Salem, 1692. Industrious farmer John Proctor has an affair with 17-year-old Abigail, whom he and his wife had taken in. His wife Elisabeth has rebuffed him for 7 months; being puritanical and cold. When she finds John and Abigail embracing, she sends the girl from her home and John, feeling damned, agrees. Abigail vows revenge. Her chance comes when she accuses Elisabeth of witchcraft and manipulates younger girls to support her claims of seeing spirits. The town's minister and politicians want a cause: ridding the town of witchcraft is the ideal repression.