I pray you all, tell me what they deserve / That do conspire my death with devilish plots / Of damned witchcraft, and that have prevailed / Upon my body with their hellish charms?(Shakespeare 21.).
What do those who practice witchcraft deserve? Because of the nature of witchcraft, do accused witches owe anything to general society? Can the opportunity for benefit cause upstanding citizens to accuse neighbors of witchcraft? The conflict of religious ideals and governmental rule in the parochial society of the Puritans, combined with inherent flaws in the social hierarchy, led to the corruption of three citizens of Salem: Abigail Williams, Thomas Putnam, and Reverend Parris.
Abigail Williams took advantage of the parochial system to get her way. She used her power as an "innocent child"to try to kill Goody Proctor so she could have John Proctor. "Betty: You drank blood Abby!. You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!"(Miller 20.) .
Cheever:. I have a warrant for your wife. Proctor: Who charged her? Cheever: Why, Abigail Williams charge her.(Miller 77.).
Lawson saw Abigail Williams run recklessly back and forth, her arms stretched out as if she would fly. "There is Goodwife Nurse. Do you not see her? Why there she stands!" But Lawson saw only an empty space.(Wilson 45.).
Abigail used the invisible nature of witchcraft to her advantage, and invited other girls to fake witchery. .
Danforth: .But witchcraft is ipso facto, on its face and by its name, an invisible crime. Therefore, who may possibly be witness to it? The witch and the victim. None other.(Miller 105.).
"Shortly thereafter the girls. started identifying those responsible for their distress, initially naming three women."(Rice 31.) "Francis: .The girls, sir, the girls are frauds. .We have proof of it, sir."(Miller 91.).
Danforth: Then you tell me that you sat in my court, callously lying, when you knew that people would hang by your evidence? (She does not answer.