Although the Salem Witch Trials can mostly be blamed on the lack of common sense in the majority of the people living in Salem, there were a few individuals that caused the original rumors of witchcraft. If they had not played the roles they did, no hysterical fear of the Devil would have raged all throughout Salem and the surrounding land. Unwittingly or not, there were three individuals who started the snowball effect of fear and accusations that led to dozens of hangings. The three people most responsible for the Salem Witch Trials were Abigail Williams, Reverend Hale and Betty.
The very first scene of The Crucible, which is a mostly true play about the Witch Trials, is of Betty lying sick in bed, seemingly asleep and not able to wake as if she is in a coma. However, the local doctor cannot seem to find a single thing wrong with her. This was happening shortly after her father, Reverend Parris, had discovered Betty and many other girls of the village dancing in the woods. Dancing was very frowned upon in Puritan society. Because of the strangeness of a bunch of girls dancing in the woods around a campfire, and there seeming to be no natural cause of Betty’s condition, people began to whisper that it could possibly be from unnatural causes, and rumors of witchcraft began to spread. Now, considering the fact that witchcraft is not real, it is apparent that Betty must have been pretending to be unable to wake, for whatever reason. When Betty first woke up in the presence of the other girls who danced, she began speaking of suspicious things that happened the night before besides dancing. “You did, you did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor” (Miller 19)! Abigail was the one who originally led the girls into the woods to dance. After Reverend Hale seemed to cure Betty of her apparently magical affliction, she went on to accuse many citizens of Salem to be associating with the Devil, and so played a big part in starting the hunt for witches in Salem.
Revered Hale arrived on the scene the morning after the girls were found dancing in the woods. Upon his arrival, he made a half-hearted attempt to wake Betty from her slumber, and then began to question the girls and Mr. Parris about the events of the night before. After Mr. Hale began to seem somewhat suspicious, Abigail tried to push the blame onto Tituba. Mr. Hale started to viciously drill Tituba with questions and accusations, and that was essentially when Reverend Parris started the policy of confess when accused of witchcraft or die. “You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba” (Miller 44)! The two reverends had gotten the first actual confession out of someone in Salem concerning consorting with the Devil. This seemed important because for most people it erased all doubt of whether or not there were witches in Salem, because why would someone confess if they are innocent? Now what really got the witch hunts started was when Tituba confirmed that yes, there were other witches in Salem other than herself. Reverend Hale was the one who first got someone to confess to dealing with the Devil, and this led to the belief that anyone in town could be a witch.
Although Reverend Hale and Betty did indeed play a large part in starting the Witch Trials, Abigail played the biggest role. Not only was she the one who led the girls out into the woods to dance, which was the single event from which the rumors began, she confessed to having sold her soul to the Devil shortly after Tituba did. After seeing that Hale asked Tituba who she had seen with the Devil and seeing him believe her, Abigail saw an opportunity to seize some power for herself and quickly stepped forward, confessed to having consorted with the Devil, and immediately began to accuse others in Salem of doing the same. “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 Good Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil” (Miller 48)! It didn’t help that Betty quickly awoke and began to shout out the names of more townspeople. Abigail was successful in her grab for power, and went on to lead the rest of the apparently formerly possessed girls in accusing dozens of citizens of Salem of working various forms of hellish magic.
After reading the play, it is obvious that every single person in Salem who believed in witches contributed in some small way to the hysteria. But the start of all the madness can be blamed on the one who first pretended to be bewitched, the person who first forced a confession of witchcraft out of someone, and the person who confessed second and made more accusations than anyone. Abigail, Reverend Hale and Betty were the three people most responsible for the Salem Witch Trials.
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