The second act of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible opens in the Proctor household, eight days after the first act ends.  John and Elizabeth Proctor are discussing the news of the day, including the fact that their servant, Mary Warren, is now part of the court being held in Salem.  They also have an argument over John’s affair with Abigail.  This ends when Mary returns home, bearing a gift of a poppet, or doll, for Elizabeth and bringing news that there are now thirty-nine women accused of witchcraft, that Mrs. Osburn has been sentenced to hang for witchcraft, and that Sarah Good will not be hanged, because she confessed her crimes.  The last shocking piece of news is that Elizabeth Proctor herself has been mentioned in the court, but that Mary has vouched for her.

Proctor has just been convinced to go into Salem to tell the court what he knows about the falsehood of these witchcraft accusations when Reverend Hale appears at his door.  Hale’s questioning of Proctor’s poor attendance at church and his refusal to believe Proctor’s accusations against the girls make Proctor hesitant once again.  Suddenly, word comes that Giles Corey’s wife, Martha, and Rebecca Nurse have been arrested by the court.  This is followed closely by the marshal and the clerk of the court coming to arrest Elizabeth Proctor.  The most damning evidence against Elizabeth is the poppet found in her home and the needle stuck into it.  Suddenly, it is not just the women on the outskirts of the community that are being accused, but also the upstanding well-thought-of women as well.  Proctor turns to Mary Warren and demands that the girl go with him to the court to tell them all she knows, both about the falsehood of the accusations in general and that she had made the poppet, in front of the other girls, that very day.

The third act of The Crucible takes place in the meeting house that is hosting the witchcraft trials.  Giles Corey interrupts the court in an attempt to present testimony at his wife’s trial.  Corey accuses Putnam of causing his wife to be accused so that he could take over Corey’s lands.  The court is held in recess as two judges, Hathorne and Danforth step out to talk with Corey about the interruption to the trials.  Danforth, the presiding judge, is angered but shows signs of listening to Corey.  Hathorne, on the other hand, immediately and continuously calls for Corey to be punished and for the trials to continue.  Just as Corey is telling Danforth that he is being misled, Proctor appears with Mary Warren.

Mary is clearly scared, but with prodding by Proctor she admits to the judges that the stories the girls are telling are fiction.  This time it is Reverend Parris that argues strenuously against Proctor and his new evidence.  Danforth, however, seems willing to take this testimony, provided that Proctor’s motives are not to call the legitimacy of the court into question.  As he puts it, “[Y]ou must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there is no road between. This is a sharp time—we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world.” (87)  This declaration, and Danforth’s decision to arrest for questioning any witnesses to the accusations made by these men, make Corey unwilling to name the source of his own accusations against Putnam, so Danforth has him jailed for contempt of court.

Proctor and Mary Warren then enter the court to provide their testimony about the falseness of the girls’ accusations.  Mary is weak, however, and caught up in the lies that she herself had told in the trials.  As Danforth hammers her with questions, Abigail leads the other girls into making accusations against Mary.  The girls feign being attacked by Mary’s spirit until, Proctor steps in and accuses Abigail of sexual impropriety.  For proof of this accusation, Proctor admits to having an affair with her.  When his wife is brought in to verify this, however, she does not know that he has admitted his guilt, so she is unwilling to back up his claims.  Abigail and the other girls continue to claim to be attacked by Mary until, in the final moments, she confesses to witchcraft herself and points to John Proctor as the man who is forcing her to do these things through his own dark powers.  Proctor is immediately arrested and taken to prison.