Daniels 1

Quinn Daniels

April 7

End of Act 1 Paragraph

Miller uses tone and characterization as a way of developing the plot by showing the

switch between a tense conflict and hysteria. The beginning of the act starts off tense with the

girls dancing in the woods. As they are called out by the town, Abigail claims “We did dance,

uncle, and when you leaped out of the bush so suddenly, Betty was frightened and then she

fainted. And there's the whole of it.” (10 )The conflict started in the very beginning of the play,

between the girls in the woods and the uncle catching them. Due to the high tensions of the

town, hysteria grows throughout the act, as the town people start to accuse others of witchcraft.

Abigail begins the hysteria by saying “I saw Goody Hawkins with the Devil!” Betty follows by

saying “I saw Goody Bibber with the Devil!” The scene closes out with Abigail saying “I saw

Goody Booth with the Devil!” (48) What started with slight conflict in the town turned into

empty accusations of close friends in order to clear someone else's name.

Explanation:

I used writing formatting from other English prompts to accurately analyze my evidence from

the text.