![]() They observe, “For most Americans the episode ranks in familiarity somewhere between Plymouth Rock and Custer's last stand.” Moreover, they note that because of the trials' dramatic elements, “It is no coincidence that the Salem witch trials are best known today through the work of a playwright, not a historian. ![]() In their book Salem Possessed, Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum remark upon the prominent place the Salem witch trials have in America's cultural consciousness. My basic need was to respond to a phenomenon which, with only small exaggeration, one could say paralyzed a whole generation and in a short time dried up the habits of trust and toleration in public discourse." "It would probably never have occurred to me to write a play about the Salem witch trials of 1692 had I not seen some astonishing correspondences with that calamity in the America of the late 40s and early 50s. ![]()
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