im, even though she denies it. And Mary is a confessed liar--that is, if she's telling the truth now. Despite all these doubts, Danforth turns to the girls and urges them to tell the truth.Notice how he speaks to them. All Mary Warren got from him was sharp questions, full of accusation. To the girls, Danforth's tone is considerate, almost respectful. He tells them Mary's charge, then lets them know just how suspicious of her he is:...it may well be that Mary Warren has been conquered by Satan, who sends her here to distract our sacred purpose. If so, her neck will break for it.He follows this up with the weak assurance that "a quick confession will go easier with you."Danforth's unconscious prejudice is not lost on Abigail. He has just told her whom he wants to believe, so she tells him flatly that Mary is lying.But Proctor won't let it be settled so easily. "What may Mary Warren gain but hard questioning and worse?" he asks, knowing this question is in Danforth's mind as well. Then Proctor goes on the attack: Abigail is no child, she laughs at prayer, she leads other girls out to dance naked in the woods. This is all news to Danforth, and he looks at Abigail with fresh eyes.But then judge Hathorne, who so far has been kept in the background by Danforth's superiority, comes up with an ingenious idea. If Mary was only pretending before, let her pretend now, let her give them all a demonstration of how she deceived the court. Of course she can't do it. Who could, under such circumstances?NOTE: Remember the discussion of the girls' fits in Act I. Modern research shows that one of the best ways to cure mass hysteria is to isolate its victims from one another. This was actually tried in Salem in 1692: one of the youngest of the afflicted girls was sent to Beverly, where she stayed with Reverend Hale's wife and two daughters. Within a few weeks she had calmed down almost completely. Perhaps this is Mary Warren's problem here: she's been "cur...
