Things are about to get real in Salem. Need to catch up? Here’s a snapshot of where we are.
SUMMARY
Four people are accused but still free, and ten people are in jail, some of them in Boston because it’s so crowded in the Salem jail.
With the jails so crowded and more accusations rolling in, the judges are becoming even more alarmed. They cannot start trials and clear the jails until the governor returns.
WHAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK
The constable’s two-month-old baby died, his first and only child, and he and his wife are heartbroken. Why did this terrible thing happen? He can only think of one possible cause: he’d said he wasn’t surprised that the nervous Sarah Cloyce and her sister, the beloved Rebecca Nurse, were witches. Their specters must have wreaked revenge.
Three more people were accused: the Proctors’ servant Mary Warren, who used to be afflicted and has now called the other girls liars. Those same girls have now accused her.
The unruly Bridget Bishop was also accused. She’s disliked and disreputable, and has been in and out of court for fighting with her husband and stealing brass, among other things.
Last, we’ve met the wild child Abigail Hobbs, who’s 15, wanders through the woods at night, and claims she’s made a pact with the Devil. She’s also been accused.
WHO’S WHERE
Accused
NEW – Bridget Bishop – an unruly woman who’s been in and out of court for years
NEW – Abigail Hobbs – a wild child who wanders through the woods at night, disobeys her parents, and claims she’s made a pact with the Devil
NEW – Mary Warren – the Proctors’ servant, who’s been afflicted, cured, and is now accused
Giles Corey (cantankerous) – the gospel woman Martha Corey’s husband
Arrested
(No one new)
In Jail (10 people)
Sarah Cloyce (nervous) – Rebecca Nurse’s younger sister. She’d stormed out of church, which sparked people to question whether innocent people were being accused.
Elizabeth Proctor (quarrelsome) – an opinionated tavern owner, married to the respected but harsh John Proctor
John Proctor (harsh) – a farmer and tavern owner, opinionated and sometimes overbearing, but respected
Martha Corey (gospel woman) – a slightly arrogant church member
Dorcas Good (4 years old) – the daughter of the beggar Sarah Good
Sarah Good (beggar) with her baby – a vagrant who smokes a pipe and has a terrible temper
Rebecca Nurse (beloved) – a 70-year-old grandmother who is well-loved throughout the community
Sarah Osborne (sickly) – a scandal-ridden woman who married her servant and is trying to take her sons’ inheritance
Tituba (slave) – the minister’s slave who was the first to be accused and the first to confess
A woman in a nearby town, where the affliction has spread.
Tried & sentenced
(No one … yet)
Died
(No one … yet)