In the town of Salem a group of girls are caught dancing in the woods by Reverend Parris, which under Salem's own rules and laws is forbidden. One of the girls, Betty, falls into a comma like state soon after the dancing and rumours start to escalate that there is witchcraft going on in the town. The group of girls, lead by Abigail Williams, are frightened that they will all be accused of being witches so Abigail soon begins making accusations: "I saw Sarah good with the devil! I saw Goody Osborne with the devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the devil!" Betty then continues with the accusations and more and more innocent people are now under suspicion of witchcraft. The girls appear to have a great sense of power in the

In Salem there were strict religions and moral codes and each and ever member of the community was an avid follower of god and the minister was the head of society. The town's tight laws condemned the enjoyment of novels, theatre and any time off work had to be spent praying. People in Salem lived a "strict and sombre way of life".

The central character, John Proctor, is also accused and he confesses to having an affair with Abigail who then accuses John's wife, Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft. The witch trial soon begins and many blameless suspects are hanged under the suspicion of witchcraft.

In addition, it becomes clear that Abigail's envy towards Elizabeth is the only reason she accused her. She wants Elizabeth out of the picture and her greed is apparent as she is not content with only having an affair with John, she wants to be with him, "John - I am waitin' for you every night". Abigail is very determined, she is prepared to sacrifice others lives in order to save her own for example, by blaming others for the witchcraft which in turn has caused many unnecessary deaths.

As a result of the accusations of witchcraft, the town feared the unexplained. Everyone became suspicious of one and other, unaware of who was responsible and whether or not they were going to be accused next. The hysteria became an opportunity for everyone who wanted to publicly express his or her guilt and sins to do so under the cover of accusations against the victims and long held hatred between neighbours could now be acted upon without feelings of guilt.

In conclusion it is clear that the greed and envy

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Approximate Word count = 1079
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)