He seeks to gain respect and revenge by increasing his wealth, landholdings, and influence however he can. He uses the witch trials to increase his own wealth by accusing people of witchcraft and then buying up their land. In other words, Putnam wanted his political enemies to be convicted of witchcraft out of resentment and ill will, and he seemed to want others convicted out of greed.
Putnam did was to send her daughter to commune with the dead spirits of her sisters, who all died in childbirth. Putnam therefore contacted Tituba before in order to try and learn why her daughters all died. His willingness to speak about witchcraft are personal in another way. He chooses to do this because he is tormented by guilt. Reverend Hale is a complex character. At first, he is motivated by an honest cause, to help the people in Salem afflicted by witchcraft, starting with Betty Parris.
Abigail blames Tituba because she knows that she was in the forest with the girls and she was involved with conjuring the spirits. Miller, and most historians, believed that many of the accusations of witchcraft were based on these sorts of greedy, selfish desires. For example, he gets offended when people did things without asking him. Putnam suggests that Parris get a minister from another town to look at Betty.
The people see this hypocrisy and greed on his part and react by disliking him intensely. Reverend Parris has many enemies because he is self-righteous, egocentric, and self-concious. Putnam's anger toward Rebecca only intensifies when Rebecca criticizes her for sending Ruth to conjure up the dead with Tituba. Under normal circumstances, the Puritans would severely punish Mrs. Putnam for her actions, because they considered attempting to contact the dead and endangering the life of a child the Devil's work.
However, Mrs. Putnam not only avoids punishment, but she manipulates Rebecca's reaction and her refusal to stay during Hale's examination of Betty as proof of Rebecca's involvement in the witchcraft. The second reason that Scene 5 is pivotal is because Abigail exerts her power and begins her quest to obtain Proctor. Unsurprisingly, Tituba confesses to witchcraft when the townspeople threaten her with physical violence.
She is a black female slave, an individual without any power. She cannot hope to defend herself against Abigail's accusations, even though she and Abigail both know that Abigail is lying. The fact that Tituba confesses to witchcraft and then implicates Sarah Good and Goody Osburn reveals that Tituba listens very well and values her life. In order to preserve her own life, Tituba takes cues from her interrogators and tells them what they want to hear.
Hale's response to Tituba's confession prompts Abigail's own sudden admission of guilt. Declaring witchcraft becomes the popular thing to do. It grants an individual instant status and recognition within Salem, which translates into power. The previous night, he saw Abigail and Betty dancing in the forest with Tituba. He also saw a dress on the ground and a girl running naked through the woods. Parris demands to know whether witchcraft was involved. Abigail continues to insist that the girls were just dancing.
At this point in the conversation, a tormented middle-aged woman named Ann Putnam enters the room along with her husband, Thomas Putnam. Ann is a firm believer in witchcraft because seven of her babies have died in infancy, leaving her with only one living child.
She sees no possible explanation for this that is not supernatural in nature. The Putnams are glad that Parris has summoned Reverend Hale to investigate the situation because Hale supposedly caught a witch in Beverley recently.
Parris is still trying to shut down the witchcraft conversation because of the damage it might do to his reputation. Ann reveals to Parris that she actually sent Ruth to consult with Tituba the night before because Tituba can communicate with the dead. Ann wanted Ruth to talk to her dead siblings and find out who killed them.
The Putnams say they are convinced that a baby-killing witch is running rampant. Abigail admits that Tituba and Ruth were conjuring spirits. Parris is convinced his livelihood is ruined now that someone who lives under his roof has been revealed to be a witch.
Thomas Putnam tells Parris he should get ahead of the situation and make the witchcraft accusations himself so no one can accuse him first. Abigail and Mercy are left alone, and they try to rouse Betty to no avail. The two girls decide their official story will be that they were just dancing, and there was no magic involved. Then, another teenage girl named Mary Warren enters the room. Suddenly, Betty gets a burst of energy. She reveals that Abby drank chicken blood in the forest in an attempt to cast a spell to kill Elizabeth Proctor.
Abigail slaps her and tells everyone that they had better stay quiet about the details of what really happened. Abigail says that she's seen some stuff i.
John Proctor, a farmer, then enters the room. He yells at Mary Warren, who is his servant, for leaving his house when he forbid her from doing so. Mary and Mercy both leave, and Abigail and John are left alone. Abigail and John had an affair that was discovered by his wife, which was the reason for her dismissal from their household. Abigail is still in love with Proctor, but he wants to distance himself from her and recommit to Elizabeth. She insults his wife and continues to insist that he still loves her.
Reverend Parris, the Putnams, and Mercy Lewis all rush in to check on her. Rebecca Nurse, and old and highly respected woman in Salem, enters the room along with an old man named Giles Corey. Rebecca stands calmly next to the bed, and Betty quiets down. Everyone is impressed with this, and the Putnams ask if Rebecca can also help Ruth, but Rebecca doesn't think there's anything supernatural going on.
Betty is just acting up as kids are prone to do. Rebecca suggests that they should rely on the doctor and avoiding bringing Reverend Hale into the situation because it will cause unnecessary conflict. Thomas Putnam takes issue with this, and he tells Parris that when Reverend Hale arrives they must look for signs of witchcraft.
He then implies that Proctor is the leader of a faction against him in the church. He expects Giles Corey to be on his side, but Giles unexpectedly suports Parris because he thinks there may be something to the witchcraft hypothesis.
Giles has been in court six times that year for various lawsuits. He says that everyone has been suing each other left and right, so there must be some sort of dark magic going on behind the scenes. Proctor points out that Giles is the cause of many of these suits because he is always suing people for defamation for no reason.
Proctor and Putnam argue briefly about who owns a certain tract of land near the woods where Proctor plans on gathering lumber. Reverend Hale enters the room with a stack of academic books. Hale views the investigation of witchcraft as serious scientific inquiry.
He brought the books because they explain all the different forms the Devil can take. With this information on hand, he's sure that he can find out whether Betty's illness is linked to the work of Satan. Rebecca Nurse is skeptical of the whole situation, and she leaves the room before Hale begins his investigation. Giles tries to consult Hale about his wife, Martha, who he says has been reading strange books. He is worried that this might signify something sinister because he was unable to say his prayers while she was reading.
Hale is somewhat intrigued and says they can discuss the issue later. Hale addresses Betty, asking her if someone is bewitching her. Betty does not respond to his questions at first. Abigail is pressed with more questions about what exactly was going on in the woods. Parris says that when he came upon the girls, he saw that they had a kettle with a frog in it. Faced with this damning evidence of black magic, Abigail admits that Tituba called the Devil.
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