The play begins in 1692, in Salem, Massachusetts. The scene opens inside the house of Reverend Samuel Parris. His house is dark and sparsely furnished. He kneels beside a bed, and prays. On the bed is his 10 year old daughter, Betty, who appears lifeless.
The audience is given an overview of the background of the play. The town of Salem is about forty years old. The people who settled it fled from Europe to form a new life, where they would be free from religious persecution. The people were a God-fearing group, who believed that if a person sinned, they had to admit that sin in order to be "saved." These people also believed that their religion, Christianity, was the only religion for the people, and straying from this religion was heresy. If a person tried be a loner, they were looked down upon, for that would mean they were leaving the community of belief that was supposed to be held by all members of society. Salem was a theocracy, a type of government formed by combining the institutions of state and church. When certain people began to be individualists, fear set into the community. It was this fear that prompted the Salem Witch Trials, the story that the play begins to tell.
Reverend Parris is kneeling on the floor praying next to Betty's bed. Tituba, Parris' slave, comes in and asks if Betty is going to be OK. Parris hurries her out of the room. Parris' seventeen-year-old niece, Abigail comes in. She says that Susanna Walcott is here with news from the doctor. Susanna enters and says that the doctor can be of no help. Parris tells her that he sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly. Susanna leaves and Abigail has a long talk with her uncle. He tries to make Abigail admit that she and the other girls were performing witchcraft in the woods. Parris says that when he caught them dancing in the woods, he also saw a girl naked. Abigail admits they were dancing with Tituba; she says they were dancing to Tituba's songs from Barbados. He says that he is going to be ruined in the town if word gets out that his daughter and Abigail were conjuring spirits. Parris asks Abigail why she was dismissed from Goody Proctor's service. Abigail says that she hates Goody Proctor and that she did nothing wrong to deserve the dismissal.
Mrs. Ann Putnam and Thomas Putnam enter. They are very disturbed over the situation. They think that Betty's fainting is a sign that hell is near. They tell that their daughter, Ruth, has taken ill, and Ann Putnam believes her illness to be caused by something evil falling on the town. She explains that she sent Ruth to Tituba to conjure spirits. Ann hoped that Ruth would be able to communicate with her seven dead siblings. And now, Ann thinks she is ill because of this whole event. Thomas Putnam tells Parris to admit to the people waiting downstairs in his house that he's seen witchcraft. Parris says he'll be ruined.
The Putnams' eighteen-year-old servant, Mercy Lewis enters. She says that Ruth sneezed, and that this is a good sign for her health. Thomas pleads with Parris to go downstairs and give a comment. Parris refuses. Mrs. Putnam leaves to go home to see Ruth. Parris finally agrees to make a comment. He leaves with Mr. Putnam and makes his way downstairs.
