Summary

The Crucible, Act

Three
Drama by Arthur Miller

Background
At the end of Act Two, Elizabeth Proctor is accused of
witchcraft. John Proctor swears that he will not let his wife
die for him. He plans to go to court to reveal the truth about
Abigail, bringing Mary Warren with him.

Summary
Act Three takes place in Salem’s meeting house, which is meeting house: the most
now being used as a courtroom. Judge Hathorne is questioning ­important building in the Puritan
community, used both for worship
Martha Corey, Giles Corey’s wife. When Hathorne says that the
and for meetings.
court has evidence that she tells fortunes, she denies being a
witch. Hathorne asks her why she hurts children, and she denies
this, too.
From outside the courtroom, Giles yells that he has evidence
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that the reason his wife is accused is that Thomas Putnam wants
to claim land that is not his. Judge Hathorne, Deputy Governor
Danforth, and other officials of the court tell Giles to leave. Giles
pleads his wife’s innocence. Weeping, he tells Danforth that she
only reads books and is not a witch. Mr. Hale convinces Danforth
to allow Giles to submit his evidence in an official document, and
Giles is sent away from the court.
Francis Nurse is also at court. Rebecca, his wife, was
condemned earlier that morning. Francis tells Danforth that he
has proof that the girls are liars. Danforth tells Francis that he has
sent almost 400 people to jail in Massachusetts for witchcraft,

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 Summary

and 72 of those people were condemned to hang. Bravely, Francis

tells the Deputy Governor that he has been fooled.
John Proctor leads Mary Warren into the court. Proctor tells
the men that Mary Warren has something to tell them. Parris
warns Danforth that Proctor is “mischief,” or trouble, and that he
means to bring down the authority of the court.
When Danforth asks Mary Warren what she has to say, she is
too afraid to speak. Proctor tells Danforth that Mary Warren has
signed a paper stating that she never saw spirits. She admits to
Danforth that she and the girls were only pretending.
Danforth is confused by Mary Warren’s confession. He asks READING CHECK
Proctor why he would bring this evidence of fraud to the court. What is Danforth’s reaction to Mary
Proctor swears that he only wants to free his wife and does not Warren’s statement about what the
question the authority of the court. Ezekiel Cheever interrupts, girls have been saying?
telling Danforth that when they came to take his wife, John
Proctor complained about the court and ripped up the warrant
for Elizabeth’s arrest.
Danforth continues to question John Proctor. He asks if
Proctor has ever seen the Devil and if Proctor is a good Christian.
Parris and Cheever argue that Proctor doesn’t often come to
church and works in his fields on Sunday (the Christian day of rest
and worship).
Danforth tells Proctor that he has seen many strange things
in the courtroom and that he has had no reason to suspect that
the girls have been pretending. Proctor asks Danforth if it seems
strange that until now many of the accused women have had
good reputations. But Danforth argues that Cain, from the Bible,
was considered a good man before he killed his brother Abel.
Proctor argues that the only proof against the accused witches
comes from the group of girls, and Mary Warren has stated that
they were lying.
Danforth then tells Proctor that Elizabeth has told him that
she is pregnant; therefore, she will only be imprisoned until her
baby is born. With Elizabeth’s safety secured for at least a year,
Danforth encourages Proctor to drop the charges against the
girls. Proctor refuses, and Danforth agrees to hear his evidence.
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Proctor shows Danforth a document signed by 91 well-

respected townspeople stating that they’ve known Rebecca
Nurse, Elizabeth Proctor, and Martha Corey for years and that
they’ve never seen signs that the women were witches. Parris
and Hathorne urge Danforth to bring the people who signed
the document to court to be questioned. Danforth tells Cheever
to write warrants for the arrest of all 91 people who signed the
document.

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 Summary

Francis Nurse is horrified that he has endangered the lives

of the people who signed the document. Danforth tells Francis
that they are either with the court or against it. There is no middle
ground. Mary Warren begins to cry, and John Proctor tries to
comfort her by saying a line from the Bible: “Do that which is
good, and no harm shall come to thee.”
Giles Corey then shows Danforth his deposition, or official
statement, that says Putnam told his daughter to say that George
Jacobs is a witch. Putnam denies this. Danforth asks Giles for
proof. Giles says his proof is that if George Jacobs is hanged,
his property will go up for sale. Putnam is the only person rich
enough to buy the land.
Giles says Putnam is causing his neighbor’s death in order to
buy his land. Giles says that someone told him they overheard READING CHECK
Putnam admit to this scheme. But when Giles refuses to say the
Why does Giles think that Putnam
person’s name who told him this information, Danforth threatens is the reason that George Jacobs
to imprison Giles. has been accused of being a witch?
Hale interrupts Danforth’s questioning of Giles to say that
many people live in fear of the court. Danforth gets angry and
says the townspeople are afraid because there is a plot against
Christianity in the town. Danforth says Giles is under arrest for
speaking out against the court. Angered, Giles tries to attack
Putnam, but John Proctor holds him back.
Proctor tries to give Danforth the statement Mary Warren
signed that says she never saw Satan and that her friends are
lying. Hale interrupts and says that because of the importance of
this document, Proctor should have lawyers give it to Danforth.
Danforth dismisses this suggestion and takes the paper. He reads
it carefully. He asks Cheever to bring the children to him and asks
Mary Warren if John Proctor forced her to sign the statement.
Mary says no. Danforth gets Mary Warren to admit that she was
lying in court.
Susanna Walcott, Mercy Lewis, Betty Parris, and Abigail
are brought before Danforth. Danforth tells the girls that Mary
Warren says they are lying. He says that it’s possible that Mary
Warren herself might be possessed by the Devil and lying to stop
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the court from finding witches. He asks the girls to tell the truth.
Abigail swears that Mary is lying.
Danforth asks about the doll found in the Proctors’ house.
Abigail says again that Mary is lying and that Elizabeth Proctor
has always had dolls in her house. Proctor objects and says his
wife does not have dolls. The men argue about whether Elizabeth
could have been hiding the dolls.
Danforth asks Proctor if he means to call Abigail Williams a
murderer. Proctor says that he thinks Abigail is capable of murder.

