When Mary Warren first appears in The Crucible, the stage notes indicate that she's "seventeen, a subservient, naïve girl." Mary Warren is modeled after the historical Mary Ann Warren, born in Salem in 1674 or 1675, who was a servant to John and Elizabeth Proctor.
Prior to and during the actual witch trials, the historical Mary Warren made accusations of witchcraft against people in the Salem community, including Giles Corey—also a character in The Crucible—whom she accused of appearing to her as a ghost. When Mary herself was accused of witchcraft, she turned on John and Elizabeth Proctor and accused them of witchcraft.
In The Crucible, Mary Warren's subservience and loyalties change through the course of the play. At first she's subservient to John and Elizabeth Proctor, for whom she's employed as a servant. Her subservience and loyalty shift to Abigail Williams, the ringleader of the group of girls at the center of the accusations of witchcraft toward others in the community. Finally, Mary is loyal only to her own interests and self-preservation when she's accused of witchcraft, and she accuses others of witchcraft to save herself.
In The Crucible, Mary's first "victim," whom she apparently accuses of witchcraft reluctantly and unwittingly, is Sarah Good, a destitute, sixty-year-old woman considered an outsider by the Salem community.
In act 1, scene 2, Mary tells John Proctor about her experience at the trials that morning, which John Proctor had forbidden her to attend.
MARY. (Innocently.) I never knew it before. I never knew anything before. When she [Sarah Good] come into the court I say to myself, I must not accuse this woman, for she sleep in ditches, and so very old and poor...But then...then she sit there, denying and denying, and I feel a misty coldness climbin‘ up my back, and the skin on my skull begin to creep, and I feel a clamp around my neck and I cannot breathe air; and then...(Entranced as though it were a miracle.) I hear a voice, a screamin‘ voice, and it were my voice...and all at once I remembered everything she done to me! (act 1, scene 2)
In act 2, Mary decides to tell the truth to Deputy Governor Danforth, who's conducting the trial, that she and the other girls were simply pretending when they said that they saw spirits and acted as if they were attacked by witches.
DANFORTH. And you, Mary Warren...how came you to cry out people for sending their spirits against you?
MARY. It were pretense, sir.
DANFORTH. (With great unbelief.) Ah? And the other girls? Susanna Wallcott, and...the others? They are also pretending?
MARY: Aye, sir (act 2, scene 2).
When Danforth confronts Abigail about this, she denies it and instead acts as if she's being attacked by Mary's spirit in the form of a freezing wind, and then she acts as if Mary's spirit is a "yellow bird" sitting in the rafters, intending to attack Abigail's face. Soon the other girls...
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in the room take up the pretense, and all of them cry out against Mary.
Mary, hysterical with fear, backs away from John Proctor, who is trying to help her, and accuses him to save herself.
MARY. (Pointing at Proctor.) You are the Devil‘s man!...I‘ll not hang with you! I love God, I love God—....(Hysterically, indicating Proctor.) He come at me by night and every day to sign, to sign, to...
DANFORTH: Sign what?
PARRIS: The Devil‘s book? He come with a book?
MARY: (Hysterically, pointing at Proctor.) My name, he want my name; I‘ll murder you, he says, if my wife hangs! We must go and overthrow the court, he says...!
...(Her sobs beginning.) He wake me every night, his eyes were like coals and his fingers claw my neck, and I sign, I sign....
(Screaming at him.) No, I love God; I go your way no more, (Looking at Abigail.) I love God, I bless God....(Sobbing, she rushes to Abigail.) Abby, Abby, I‘ll never hurt you more! (All watch, as Abigail reaches out and draws sobbing Mary to her, then looks up to Danforth) (act 2, scene 2).
John Proctor is led away to jail and is accused of witchcraft.
Mary Warren, servant to John and Elizabeth Proctor, is described when she first enters in Act I as a "subservient, naive, lonely girl." Throughout the play her words and actions support the idea that she is a lonely girl who just wants to be seen as important, but isn't willing to get in trouble for it.
In Act I she says:
Abby, we've got to tell. Witchery's a hanging' error, a hangin' like they done in Boston two year ago! We must tell the truth Abby! You'll only be whipped for the dancin' and the other things!
Here we see that Mary Warren wanted to be a part of the group in the woods. While she was present during the activities she did not participate in them. Now that their punishment is looming, she is quick to point out Abby's actions and to beg her to confess.
