Rebecca Nurse advises Proctor and Putnam that they should ‘rather blame ourselves’ for the sickness of Betty than chase ‘loose spirits’. This shows that she feels that, if they start a witch hunt, the hysteria that will take over the town will be damaging. This shapes our reaction to Hale’s entrance as Rebecca tells us ‘I fear it’ – making the audience believe that Hale is a fraudster, looking to make any ailment into a symptom of witchcraft.