The Crucible

What do you think is the major conflict in "The Crucible"?

Conflict #1- Several girls, Betty, Ruth, Abigail, and others along with Tituba, the black house servant, go into the woods, the girls dance in the woods and are discovered. 

Conflict #2- Betty Parris is sick. Her illness is the result of being caught dancing in the woods. 

This is a serious conflict because Puritan children are not allowed to dance or engage in frivolity.

"When the girls are discovered in the woods, they know that they will be judged, and judged harshly."

Conflict #3- Reverend Parris is determined to prove that Betty's illness is not connected to witchcraft, so he calls in an expert from another town, Reverend Hale.

Conflict #4 - The Putnam's daughter, Ruth is also sick, from dancing in the woods, and helping to conjure the spirits of her dead siblings.

"The Putnams themselves set up a central conflict of the play, defining some of the suspicion, jealousy, and resentment simmering below the surface of this outwardly ordered and repressed society."

Conflict #5- John Proctor and Abigail Williams are at odds, she still loves him, he rejects her.

In my view, the Putnam family is at the center of the main conflict which is the girls dancing in the woods.  Mrs. Putnam would not accept the fact that 7 infants died on her at birth, she wanted an answer from the grave.  This sets in motion the action of the other conflicts.