Name:John Proctor

Verdict: Innocent of witchcraft

Age:Mid 30’s

Gender:Male

Social standing:Respected common farmer

Key relationships:

  • Elizabeth Proctor (wife)
  • Abigail Williams (had an affair with)

Key actions:

  • Does not attend church
  • Open dislike for Reverend Parris
  • Commits adultery
  • Repents affair with Abigail
  • Forgets the commandment of, ‘thou shalt not commit adultery’
  • Confesses affair with Abigail to his wife and to judges
  • Convinces Mary warren to testify against Abigail
  • Confesses to witchcraft
  • Refuses to sign document that confirms his involvement in witchcraft

Key quotes:

  • Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut of my hand before I ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby.”
  • “I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God anymore.”
  • “No more! I should have roared you down when you first told me your suspicions. But I wilted, and, like a Christian, I confessed. Confessed! Some dream I had must have mistaken you for God that day. But you’re not, you’re not, and let you remember it! Let you look sometimes for the good in me, and judge me not.”
  • “They’re pretending!”
  • “You are pulling down heaven and raising up a whore.”
  • “I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man. My honesty is broke, Elizabeth; I am no good man. Nothing’s spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long before.”
  • “How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”

Name: John Proctor

Verdict: Guilty of witchcraft

Age: Mid 30’s

Gender: Male

Social standing: Respected common farmer

Key relationships:

  • Elizabeth Proctor (wife)
  • Abigail Williams (had an affair with)

Key actions:

  • Does not attend church
  • Open dislike for Reverend Parris
  • Commits adultery
  • Repents affair with Abigail
  • Forgets the commandment of, ‘thou shalt not commit adultery’
  • Confesses affair with Abigail to his wife and to judges
  • Convinces Mary warren to testify against Abigail
  • Confesses to witchcraft
  • Refuses to sign document that confirms his involvement in witchcraft

Key quotes:

  • Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut of my hand before I ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby.”
  • “I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God anymore.”
  • “No more! I should have roared you down when you first told me your suspicions. But I wilted, and, like a Christian, I confessed. Confessed! Some dream I had must have mistaken you for God that day. But you’re not, you’re not, and let you remember it! Let you look sometimes for the good in me, and judge me not.”
  • “They’re pretending!”
  • “You are pulling down heaven and raising up a whore.”
  • “I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man. My honesty is broke, Elizabeth; I am no good man. Nothing’s spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long before.”
  • “How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”

Name:Elizabeth Proctor

Verdict: Innocent of witchcraft

Age:early 30’s

Gender:Female

Social standing: House wife

Key relationships:

  • John Proctor (husband)

Key actions:

  • Does not attend church
  • Cold towards John
  • Throws Abigail out of the house after knowing about the affair
  • Struggles to forgive her husband and let go of her anger
  • Remains suspicious of John
  • Convinces John to talk to Abigail when she is accused of witchcraft
  • Hatred for Abigail
  • Is found to have a poppet in her house
  • Lies to judges about John committing adultery
  • Falls pregnant to John for the fourth time
  • Accepts and respects John by the end of the play

Key quotes:

  • John, with so many in jail, more than Cheever’s help is needed now, I think. Would you favor me with this? Go to Abigail.
  • It is her dearest hope, I know it. There be a thousand names; why does she call mine? There be a certain danger in calling such a name-I am no Goody Good that sleeps in ditches, nor Osburn, drunk and half-witted. She’d dare not call out such a farmer’s wife but there be monstrous profit in it. She thinks to take my place, John.
  • "John, I counted myself so plain, so poorly made, no honest love could come to me! Suspicion kissed you when I did. . . . It were a cold house I kept!"

Name:Elizabeth Proctor

Verdict:Guilty of witchcraft

Age:early 30’s

Gender:Female

Social standing: House wife

Key relationships:

  • John Proctor (husband)

Key actions:

  • Does not attend church
  • Cold towards John
  • Throws Abigail out of the house after knowing about the affair
  • Struggles to forgive her husband and let go of her anger
  • Convinces John to talk to Abigail when she is accused of witchcraft
  • Hatred for Abigail
  • Is found to have a poppet in her house
  • Lies to judges about John committing adultery
  • Falls pregnant to John for the fourth time
  • Accepts and respects John by the end of the play

Key quotes:

  • John, with so many in jail, more than Cheever’s help is needed now, I think. Would you favor me with this? Go to Abigail.
  • It is her dearest hope, I know it. There be a thousand names; why does she call mine? There be a certain danger in calling such a name-I am no Goody Good that sleeps in ditches, nor Osburn, drunk and half-witted. She’d dare not call out such a farmer’s wife but there be monstrous profit in it. She thinks to take my place, John.
  • "John, I counted myself so plain, so poorly made, no honest love could come to me! Suspicion kissed you when I did. . . . It were a cold house I kept!"

