<em>The girls were dancing in the woods because they were participating in superstitious rituals with Parris' Barbadian slave, Tituba. In Act 1, Abigail says that, as they danced, "Tituba conjured Ruth's sisters to come out of the grave." Ruth's mother, Mrs. Ann Putnam, has lost seven babies within a day of their births, and she is convinced that witchcraft had something to do with it. She fears that her only surviving child, Ruth, is becoming ill, so she "thought to send her to [...] Tituba" because "Tituba knows how to speak to the dead [...]." Now that Ruth has been struck silent, her mother fears that some dark power has a grip on her too.</em>