In Act II we see a new Mary Warren. She has been working in the court and the position has gone to her head. For the first time, she stands up to Mr. Proctor when he sends her to bed. For the first time in her life, she feels powerful. Of course, and soon as Proctor stands up to her, weak Mary returns and she goes off to bed.
I'll not be ordered to bed no more, Mr. Proctor! I am eighteen and a woman, however single!
In Act III, Proctor drags Mary Warren to the court to recant her testimony. His wife has been charged and he is no longer willing to stand by and wait for the court to realize the girls are lying. At first, she reads her deposition as told and tells the court that she lied, but when Abigail and the other girls turn on her she crumbles. This makes her turn on Proctor.
I will not hang with you! I love God. I love God.
He came to be by night and every day to sign, to sign, to sign-
What are some quotes by Mary Warren in the play The Crucible?
Mary Warren is one of the accusers at the Salem Witch Trials. She worked as a servant for John Proctor and later tried to recant her accusations of witchcraft.
MARY WARREN: Abby, we’ve got to tell. Witchery’s a hangin’ error, a hangin’ like they done in Boston two year ago! We must tell the truth, Abby! You’ll only be whipped for dancin’, and the other things!
Mary is a nervous girl who is quick to react when she feels like she's in danger. She swears that she didn't participate in the revels with the other girls; she says she only looked. But she trusts that going to the authorities is the right thing to do. Ultimately, though, she's easily overpowered by Abagail because she's weak and has a tendency to give in when pressure is applied.
MARY: I made a gift for you today, Goody Proctor. I had to sit long hours in a chair, and passed the time with sewing.
The doll that Mary Warren gives Elizabeth isn't a kind gift. Instead, it's a trap. There is a needle in the doll and Abagail uses it as proof that Elizabeth is trying to do witchcraft on her. The men who are looking for witches find it and cite it as evidence after Abagail says she was stabbed with a needle. Mary gives it to Elizabeth saying that everyone needs to love each other now and then that she'll clean the house in the morning.
MARY: I—I cannot tell how, but I did. I—I heard the other girls screaming, and you, Your Honor, you seemed to believe them, and I—It were only sport in the beginning, sir, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits, and I—I promise you, Mr. Danforth, I only thought I saw them but I did not.
Mary tries to recant her claims on the stand but is unable to stand up to pressure. They ask her to show how she pretended to faint and she says she can't. She tries to explain that she only thought she saw spirits. However, she is badgered into taking back her words and returning to the lie that there is witchcraft. This is largely because Abagail and the others accuse her of witchcraft while she's trying to expose their lies.
What are some quotes by Mary Warren in the play The Crucible?
In Act One, Mary Warren visits Reverend Parris's home to check on Betty's condition. After the adults leave the room, Mary expresses her fear and concern about being punished for dancing in the woods. Mary Warren is portrayed as a timid, fearful girl, who tells Abigail,
"I never done none of it, Abby. I only looked!" (Miller, 19).
In Act Two, Mary Warren's confidence is at an all-time high when she returns to Proctor's home following a day in Salem's court. Mary Warren is now revered throughout the hysterical community as she and the other girls accuse numerous citizens of witchcraft. When Proctor insists that Mary not go to court the next day, she says,
"I must tell you, sir, I will be gone every day now. I am amazed you do not see what weighty work we do" (Miller, 59).
Later on in Act Two, Proctor demands that Mary travel to Salem and tell the truth about the false accusations. Mary responds by begging Proctor not to make her challenge the court. Mary is afraid of Abigail and once again demonstrates her timid nature by saying,
"She’ll kill me for sayin’ that!...Abby’ll charge lechery on you, Mr. Proctor!" (Miller, 80).
In Act Three, Mary Warren testifies that the girls were simply "sporting" and Abigail begins to manipulate the court officials by acting like she sees Mary's spirit. As the girls join Abigail's hysterics, Mary Warren is overwhelmed and takes Abigail's side. She then points towards Proctor and says,
"You’re the Devil’s man!" (Miller, 119).
What are some quotes by Mary Warren in the play The Crucible?
Mary Warren is an interesting character. She is timid and easily manipulated by John and Abby, but she does stand up for herself at times. Like John, Mary is constantly conflicted by the opposition of doing what's right and saving herself.
In Act 1, Mary pleads with Abby to cut the charade so they don't get into any more trouble. "Abby, we've got to tell. Witchery's a hangin' error, a hangin' like they done in Boston two years ago! We must tell the truth, Abby! You'll only be whipped for dancin', and the other things!"