Name:Abigail Williams

Verdict: Innocent of witchcraft

Age:16

Gender: Female

Social standing: Reverend’s niece

Key relationships:

  • Reverend Parris’s niece
  • Betty Parris’s elder cousin
  • John Proctor (had an affair)

Key actions:

  • Orphaned girl, saw her parents get murdered
  • Dancing in the forest, drinks chicken blood and convinces Tituba to put a curse on Elizabeth, hoping to get rid of her and take her place at John's side
  • Has an affair with John Proctor
  • Accuses the following of witchcraft:Tituba, Sarah Good, Goody Osburn, Elizabeth Proctor, Giles Corey, Martha Corey, -Rebecca Nurse, Marry Warren and John Proctor
  • Threatens other girls to go along with her plans
  • Acts bewitched in the courtroom
  • Steals Reverend Parri’s money and flees Salem

Key quotes:

  • "I saw Indians smash my dear parents' head on the pillow next to mine"
  • “She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her!”
  • ABIGAIL: She comes to me every night to go and drink blood!
    TITUBA: You beg me to conjure! She beg me make charm-
    ABIGAIL: Don't lie! (To Hale): She comes to me while I sleep; she's always making me dream corruptions!
  • “Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam's dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.”
  • “You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet! John, pity me, pity me!”
  • “I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!”
  • (Proctor about Abigail): I beg you, sir, I beg you—see her what she is. . . . She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance.

Name:Abigail Williams

Verdict:Guilty of witchcraft

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Social standing: Reverend’s niece

Key relationships:

  • Reverend Parris’s niece
  • Betty Parris’s elder cousin
  • John Proctor (had an affair)

Key actions:

  • Orphaned girl, saw her parents get murdered
  • Dancing in the forest, drinks chicken blood and convinces Tituba to put a curse on Elizabeth, hoping to get rid of her and take her place at John's side
  • Has an affair with John Proctor
  • Accuses the following of witchcraft:Tituba, Sarah Good, Goody Osburn, Elizabeth Proctor, Giles Corey, Martha Corey, -Rebecca Nurse, Marry Warren and John Proctor
  • Threatens other girls to go along with her plans
  • Acts bewitched in the courtroom
  • Steals Reverend Parri’s money and flees Salem

Key quotes:

  • "I saw Indians smash my dear parents' head on the pillow next to mine"
  • “She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her!”
  • ABIGAIL: She comes to me every night to go and drink blood!
    TITUBA: You beg me to conjure! She beg me make charm-
    ABIGAIL: Don't lie! (To Hale): She comes to me while I sleep; she's always making me dream corruptions!
  • “Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam's dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.”
  • “You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet! John, pity me, pity me!”
  • “I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!”
  • (Proctor about Abigail): I beg you, sir, I beg you—see her what she is. . . . She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance.

Name:Mr & Mrs Putnam

Verdict: Innocent of witchcraft

Age:Mid 30’s

Gender:Mr Putnma-male

Mrs Putnam- female

Social standing:WealthyProperty/land owner

Key relationships:

  • Married to one another
  • Father and Mother of Ruth Putnam

Key actions:

  • Mrs Putnam has given birth to eight children, but only one Ruth Putnam survived.
  • Mrs Putnam persuades Tituba to conjure up her dead seven babies
  • Mrs Putnam accuses Rebecca Nurse of witchcraft
  • Mr Putnam holds a grudge against Francis Nurse for preventing Putnam's brother-in-law from being elected to the office of minister.
  • Mr Putnamaccuses his neighbors of witchcraft
  • MrPutnum uses his daughter Ruth to accuse George Jacobs whose property he covets

Key quotes:

  • “They were murdered, Mr. Parris! And mark this proof! Last night my Ruth were ever so close to their little spirits; I know it, sir.”
  • “How may we blame ourselves? I am one of nine sons; the Putnam seed have peopled this province. And yet I have but one child left of eight-and now she shrivels!”
  • (Mr Putnam to Parris): “You are not undone! Let you take hold here. Wait for no one to charge you- declare it yourself. You have discovered witchcraft.”
  • Proctor about Thomas Putnam: “Your grandfather had a habit of willing land that never belonged to him, if I may say it plain.”