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 Summary

Proctor tells Danforth that Abigail has been thrown out of the
meeting house for laughing during prayer. He tells Danforth
about how Abigail led the girls into the woods to dance naked
and that Parris discovered the girls one night.
Hathorne then questions Mary Warren. He asks her why she
would faint and fall on the floor when the accused came before
her in court. She says that she was faking. Parris demands that
she show the men how she can pretend to faint. Mary Warren
says that she cannot faint now. Danforth says that perhaps she
can’t faint because they are no spirits there to make her. Mary
Warren says again that she never saw any spirits in court.
Parris tries to make Mary Warren confess that spirits did attack
her in court and make her faint. She explains that she fainted only
because the other girls were screaming and she got caught up in
the moment. She says she thought she saw spirits but did not.
Danforth turns to Abigail to ask her if she only thought she
saw spirits. Abigail says she is only doing her duty pointing
out the “Devil’s people,” and she should not be mistrusted or
questioned. Abigail warns Danforth that the Devil could even
attack him.
Suddenly, Abigail, Mercy Lewis, and Susanna Walcott say they
feel a cold wind like a shadow. Mary Warren is accused of sending
out her spirit to attack the girls. Mary Warren begins crying
hysterically and tries to run away. John Proctor grabs her, and
Abigail cries out to Heaven to make the shadow go away.
Furious, John Proctor grabs Abigail and shouts how can she
call to Heaven when she is a whore—a woman who has had sex
outside of marriage. Danforth demands that Proctor prove that
Abigail is guilty. Proctor breaks down and admits that he has had
a sexual relationship with Abigail.
With great shame, Proctor explains to the men that Abigail
used to be their servant. He slept with her, and then his wife
threw Abigail out of their home. Abigail means to get back with
him by accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft and having her hanged.
Shocked, Danforth asks Abigail if this is true. Abigail refuses
to answer. Danforth asks for Elizabeth Proctor to be brought out.
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Danforth asks Proctor if his wife is an honest woman and that she
threw Abigail out because Abigail was a harlot, a woman of low
morals. Proctor confirms this.
Elizabeth is brought before Danforth to be questioned. He
asks her why she fired their servant, Abigail Williams. Elizabeth
does not know if she should tell the truth about her husband’s
affair. She says only that she thought her husband might have
had feelings for Abigail and so she fired her. Danforth confronts
Elizabeth and tries to make her tell the truth that her husband

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 Summary

had a relationship with Abigail. Still protecting her husband,

Elizabeth denies this. READING CHECK

As she is taken out, John Proctor yells out that he has Why does Elizabeth not tell the
confessed his guilt. Elizabeth realizes her mistake. Hale begs truth about her husband’s affair
with Abigail?
Danforth to believe John Proctor, but Danforth still believes
Abigail, who is overtaken again by spirits. The other girls follow
her lead. Abigail claims Mary Warren has taken the shape of a bird
and wants to hurt her. The girls act as if Mary Warren has taken
control of them and repeat everything she says.
Growing more and more frightened, Danforth believes that
Mary Warren has control of the girls. Danforth threatens Mary
Warren that she will hang if she doesn’t confess to working with
the Devil. Proctor tries to get Mary Warren to tell the truth, but
she breaks down and calls Proctor “the Devil’s man.”
Mary Warren tells Danforth that John Proctor made her do
the Devil’s work. She refuses to help Proctor anymore. Sobbing,
Mary Warren runs to Abigail, who holds her protectively.
Danforth is now convinced that John Proctor is guilty of
working with the Devil. Danforth asks him to confess. Proctor is
overcome with emotion. He laughs crazily and tells them that
they are all guilty—they all know the truth but refuse to admit it.
Danforth orders both John Proctor and Giles Corey to be jailed.
Only Hale speaks out against Danforth and the court as the
curtain falls.

TURN & TALK

With a partner, discuss how the officials of the court react
to the girls’ show of terror. Why do they continue to believe
Abigail and the other girls?
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The Crucible, Act Three  5