This is a strange time, Mister. No man may longer doubt the powers of the dark are gathered in monstrous attack upon this village. There is too much evidence now to deny it.
– Arthur Miller
The Crucible, Act 2. Reverend Hale feeds into the hysteria in Salem, saying that demonic powers are mounting a monstrous assault on the town. His response to the Proctors’ shock at the idea of the upstanding Rebecca Nurse being mentioned in the witchcraft investigations is his unconvincing comment, "this is a strange time." The irony is that Salem is under assault, not from the "powers of the dark" as Hale thinks, but from people’s fears, suspicions and paranoia.