There are hurtful, vengeful spirits layin’ hands on these children.
– Arthur Miller
The Crucible, Act 1. There is rising hysteria in the room, as Thomas Putnam leaps to the conclusion that evil spirits have possessed his daughter Ruth and Betty Parris. A powerful man, he is trying to persuade Parris to accept that there are vengeful witches in town and they are to blame for the girls’ strange illness. Stage directions says that he is "intent upon getting Parris, for whom he has only contempt, to move toward the abyss."