In Act 2, Mary returns from the court proceedings to inform the Proctors of what has transpired. She also leaves a doll (poppet) at their house which Abby will later use to incriminate Elizabeth. "I made a gift for you today, Goody Proctor. I had to sit long hours in a chair, and passed the time with sewing." Despite Mary's attempts to come clean, she has been persuaded by Abby to engage in conspiring to incriminate Elizabeth. However, Mary does later admit to the Proctors and Hale that the poppet is hers. Following this episode, the end of Act 2, John orders Mary to go with him to court.
At the beginning of Act 3, Mary admits to the court (Danforth and others) that the girls had lied (pretense) when they accused others of "sending their spirits" against the girls.
Later in Act 3, Danforth asks Mary to pretend to faint to prove she can repeat this pretense. Mary is so bewildered she can't bring herself to do it. She provides one of the best descriptions in the play of how one (Mary) can become caught up in the hysteria/mob mentality.
It were only sport in the beginning, sir, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits, and I--I promise, you, Mr. Danforth, I only thought I saw them but I did not.
At the conclusion of Act 3, Abby and the other girls pretend that Mary is sending her spirit on them. Terrified and desperate to save herself, Mary again is manipulated by this outburst from the girls. She shifts the blame to John Proctor. "I'll murder you," he says, "if my wife hangs! We must go and overthrow the court," he says!"
Mary is a relatively sympathetic character because John and Abigail use her like a pawn. She is at the mercy of their manipulations and therefore feels forced to bounce between truth and lies.
In The Crucible, how did Mary Warren accuse John Proctor?
Mary Warren went to the courts in act three determined to confess that she and the girls were merely pretending. John Proctor helped to convince her to do this, because he is desperate to get his wife, Elizabeth, freed. Mary knows that it is all a fraud, but thus far has been too chicken to come forward and state it. She is worried that if she does, "they'll turn on me," as she says in act two, meaning, Abby and the other girls will accuse HER of being a witch. Mary is terrified of this accusation; she knows what power Abby has over the courts, and that if she crosses Abby, Abby will take revenge on her. Mary doesn't want to be accused of being a witch; she fears it and avoids it at all costs.
However, after Elizabeth Proctor is arrested on the ridiculous claim that she stabbed Abby in the belly with a needle, John convinces Mary to be brave and tell the courts that she and the other girls are all pretending. And, she tries to do this, she really does. She gets up there, tells the judges that "it were all pretense" and tries to explain how that could be. After the judges turn on her and command her to faint, she says that she can't, that she's all alone, and when she fainted in the courtroom all of the other girls were screaming and fainting "and you seemed to believe them," and so she got caught up in the mass hysteria of it all. However, as soon as the judges start listening to Mary, Abby turns on her. Abby starts pretending to be super scared, and to see a "yellow bird" that is supposedly Mary's spirit, that wants to come down and pluck her eyes out. All of the other girls follow suit, and pretty soon Abby has the judges believing that Mary is sending her spirit out to attack her. Mary sees how Abby has turned the judges against her, and because she fears being accused of being a witch, she denounces her previous claims of having pretended, and accuses John of influencing her.
So, instead of sticking to her guns and being brave, Mary, in order to get out of being accused of being a witch, turns on John and calls him a "devil's man" who came to her and forced her to sign his "black book" and told her that she must come to the courts to overthrow them. As soon as she does this, Abby stops with the ridiculous (and fake) bird act, and accepts Mary back into her good favors. John ends up being accused of witchcraft, and Mary saves her own neck.
I hope that clears things up for you a bit; it's a confusing scene with lots going on in it, so I hope that helps. Good luck.
In The Crucible, what are some quotes from the scene where Mary Warren accuses John Proctor?
Mary Warren initially went to the court to confess that she and the girls had been pretending. However, just as she had predicted at the end of Act Two ("They'll turn on me! I cannot!"), Abby and the girls did in fact turn on her. They cried out, insisting that Mary's familiar spirt came into the courtroom in the form of a yellow bird that was going to claw Abby's face. Judge Danforth immediately picks up on the cue, and asks Mary if she is a witch, and asks John if he is somehow forcing Mary to turn on the girls.
When Danforth suggests Mary will hang for being a witch, Mary finally caves, and turns on John, calling him a "Devil's man" (look at the very, very end of Act Three for the quotes you need) who had come to her with his black book to sign, and forced her to come to the courts to overthrow them. This is truly sad, as she was the last thread of hope that Proctor had for saving his wife and friends.