We are presented with Abigail facing a very difficult and
dangerous position in Act I. The apparent witchery of Betty and Ruth Putnam with which
the play opens leaves her in a very vulnerable position. As she realises that her uncle
has seen her dancing naked in the woods with other girls, she realises that she must
embark on an excercise of damage limitation in a desperate attempt to ensure that the
real truth of what she did--drinking blood as a charm to kill Goody Proctor--does not
get out. Thus we see Abigail becoming increasingly desperate, in particular with the
girls, as she seeks to limit what is revealed and to agree on a common story. Note the
following quote:
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.
Abigail's principal aim
in Act One is therefore to control the situation and to prevent the full disclosure of
her own activities. She is desperately trying to maintain control of a situation that
seems to be running out of control, and she is willing to threaten the other girls to
try and regain that control. It is interesting therefore that the subsequent witch hunt
is clearly not something that Abigail planned. She is an opportunist, who desperately
tries to keep up with the pace of events, and uses them to her own
advantage.
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