Act IV of The Crucible takes place in the early morning hours of a fall day in 1692 at the cells the condemned of Salem are crowded into.  It is the day that many of them, John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse among them, are sentenced to be hanged.  Danforth has just come to the jail to find that Hale, now working with Parris, has been spending time with the condemned, trying to get them to confess to witchcraft in order to spare their lives.  He also learns that the town is in complete disarray.  There are so many now in jail that cows are roaming free through the town, and Abigail and Mercy Lewis, two of the chief accusers, have stolen Parris’s money and boarded a ship to escape from Salem.  Other towns have rioted against the witchcraft courts, and there are rumors of such happening in Salem.

Hale and Parris both beg Danforth to delay the executions to give them more time to gain the confessions of the condemned residents.  Danforth refuses, claiming there would be no justice in letting these people go free after having killed twelve others.  Even the pleas that these residents, Proctor and Nurse especially, are well-regarded by the townspeople, and that their deaths will be hard for the town to take, fall on deaf ears.  Hale, especially, is in turmoil, claiming that he is the one that is now doing the Devil’s work by trying to convince good Christians to lie in order to save themselves.

As Hale has made no progress in getting Rebecca Nurse to confess, the decision is made to try to get Elizabeth Proctor to convince her husband to do so.  John Proctor is brought to Elizabeth and the pair are left alone.  Elizabeth informs Proctor of Giles Corey’s death, not by hanging but rather by being pressed under large stones.  Corey would not answer the charges against him at all, neither to confirm nor deny them, and was being tortured to get answer.  The Proctors share a moment of reconciliation, forgiving each other for their parts in the affair and its aftermath, then John calls for Danforth to confess to witchcraft.

Danforth painfully extracts a confession from Proctor who admits that he has made a deal with the Devil and used powers to do harm to others.  However, unlike others who have confessed and despite Danforth’s best efforts, he refuses to name others he has seen in the company of the Devil, stating, “I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another…I have no tongue for it.” (131)  Proctor then hesitates to sign the transcription made of his confession until Danforth declares that it is not a proper confession unless he does so.  Proctor signs, but at the last minute snatches up the paper.  Danforth demands it, but Proctor will not allow him to use the confession to legitimize the actions.  Asked by Danforth why he will not hand over the confession, Proctor replies: “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life!...How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”

Danforth demands the confession.  Instead, Proctor tears it up, and he is hanged.