Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller is a representative of 20th-century American critical realist literature, such as "Death of a Salesman" and "Salem's Witch".
Arthur Miller, one of the most important American playwrights of the 20th century, produced a large number of realist plays. Along with Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams, he is known as the three great masters of 20th-century American theater.
The Witch of Salem
Based on a real case in the 17th century, "The Witch of Salem" is based on the exorcism of sale in salem town in 1692, alluding to real society, exposing the evil side of human nature, and using historical texts to satirize real society.
According to historical records, at that time, a group of girls in Salem Town could not stand the shackles of asceticism, came to the woods on the edge of the town late at night to dance, and as a result, some people with ulterior motives insisted that witchcraft was a witchcraft, and the so-called devil agent hidden in the town, the wizard, must be searched out.
Thus, under the joint manipulation of the local church and the state administrator, a "witch hunt" operation characterized by accusations, coercion of confessions and connections was fully launched in the town. The deluded and hallucinated girls rolled on the ground while shouting the names of their neighbors, accusing them of torturing themselves with witchcraft. Whoever is charged is immediately arrested and imprisoned, facing the fate of hanging and deprivation of property. Many people, in order to survive, are either forced to admit it, or fall into the same hysteria, and turn to accusing others.
In this case of religious persecution, at least 19 men and women were hanged, 150 were detained, and finally, when the number of suspects rose to hundreds, the countryside was deserted. When the people's grievances were rife, those in power began to regain their minds and stop trials and executions.
Arthur Miller based on this historical event and created The Witch of Salem.
The story is based on the triangular relationship between John Procto, Elizabeth, and Abiga. This triangular relationship is the cause of the whole event, and all the crazy things that happen after that are derived from it.
John Procto was a good man of integrity, goodness, and respect, who, though religious, was not religious. Elizabeth was the wife of John Procto, a devout Catholic, and with her poor health, he was somewhat cold to her husband, John Procto.
The discord between the couple is seen by their maid, Abig, who has a crush on her employer, John Procto, who likes John Procto and decides to take advantage of the situation and make herself John Procto's wife. John Procto could not hold himself back and maintained an improper male-female relationship with Abig.
The incident eventually broke out, and when Elizabeth discovered what had happened between her husband John Procto and her maid, Abiga, she did not hesitate to fire Abiga.
After being fired, Abig held a grudge, and she led a group of girls to the trees to dance and run naked, venting her long-suppressed desires, only to be denounced. In the face of interrogation, in order to bleach her reputation, Abiga turned to accuse the black maid Tituba of being a tool of the devil, and took the opportunity to falsely accuse Elizabeth and throw her into prison.
In order to protect herself, Tituba confessed to witchcraft and confessed to other innocent villagers. In order to cover up the fact that they had violated the rules and precepts, the other girls also shouted out the names of innocent villagers. More and more people are getting involved.
The protagonist, John Procto, has a conscience, and in order to rescue his wife, he decides to expose Abig. In order to protect himself, Abig did not spare even John Procto.
As more and more people are involved in this matter, people in order to protect themselves, began to report and expose each other, arbitrarily fabricated facts, frantically bitten, and some even took the opportunity to retaliate against those who had had festivals with themselves. In the face of life and death, the selfishness and darkness of human nature are infinitely magnified.
Story backdrop
In the 1950s, with the end of the war, people thought that good times were coming, but ideological battles and the Cold War began again. Politically, the United States adopted conservatism, and McKinseyism prevailed. Individual freedoms are still under constant threat, individual rights are still being ruthlessly trampled upon, and not only have all kinds of controls not ended, but they have become tighter and tighter.
The whole society is full of reports and persecution, so that people are panicked and everyone is at risk. Many, despite their innocence, find themselves ostracized by their friends, fired by companies, and even physically threatened by some extreme "patriots," and the fear that follows has led many to commit suicide.
In short, at that time, the entire country of the United States was plunged into an atmosphere of sword rattling and panic, the social atmosphere was extremely strange, people did not dare to tell the truth, did not fit in with the group, did not follow mainstream values, and did not conform to the expression of American ideology were forbidden to speak out. So much so that the whole society is keen to sing praises, praise the American way of life, whitewash the peace, lie after lie, all kinds of false snakes, social ugliness is covered up, and the whole society is immersed in the golden picture of lies and fiction. The great power mentality, the national self-confidence is high, and the optimistic attitude masks the squeeze of the country's grand narrative on personal life.
Conforming to the rules and being satisfied with the status quo has become the prevailing attitude of society, individuality is suppressed, social ugliness is covered up, and hypocrisy and lies are full of false feelings and lies. Rational and practical thinking replace emotions and beliefs, wealth replaces spirit, means are more real than ends, forms and appearances are more important than content and substance.