Women of the 1600s had certain roles they played in their town or village. One particular role for young women was as a servant. In Arthur Millers, the Crucible, Mary Warren is a servant who has a pivotal role in the play. Mary Warren’s decisions throughout the play vividly show her final corrupt character.
In the beginning of the play Mary Warren believes that there are actually witches and the devil in Salem. When she returns from court she talks to Elizabeth and John Proctor. She says, “I feel a misty coldness climbin’ up my back, and the skin on my skull begin to creep, and I feel a clamp around my neck and I cannot breathe air” (Miller 147). Mary Warren is trying to explain to the Proctors that she was possessed by the devil in court and he made her accuse the old
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Later in act III, John and Mary are still in the court when she finally turns on Proctor. She points at Proctor and says, “You’re the Devil’s man! (Miller 261). Mary Warren sabotages John Proctor by blaming him for working with the devil in front of the judge. This is the ultimate turning point in her character, she goes from being the Proctors’ servant to the enemy in a matter of minutes. Proctor is astonished by what Mary is saying, and she continues to accuse him. Mary says, “I’ll not hang with you! I love God, I love God” (Miller 261). She is now telling the judge that Proctor has made a deal with the devil and is working with him. Mary Warren blatantly lies to Danforth and throws Proctor under the bus just so she can walk free. She tells the judge, “ He wake me every night, his eyes were like coals and his fingers claw my neck, and I sign, I sign…” (Miller 262). Mary is trying to explain to the judge how Proctor made her sign a pact with the devil. Mary had the opportunity to keep telling the judge that it was all fake, but she chose a selfish lie to only save