Act Four

The final act opens in a Salem jail cell where Sarah Good and Tituba await hanging. They are happily deluded by the belief that they will be taken to Barbados by the devil.

The Salem trial is ending. Rumors of a rebellion against witchcraft trials in a nearby town ignite fear that the people of Salem will riot if upstanding citizens are hung.

Hale, disillusioned and humbled, pleads with the prisoners to save their lives by making false confessions. He requests Danforth pardon the accused, but Danforth refuses saying twelve have already hung for the same crime. When Hale asks Elizabeth to counsel Proctor to lie and save himself, she balks but agrees to see him. Alone with Proctor, Elizabeth forgives him for being unfaithful and blames herself for not being able to love him enough. She cannot counsel him to lie and instead tells him to make his own decision and to be his own judge.

Proctor, refusing to be a martyr, confesses to being a witch, but stops at indicting others. When Proctor tears up his confession, Elizabeth rushes to him and they embrace. As Proctor and Rebecca Nurse are led to be hung, Hale begs Elizabeth to plead with Proctor to save himself, but Elizabeth cries, "He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!" The curtain falls as the sunlight illuminates Elizabeth's face and the drums "rattle like bones."




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