This play was written at the height of the McCarthy Witch Hunts in America. Arthur Miller himself was a suspect at this time when the government were on the look out for communist sympathisers. The action is set in Salem Massachusetts in the late 17th Century. Some of the girls in the village have been accused of taking part in witchcraft and the accusations affect every member of the village including John Proctor, the local farmer who had an affair with one of the 'accused'. The play climaxes in a trial where the truth is so confused, and people are so scared of being accused that they falsely accuse others to save their own skin. The accusations build to an almost ridiculous level until the main character stands up for truth and the importance of living by your word.
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