Putnam, members of one of the prominent families in Salem, enter the room and declare that Betty's illness results from witchcraft. Parris also questions Abigail about her character and the reason why Goody Proctor, who is the wife of John Proctor and a very respected woman in Salem, dismissed her from working as the Proctors' servant. He thinks that she and Betty have conjured spells. Abigail denies that she and the other girls were participating in witchcraft, but Parris suspects she is lying. Parris says that he saw her and Betty dancing 'like heathen,' Tituba moving back and forth over a fire while mumbling unintelligibly, and an unidentified female running naked through the forest. Parris, distraught and troubled because he knows that Abigail has not been entirely truthful regarding her activities in the woods, confronts Abigail. The town physician, Doctor Griggs, who has not been able to determine why Betty is ill, suggests witchcraft as a possible cause.

After Parris came out of the bushes, Betty lost consciousness and has remained in a stupor ever since. Prior to the opening of the play, Parris discovered Betty, his niece Abigail, and Tituba, his black slave from Barbados, dancing in the forest outside of Salem at midnight.

The Crucible begins in the house of Reverend Samuel Parris, whose daughter, Betty, lies unconscious in bed upstairs.

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