“The Girls” Role in the Salem Witch Trials

Abigail: Uncle, the rumor of witchcraft is all about; I think you’d best go down and deny it yourself. The parlor’s packed with people sir. I’ll sit with her. Parris: And what shall I say to them? That my daughter and my niece I discovered dancing like heathen in the forest? (Miller 1039) Even though the lines were never written, the scene is meticulously formed in the back of the viewer’s mind. …

…the main forces in the trials, her actions were finally brought to an end when John Proctor publicly insulted her. This humiliation led to her departure from Salem. Back in 1692, the girls of Salem, Mass. were nothing but slaves and goodwives. The Witch Trials presented them with an opportunity to stray from their dreary existence. Mary, Abigail, and the girls of the village played significant roles in Arthur Millers’ intricate dramatization of this historical event.