Today John Proctor cries out that he confessed his sin, but it is too late for Elizabeth to change her story. The girls and I begin screaming that Mary is sending her spirit at us. The room turns into a frenzy of fear, excitement, and confusion. Mary seems to become infected with the hysteria of the all of us and starts screaming too. Proctor tries to touch me, but I started to dash away from him, calling him the devil’s man. I accuse him of consorting with the devil and pressuring me to join him in his evil ways. Danforth then orders Proctor’s arrest
. That fall Parris reports that Mercy and I have disappeared from Salem after robbing him. Hale has not talked to Proctor at all yet. Danforth hopes that Elizabeth can convince John to confess. Elizabeth agrees to speak with Proctor, but she makes no promises. Everyone leaves the room to allow Elizabeth and Proctor privacy. Elizabeth tells Proctor that almost one hundred people have confessed to witchcraft.
Elizabeth tells informs John that Giles was killed by being pressed to death, though he never pleaded guilty or not guilty to the charges against him. She told him that had he denied the charges, the court would have hanged him, and he would have had to give away his property. He decided not to enter a plea, so that his farm would fall to his sons. In order to force him to enter a plea, the court tortured him on the press, the weight on his chest eventually became so great that it crushed him. His last words were “more weight.”
Until next time,
Abigail Williams
No comments:
Post a Comment