In Act Four, Hale tries to convince those condemned to die to confess to witchcraft. If they confess, they will not be hanged at the price of losing their reputations or having to face life as a social leper. Hale’s argument is that no one’s pride is worth their life. Danforth does not want Hale in the jail and talking to the prisoners. John Proctor is brought out and Elizabeth and Reverend Hale convince him to sign his confession. When Proctor tears up his confession because of his pride, Hale screams at him that he will hang and begs Elizabeth to convince him to confess.
In this act he is the most upset and completely changed form the beginning of the play. He is pleading with the condemned to save their lives, but it seems that they do not want to listen to him and he again feels powerless. Hale is angry at injustice of the situation and is obviously shaken and upset at John Proctor’s death. By the end of the play, he has turned from naïve and hopeful to pained and guilty.

Act III

Act III is where Hale completely changes his attitude and openly doubts Abigail and the court. He asks why “is every defense an attack on the court?” and has to choose between keeping his good reputation in the town and defending the innocents who are accused. When John Proctor is accused, he finally gives in and denounces the court. Reverend Hale is probably feeling powerless when the judges believe Abby and the girls over him, Proctor, and the few others against Abby. Danforth does not listen to Hale’s pleas and testimony that Proctor is honest and should be listened to and that Elizabeth was only lying to save her husband. Hale is overwhelmed by the chaos and unfairness in the court and leaves in a fury. He can see that people are being wrongly sentenced and forgets about his reputation and position and dismisses the judges as fools.

Act II

In Act II, Reverend Hale is still very confident and the town openly respects him as he settles into his role. He goes around town to talk to those accused of witchcraft, including the Proctors. John Proctor immediately sees what he’s doing and defends his wife. Hale probably begins to doubt Proctor when he cannot recite all ten commandments, but he gains his respect for him later and deems Proctor to be an honest man. Hale seems to be troubled by the number of people being dragged to prison by Cheever, and begins to doubt some of the accusations, especially those of Rebecca Nurse and Elizabeth Proctor. Hale seems to be overwhelmed by the number of the accused and the ridiculous evidence that they are arrested on.

Act I

In Act One, John Hale has just arrived in Salem. He was summoned by Parris to investigate the seemingly supernatural ailment of his daughter Betty. Hale is very confident about of his abilities and maintains an air of superiority over the others. He is confident in his education, noting that his books are “weighted with authority.”
John Hale is most likely feeling very smug at this point, because the people of Salem wouldn’t know what to do without him and he knows it. They do not have the proper training in demonology or in a college like he does. He does not know it himself, but at this point in the play he is very naïve and has no idea about what will be coming to pass. He thinks that it will be simple to cure the afflicted children and then be on his way. When the accusations start flowing, he starts to believe that there is something supernatural happening in Salem. He seems to be very excited at this fact, most likely not having seen many cases like this in his lifetime.