In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller explores good verses evil. Miller sets his play in Salem Massachusetts during the witch trials in the late 1600s that he found very similar to the Red Hunt in the 1950s. Miller sets a group of young ladies in a time where children did not speak until spoken to. Secrets and lies fill the town, as the girls that follow Abigail's lead are not the only ones keeping secrets from the town. As events unfold Miller examines hidden agendas that go too far. The motivating forces behind the characters' behavior in The Crucible are fear and love.
             After the girls of Salem dance and chant in the forbidden woods, fear of witchcraft is on the minds of all those living in the small usually calm town. After realizing what the girls have done Mary Warren begins to regret following Abigail's lead in the woods, shortly after the incident Mary Warren exclaims to Abigail, "What'll we do? The village is out! I just come from the farm; the whole country's talkin' witchcraft! They'll be callin' us witches, Abby!" (837). After finding out that Reverend Paris' daughter Betty lies inert in her bed, Mary Warren is afraid of what the members of the town may do to her and the other girls. The punishment for witchcraft at this time is death, and although the girls believe they did nothing harmful they fear for their lives. Parris' daughter participated in the events in the woods with Abigail, Mary Warren, and all the other girls and becomes ill soon after. Reverend Parris is desperate to find out what is wrong with his daughter Betty and pleads to Abigail, "You call this sport? Abigail, if you know something that may help the doctor, for God's sake tell it to me" (833). Reverend Parris fears that Betty will not get better and is searching for the cause of her illness. He is not sure of what has happened in the woods and does not want to think that it is just an act, nor does he want to ruin his reputation by having a daughte...