Name:Mr & Mrs Putnam

Verdict:Guilty of witchcraft

Age:Mid 30’s

Gender:Mr Putnma-male

Mrs Putnam- female

Social standing:WealthyProperty/land owner

Key relationships:

  • Married to one another
  • Father and Mother of Ruth Putnam

Key actions:

  • Mrs Putnam has given birth to eight children, but only one Ruth Putnam survived.
  • Mrs Putnam persuades Tituba to conjure up her dead seven babies
  • Mrs Putnam accuses Rebecca Nurse of witchcraft
  • Mr Putnam holds a grudge against Francis Nurse for preventing Putnam's brother-in-law from being elected to the office of minister.
  • Mr Putnamaccuses his neighbors of witchcraft
  • MrPutnum uses his daughter Ruth to accuse George Jacobs whose property he covets

Key quotes:

  • “They were murdered, Mr. Parris! And mark this proof! Last night my Ruth were ever so close to their little spirits; I know it, sir.”
  • “How may we blame ourselves? I am one of nine sons; the Putnam seed have peopled this province. And yet I have but one child left of eight-and now she shrivels!”
  • (Mr Putnam to Parris): “You are not undone! Let you take hold here. Wait for no one to charge you- declare it yourself. You have discovered witchcraft.”
  • Proctor about Thomas Putnam: “Your grandfather had a habit of willing land that never belonged to him, if I may say it plain.”

Name:The Reverends (Parris & Hale)

Verdict:Innocent

Age:Mid 60’s

Gender:Mr Samuel Parris -male

Mr John Hale- male

Social standing:

Mr Samuel Parris –Minister of Salem

Mr John Hale- Minister from Beverly, respected and well known witchcraft expert

Key relationships:

  • Samuel Parris father of Betty Parris, Uncle of Abigail Williams
  • John Hale- family unknown

Key actions:

  • Parris catches his niece Abigail and the girls dancing in the forest.
  • Parris calls Abigail to him and gets her to confess that Tituba and Ruth were conjuring spirits
  • Parris is fearful of his reputation being tarnished therefore confronts the matter head on by requesting Reverend Hale
  • Asks Danforth to postpone hangings of Proctor and Rebecca Nurse
  • Parris confesses to Danforth that Abigail has robbed him and run away from town
  • Parris encourages Danforth to let Elizabeth speak to Proctor, to convince him to confess
  • Hale is called by Parris to see Betty.
  • Hale calls Tituba and compels her to confess and provide names of other villagers that she saw with the Devil.
  • Hale unofficially goes around to see the women who have been “mentioned” in court – Elizabeth, Martha, and Rebecca – that he thinks are unlikely to be witches.
  • Hale shows up at the same time that Giles Corey, Francis Nurse, and John Proctor come with evidence to defend their wives. He urges Danforth to listen to them.
  • Hale condemns the proceedings and leaves the court
  • After a few months away, Hale returns to encourage those condemned to death to confess. He has come to realise that the witchcraft trials were completely unwarranted, and he feels that their blood is on his hands.

Key quotes:

(Parris): “You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!”

(Parris): “Abigail, I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character.”

(Proctor about Parris): “I like it not that Mr. Parris should lay his hand upon my baby. I see no light of God in that man. I'll not conceal it.”

(Hale):“Now let me instruct you. We cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone, and I must tell you all that I shall not proceed unless you are prepared to believe me if I should find no bruise of hell upon her”.

(Hale):“Excellency, I have signed 72 death warrants; I am a minister of the Lord, and I dare not take another life without there be proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience may doubt it

(Hale):“Excellency, it is a natural lie to tell; I beg you, stop now before another is condemned! Private vengeance is working through this testimony! By my oath to Heaven, I believe him now.”

(Hale:)“There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head!!”

Name:The Reverends (Parris & Hale)Verdict:Guilty

Age:Mid 60’s

Gender:Mr Samuel Parris -male

Mr John Hale- male

Social standing:

Mr Samuel Parris –Minister of Salem

Mr John Hale- Minister from Beverly, respected and well known witchcraft expert

Key relationships:

  • Samuel Parris father of Betty Parris, Uncle of Abigail Williams
  • John Hale- family unknown

Key actions:

  • Parris catches his niece Abigail and the girls dancing in the forest.
  • Parris calls Abigail to him and gets her to confess that Tituba and Ruth were conjuring spirits
  • Parris is fearful of his reputation being tarnished therefore confronts the matter head on by requesting Reverend Hale
  • Asks Danforth to postpone hangings of Proctor and Rebecca Nurse
  • Parris confesses to Danforth that Abigail has robbed him and run away from town
  • Parris encourages Danforth to let Elizabeth speak to Proctor, to convince him to confess
  • Hale is called by Parris to see Betty.
  • Hale calls Tituba and compels her to confess and provide names of other villagers that she saw with the Devil.
  • Hale unofficially goes around to see the women who have been “mentioned” in court – Elizabeth, Martha, and Rebecca – that he thinks are unlikely to be witches.
  • Hale shows up at the same time that Giles Corey, Francis Nurse, and John Proctor come with evidence to defend their wives. He urges Danforth to listen to them.
  • Hale condemns the proceedings and leaves the court
  • After a few months away, Hale returns to encourage those condemned to death to confess. He has come to realise that the witchcraft trials were completely unwarranted, and he feels that their blood is on his hands.

Key quotes: