This particular Arthur Miller's play was actually based on true events that happened in late seventeenth century Salem, Massachusetts, a little town near where Boston is now, during pre-independence America. This was the famous Salem "Witch Trials". This is considered a "dark" play as the theme was on revenge, deceit and superstition.
The main character was a young lady called Abigail, who was taken care of by her uncle the Reverend Parris, who had a daughter called Betty. The Reverend had a West Indies housekeeper called Tabitha. Abigail, Betty and a few girls would sometimes meet Tabitha in the woods at night, where they had girlish fun dancing, while Tabitha would be brewing some West Indies concoction. One night, the Reverend happened to stumble upon their orgy and Betty fainted from shock as a result.
The Reverend accused Tabitha of being a witch that tried to put a spell on his daughter, and when she denied, she was tortured until she had to say she was a witch. So she was sentenced to death. This incident triggered off a whole lot of accusations and finger-pointing. Those who hated others and wanted to take revenge would come out and accuse another person as being a witch. People took this opportunity to get rid of those they disliked.
Abigail herself wanted to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor, the wife of John Proctor. She was the Proctor's maid and was having an affair with John, when his wife found out and chased her out. Thus Abigail had an intense hatred for Elizabeth. So she accused Elizabeth of dwelling in witchcraft and sorcery, and the authorities believed her even further when they found a doll (which they believed to be a voodoo doll) in her possession. Thus she was arrested.
When John told Abigail he would never be with her no matter what happened, she turned her rage on him and accused him of being a witch too. Elizabeth and some others "confessed" on being a witch so as to save their necks, but John refused to "confess" as he did not do anything wrong. Elizabeth was set free but John was hanged.
Besides John, a few others like the midwife Rebecca Nurse, who was accused of using witchcraft to kill a few babies, was hanged although she was already in her seventies. In those days of high infant mortality rate, it was inevitable that some babies would die. Her husband, Francis Nurse passed away shortly after. It turned out that the family was so accused because the rich man wanted their land, thus used the trial to get rid of them.
In those Puritanican times where the people delved on superstition and religion, they could really use the publicity of the witch trials to seek justice for past hurts, took revenge on those who had hurt them, and got people out of the way just to seize their fortune and land. It is a real irony indeed that in the play itself, the people were portrayed as being religious and theocratic, yet these same people could be cruel and evil and not doing things according to religion or the Bible.
Those that refused to sign the confession were automatically hanged, like John Proctor, who refused to tarnish his good name by lying on a piece of paper. In a way, he was an admirable character because although he sinned, he tried to make up for it, and he honoured his name to the very end. And yet he was one that was not as religious as the rest of the villagers. It was the most religious ones that started all these witch hunting and shooting out accusations at everyone they fancied.
The entire story itself was on ugliness of human nature. It gave the lesson that human nature, no matter which era and where they are, is the same everywhere. People will want to fight for things, will back-bite others to get what they want, some even to the extent of killing off their enemies to achieve something. These qualities are still abundant in modern times. Very sad indeed.
The book itself would be a more entertaining read if it is in a story form rather than a play. In this way, the movie outshines the book, as the story and characters come more to life on screen than in the book. Arthur Miller is a good writer in his own right, but it would be better if he can formulate the plot in a story form. For plays, stick to Shakespeare. No one can ever outshine him when it comes to writing plays.
The main character was a young lady called Abigail, who was taken care of by her uncle the Reverend Parris, who had a daughter called Betty. The Reverend had a West Indies housekeeper called Tabitha. Abigail, Betty and a few girls would sometimes meet Tabitha in the woods at night, where they had girlish fun dancing, while Tabitha would be brewing some West Indies concoction. One night, the Reverend happened to stumble upon their orgy and Betty fainted from shock as a result.
The Reverend accused Tabitha of being a witch that tried to put a spell on his daughter, and when she denied, she was tortured until she had to say she was a witch. So she was sentenced to death. This incident triggered off a whole lot of accusations and finger-pointing. Those who hated others and wanted to take revenge would come out and accuse another person as being a witch. People took this opportunity to get rid of those they disliked.
Abigail herself wanted to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor, the wife of John Proctor. She was the Proctor's maid and was having an affair with John, when his wife found out and chased her out. Thus Abigail had an intense hatred for Elizabeth. So she accused Elizabeth of dwelling in witchcraft and sorcery, and the authorities believed her even further when they found a doll (which they believed to be a voodoo doll) in her possession. Thus she was arrested.
When John told Abigail he would never be with her no matter what happened, she turned her rage on him and accused him of being a witch too. Elizabeth and some others "confessed" on being a witch so as to save their necks, but John refused to "confess" as he did not do anything wrong. Elizabeth was set free but John was hanged.
Besides John, a few others like the midwife Rebecca Nurse, who was accused of using witchcraft to kill a few babies, was hanged although she was already in her seventies. In those days of high infant mortality rate, it was inevitable that some babies would die. Her husband, Francis Nurse passed away shortly after. It turned out that the family was so accused because the rich man wanted their land, thus used the trial to get rid of them.
In those Puritanican times where the people delved on superstition and religion, they could really use the publicity of the witch trials to seek justice for past hurts, took revenge on those who had hurt them, and got people out of the way just to seize their fortune and land. It is a real irony indeed that in the play itself, the people were portrayed as being religious and theocratic, yet these same people could be cruel and evil and not doing things according to religion or the Bible.
Those that refused to sign the confession were automatically hanged, like John Proctor, who refused to tarnish his good name by lying on a piece of paper. In a way, he was an admirable character because although he sinned, he tried to make up for it, and he honoured his name to the very end. And yet he was one that was not as religious as the rest of the villagers. It was the most religious ones that started all these witch hunting and shooting out accusations at everyone they fancied.
The entire story itself was on ugliness of human nature. It gave the lesson that human nature, no matter which era and where they are, is the same everywhere. People will want to fight for things, will back-bite others to get what they want, some even to the extent of killing off their enemies to achieve something. These qualities are still abundant in modern times. Very sad indeed.
The book itself would be a more entertaining read if it is in a story form rather than a play. In this way, the movie outshines the book, as the story and characters come more to life on screen than in the book. Arthur Miller is a good writer in his own right, but it would be better if he can formulate the plot in a story form. For plays, stick to Shakespeare. No one can ever outshine him when it comes to writing plays.
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