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| Minister of the town of Salem. He caught his daughter, Betty, with Mercy Lewis, Ruth Putnam, Mary Warren, and Abigail Williams dancing in the woods with Tituba. He thinks they were performing witchcraft and now he is terrified that he will be thrown out of Salem for having a witch for a daughter. He believes in the high authority of the court and the church. He thinks that anything said against the court or church is an attempt to undermine both institutions. |
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| Ten-year-old daughter of Reverend Parris. Caught by her father dancing in the woods with Tituba, Mercy Lewis, Ruth Putnam, Mary Warren, and Abigail Williams, Betty is accused of witchcraft. |
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| Reverend Parris' slave from Barbados. She was caught in the woods chanting with Betty, Mercy, Ruth, Mary, and Abigail. She knows about spirits and is accused of witchcraft. |
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| The seventeen-year-old niece of Reverend Parris. She is extremely beautiful and the leader of the other girls who are accused of witchcraft. Her uncle caught her dancing in the woods with Betty, Mercy, Ruth, Mary, and Tituba. She has an affair with John Proctor, and hates his wife Elizabeth Proctor. She drinks a charm to kill Goody Proctor and eventually accuses Elizabeth and many other women in Salem of witchcraft. |
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| Abigail Williams' friend. She accuses people of being witches along with Abigail. |
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| A minister from Beverly who is called to Salem by Parris to investigate the situation. He is about forty years old, and has a strong belief in the authority of the church. In fact, he considers himself the authority on such matters as witchcraft. His view on the authority of the court changes as he later learns that the law is not always right, just because it is the law. In fact, he ends up siding with John Proctor. |
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| John Proctor's wife. She hates Abigail Williams, because she finds out that Abby had an affair with John, her husband. She is eventually accused of witchcraft herself, and this causes her husband to become involved with the witch-hunt. |
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| Middle-aged woman around forty-five, she is the wife of Thomas Putnam and the mother of Ruth Putnam. She gave birth to eight children and seven of them died. Now, Ruth is ill, and she thinks it is because of witchcraft. She thinks that the whole town is falling under the hands of the Devil. |
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| Husband of Ann Putnam, he is around fifty and is a wealthy landowner. He is bitter with the town over old matters dealing with land. He accuses many people of witchcraft as a sort of revenge against them. |
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| The Putnams' eighteen-year-old servant. She was caught dancing in the woods with Tituba, Ruth, Mary, Betty, and Abigail. She pretends to see witches. |
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| A seventeen-year-old girl who works for John and Elizabeth Proctor. She was caught dancing in the woods with Tituba, Ruth, Mercy, Betty, and Abigail. |
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| Husband of Elizabeth Proctor, he does not care for the voice of authority (of the church or court) and does not want to be involved with the witch-hunt. However, once his wife is accused of being a witch, he has no choice but to become involved. He had an affair with Abigail Williams, and this affair is what causes Abby to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft. In the end, he wants to confess to having had relations with the Devil, but his dignity leads him to hang as a man with honor. |
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| Wife of Francis Nurse. She is an older woman of seventy-two and very gentle. She is widely respected throughout Salem, as her husband has a strong voice in the town. She is eventually accused of witchcraft. |
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| One of the oldest men in the town of Salem and a good friend of John Proctor's, his wife is eventually accused of witchcraft. He tries to defend his wife, and when he does, he gets charged with contempt of court. |
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| Husband of Rebecca Nurse, he is a wealthy landowner in Salem. He is widely respected and looked upon to settle many disputes. He had some bad relations in regards to land ownership, specifically with Thomas Putnam. He tries to settle the investigations of witchcraft in Salem. |
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| An older beggar woman accused of witchcraft. She admits to having made compacts with the Devil. |
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| Head of the court case dealing with the witch-hunt. He has a strong voice of authority in the court and will not be undermined. He questions anything anyone says to him as if it is a potential threat to both the power of the court and the integrity of the law. |
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| Man appointed by the court to arrest witches, he has a weak character. He says he is bound by the law to do what he has to do and never thinks otherwise. He is always seen with Danforth and listens to whatever Danforth tell him to do. |
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| Judge sent to examine some of the people accused of being witches. Like Cheever, he has a weak character and does whatever the law and Danforth tell him to. |
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| In charge of arresting all of the accused witches. Like Cheever, he also claims he is bound by the law to follow their orders to arrest accused witches. He never questions that the law may in fact be wrong. |
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| Daughter of Thomas and Mrs. Ann Putnam. She is ill and her mother thinks it is due to evil falling on the town of Salem. She is one of the girls caught dancing in the woods by Reverend Parris. Mrs. Putnam sent her to Tituba to conjure spirits in hopes that Ruth would be able to communicate with her seven dead siblings. |
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| Wife of Giles Corey. She reads books and hides them from Giles. This makes him start to wonder about her because whenever she has her book out, he cannot pray, but when she closes the book, he can pray again. |
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| One of the women accused of witchcraft in Salem. She did not know the ten commandments when asked and is sentenced to be hanged. |
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| One of the people accused of witchcraft who now waits in jail. Giles Corey says that Putnam had his own daughter accuse Jacobs of witchcraft so that Putnam could buy off Jacobs' land when he hangs. |
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