Question: At the beginning of Act 2, John Proctor says, “It is winter in here yet”. Why is this pertinent to what is going on?

Answer: John and Elizabeth’s relationship is still strained from his affair with Abigail. Elizabeth’s demeanor is “frosty” and “cold” towards John.

Question: Why has Mary Warren disobeyed her employers and gone to Salem?

Answer: She has been named an official of the court. This makes her feel more important than a servant.

Question: What did Abigail Williams reveal to John Proctor?

Answer: Elizabeth reminds him of this; that the girls were just playing around in the woods and no witchcraft was involved.

Question: Why hasn’t John Proctor told the court what he knows? What does Elizabeth attribute his not telling?

Answer: John worries how he would prove what Abigail said(since they were alone). Also, he is aware of the power she has gained. “If the girl’s a saint now, I think it not easy to prove she’s a fraud.”

Question: What lie did John Proctor tell to Elizabeth which makes her more suspicious of him?

Answer: He didn’t tell Elizabeth that he was alone with Abigail when they talked.

Question: What news does Mary Warren reveal to John and Elizabeth about the trials?

Answer: Goody Osburn will hang and Goody Good confessed.

Question: How does Mary Warren behave towards her employers?

Answer: She embraces her new “authority” and demands John’s and Elizabeth’s respect because she is an “official of the court.”

Question: What does Mary Warren mean shen she says, “I saved her life today!”?

Answer: Abigail has accused Elizabeth of witchcraft, but Mary claims that she has never seen any indication of it. Because of her claim, the court dismisses the accusation.

Question: What does Elizabeth realize when she finds out that she has been accused?

Answer: That Abigail wants her dead so she can have John.

Question: What does Elizabeth ask John to do?

Answer: She wants John to go to Salem and tell the court what Abigail had said to him about the incident in the woods.