talking about what happened between them.

Soon after this discourse, the stage lines read ‘now beginning to anger – she can’t believe it’ this
shows us Abigail is somewhat angered at John’s response and makes this part more dramatic as it is
evident Abigail could get John in serious trouble. In Abigail says, ‘I have something better than hope,
I think!’ and once again John somewhat disregards her underlying suggestion and says ‘Abby, you’ll
put it out of mind. I’ll not be comin’ for you more.’ This exchange makes it clear Abigail is trying to
hint at something they have done while John is trying to deny any such interaction between them
‘you’ll put it out of mind’ suggests to the reader John wants her to forget whatever she’s talking
about. At this point in the passage, it is clear John has control over the flow of the conversation and
is rebutting all claims from Abigail, trying to shut her down before she says anything more of what
happened.

As the text progresses it is clear both Abigail and John are becoming every angrier at each other as
they argue over what happened. Drama is built in this passage as Abigail begins to cry over what
John has said as the stage lines read ‘She is weeping’. However, as John tries to comfort her saying
‘child’ she suddenly refutes ‘How do you call me child’ as the stage directions read ‘with a flash of
anger’. This shows us how Abigail is manipulative and fake, as one minute she is crying the next she
is angry, this is emphasised using ‘flash’ to convey how her anger is very sudden and almost
unexpected. John again however denies her as she says ‘Aye, but we did’ and John responds ‘Aye
but we did not’ this use of syntactic parallelism between John and Abigail emphasises their
disagreement and the shortness of the sentence also reflects how John wants to shut Abigail down
before she leaks any secrets that may get him in trouble.
Overall Miller makes this passage dramatic throught the constant fear that the town could hear of
their relationship, which could have significant consequences for both. This is emphasized through
Johns quick and witty responses which are clearly aimed to prevent Abigail from talking about what
happened. Furthermore, Abigail seemingly lacks filter especially when she is angry makes for a very
scary character and in turn passage as it is hard to predict when she might tell someone their secret.
This is emphasized through what has earlier happened in the town with witchcraft and how Parris
secret got out and now all the towns’ people are claiming the Devil is in his house. Moral
transgressions have serious consequences which causes the reader to be constantly in fear of how
Abigail’s actions could cause John to be punished.