<P> John Proctor, a local farmer and husband of Elizabeth, enters . He sends the other girls out (including Mary Warren, his family's maid) and confronts Abigail, who tells him that she and the girls were not performing witchcraft . It is revealed that Abigail once worked as a servant for the Proctors, and that she and John had an affair, for which she was fired . Abigail still harbors feelings for John and believes he does as well, but John says he does not . Abigail angrily mocks John for denying his true feelings for her . As they argue, Betty bolts upright and begins screaming . </P> <P> Rev. Parris runs back into the bedroom and various villagers arrive: the wealthy and influential Thomas and his wife, Ann Putnam, respected local woman Rebecca Nurse, and the Putnam's neighbor, farmer Giles Corey . The villagers, who had not heard the argument, assume that the singing of a psalm by the villagers in a room below had caused Betty's screaming . Tensions between them soon emerge . Mrs. Putnam is a bereaved parent seven times over; she blames witchcraft for her losses and Betty's ailment . Rebecca is rational and suggests a doctor be called instead . Mr. Putnam and Corey have been feuding over land ownership . Parris is unhappy with his salary and living conditions as minister, and accuses Proctor of heading a conspiracy to oust him from the church . Abigail, standing quietly in a corner, witnesses all of this . </P> <P> Reverend Hale arrives and begins his investigation . Before leaving, Giles fatefully remarks that he has noticed his wife reading unknown books and asks Hale to look into it . Hale questions Rev. Parris, Abigail and Tituba closely over the girls' activities in the woods . As the facts emerge, Abigail claims Tituba forced her to drink blood . Tituba counters that Abigail begged her to conjure a deadly curse . Parris threatens to whip Tituba to death if she does not confess to witchcraft . Tituba breaks down and falsely claims that the Devil is bewitching her and others in town . With prompting from Hale and Putnam, Tituba accuses Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good of witchcraft . Mrs. Putnam identifies Osborne as her former midwife and asserts that she must have killed her children . Abigail decides to play along with Tituba in order to prevent others from discovering her affair with Proctor, whose wife she had tried to curse out of jealousy . She leaps up, begins contorting wildly, and names Osborne and Good, as well as Bridget Bishop as having been "dancing with the devil". Betty suddenly rises and begins mimicking Abigail's movements and words, and accuses George Jacobs . As the curtain closes, the three continue with their accusations as Hale orders the arrest of the named people and sends for judges to try them . </P> <P> In a second narration, the narrator compares the Colony to post-World War II society . The narrator compares the Puritan fundamentalism to cultural norms in both the United States and the Soviet Union . Additionally, fears of Satanism taking place after incidents in Europe and the colonies are compared to fears of Communism following its implementation in Eastern Europe and China during the Cold War . (Again, narration not present in all versions). </P>

Who was accused of witchcraft in the crucible act 1