The Arrival of Rebecca Nurse and the Witch Doctor

A new character appears as Giles Corey, a muscular, wiry eighty-three-year-old farmer, joins the crowd in the room as Rebecca stands over Betty. Parris says that a witch-expert by the name of Reverend Hale is coming to examine Betty. Rebecca, John, and Francis try to convince Parris to send Hale back because it will cause speculation and more rumors to spread. Proctor gets fed up with Reverend Parris and actually insults him and the Puritan religion. He wishes that he could create a rebel group against Parris, and he ends up offending everyone; he even alarms Rebecca Nurse. However, he speaks his mind because he can’t help it, and he can’t stand Parris. Meanwhile, Reverend Hale, an intellectual man, arrives at Parris’s home with a heavy load of books. Hale asks Proctor and Giles if they have afflicted children. Giles says that Proctor does not believe in witches. Proctor denies having stated an opinion on witches at all and leaves Hale to his work.
Parris relates the tale of finding the girls dancing in the forest at night, and Mrs. Putnam reports having sent her daughter to conjure the spirits of her dead children. She asks if losing seven children before they live a day is a natural occurrence. Hale consults his books while Rebecca announces that she is too old to sit in on the proceedings. Parris insists that they may find the source of all the community’s troubles, but she leaves anyway.
Giles asks Hale what reading strange books means because he often finds his wife, Martha, reading books. The night before, he tried to pray but found that he could not succeed until Martha closed her book and left the house. (Giles has a bad reputation in Salem, and people generally blame him for thefts and random fires. He cares little for public opinion, and he only began attending church regularly after he married Martha. Giles does not mention that he only recently learned any prayers and that even small distractions cause him problems in reciting them.) Hale thoughtfully considers the information and concludes that they will have to discuss the matter later. Slightly taken aback, Giles states that he does not mean to say that his wife is a witch. He just wants to know what she reads and why she hides the books from him.

Portrait of reverend Hale

Date:1690s