Because the girls cannot dance within Salem, they must retreat into the woods outside of Salem in order to indulge in physical pleasure. In addition, the naked girl running through the woods symbolizes the sexual desire present in all of the inhabitants of Salem, a desire that society forces them to suppress and negate. In order to express their innate desires (whether innocent or not), the girls must go outside of the community into the wilderness. Religion has not tamed the forests or the heathen Indians that inhabit them, so the Puritans view the woods as the Devil's stronghold. The wilderness outside of Salem is comparable to the wilderness in which Satan tempted Jesus. Although Jesus did not succumb to temptation, Satan led him into the wilderness to entice him to sin. The girls actively seek the wilderness because it provides them with a place where they can exercise desires that society considers unacceptable.
