her husband how the community reveres Abigail Williams and the other girls testifying against the accused citizens.

Proctor concludes that the proceedings are "black mischief" and reprimands Mary when she arrives home. Mary Warren then proudly explains how thirty-nine people have been accused of witchcraft and reveals her elevated self-esteem by challenging John Proctor. When John forbids Mary from traveling to Salem the next day, Mary responds by telling John,

"I must tell you, sir, I will be gone every day now. I am amazed you do not see what weighty work we do." (58)

Proctor becomes enraged and threatens to whip Mary, who stands up to him. Mary once again reveals her confidence by telling John, "I’ll not stand whipping anymore!" (59) Mary then mentions how she saved Elizabeth's life in court after her name was brought up.

Overall, Proctor is astonished to hear the news about Salem's court and does not support its rulings. He rejects the court's authority and forbids Mary from participating in the witch trials. In regards to Mary's attitude, she has gained a considerable amount of confidence and feels like an entitled, popular member of the community. The witch trials have given her a voice, and she enjoys being held in high regard by the citizens of Salem.

Proctor is fearful of the court. He knows too well how vindictive and envious the townspeople are. All they need is a little incentive and who knows how bad things will get. He is angry at Mary for going to court and neglecting her duties as their servent . Mary changes because now she has power, which as a young girl and servant, she has never had anything like that before.

Proctor has very strong feelings against the court and Reverend Parris. He finds them both hypocritical and unfit to judge. Ultimately, he still is naive in thinking that this will all get straightened out without his having to go. Elizabeth is putting a lot of pressure on him to do the right thing and tell what he knows about Abigail.

Proctor is furious that Mary has disobeyed his orders to stay away from Salem. He is about to beat her when she tells him she will be going to court every day until she takes the steam right out of him by stating that Elizabeth had been accused.

Mary grows more confident as she asserts that it was her testimony that there was no indication of witchcraft in the house that has saved Elizabeth. This is not the same Mary that we saw in act one who was timid and frightened of her employer. Mary has gained power from her participation in the court proceedings and is enjoying the fact that Proctor no longer controls her.

John Proctor's character in The Crucible, that of an even-tempered man of independent judgement, makes him innately skeptical from the first about the activities of the court investigating charges of demonic possession. As the play unfolds, he comes to realize exactly how dangerous and destructive a force it is, and that not only the future of the town, but the lives of he and his wife, Elizabeth, are at risk.

When first encountered in act 1, Mary Warren appears as Miller describes her, a "subservient, naive, lonely" girl of 17, who is slightly in awe of her employer, John Proctor. In act 2, she returns to the Proctor home after witnessing the proceedings of the court. She has been frightened by the spectacle of forced confessions, her credulous nature easily swayed by their theatricality. Indeed, she has given testimony which contributed to the conviction of a feeble old woman though her words were barely more than gibberish. More disturbingly, she reveals that Elizabeth has been accused of witchcraft.

When Proctor forbids her to return to court, ordering her to attend to her duties in his home, threatening to whip her. She refuses, announcing that she is now an official of the court. She no longer fears his power, or more rightly, she has a much greater fear of the court officials than her employer.

Later in act 2, Abigail frames Elizabeth for practicing witchcraft by claiming to have been wounded due to a needle stuck in a "poppet" or doll, by Elizabeth that had actually been left there by Mary, who had made the doll and given it to Elizabeth as a gift. Despite Mary's words to the contrary, Elizabeth is arrested, and it becomes clear how painfully she trapped is between her loyalty to the Proctors and her fear of Abigail and of the power of the court.

Desperate to save his wife, Proctor convinces Mary to give a deposition to the court which will reveal the lies of Abigail and the girls. In retaliation, Abigail and the others girls feign a demonically-induced hysteria, claiming Mary's spirit to be attacking them in the form of a yellow bird. Mary is terrified. When Judge Danforth, eager to accept such "spectral evidence," threatens her with hanging unless she retracts her deposition, she fearfully complies. Mary finally betrays John Proctor, accusing him of being in league with the devil.

As we have seen she is a naive, ignorant, and timid young woman trapped in an intolerably unjust society.

John Proctor thinks the entire court proceedings are flawed to the point of being unethical. In Act 2, Marry Warren returns to the Proctor household to inform them of the "weighty work" they are doing in court. Proctor scoffs at this and tells Mary not to go back to the court. She says she must go back. He replies, "What work you do! It’s strange work for a Christian girl to hang old women!" 

Mary seems convinced that the devil is at work in Salem. Proctor, frustrated, threatens to whip the devil out of her. Mary is going along with Abby's story because she doesn't want the other girls (Abby included) to turn on her. But in Act 3, when Mary and John are back in court, she takes John's side and admits that the girls were lying. She says to Danforth and Hathorne that it was all "pretense" (pretending/lies). As Mary predicted, Abby turns on her and pretends that Mary is sending her spirit upon her. Mercy Lewis and Susanna Walcott join in and claim Mary is spiritually affecting them as well. Proctor knows they are pretending and shouts it out, but they continue. Eventually, Mary can't take it anymore and turns on John. She embraces Abby and promises not to hurt her again. Mary is naive and easily manipulated. This is why she continually changes her story.