Movies - The Witches of Eastwick

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	Movies - The Witches of Eastwick

The Witches of Eastwick is a 1984 novel by John Updike. In 1987, it was adapted into a film starring Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer. In 2000, the novel was adapted into a stage musical by John Dempsey and Dana P. Rowe; this production ran for approximately one year in London's West End. It has now been released to 10 amateur theatre companies across the UK, beginning in Bristol in November 2005,with other performances in York and Sheffield.

Plot synopsis

The story, set in the fictional Rhode Island town of Eastwick, is based around the magical abilities and personal growth of the three female protagonists (the Witches Alexandra Spofford, Jane Smart, and Sukie Rougemont). Initially their power is minor, but expands to involve the summoning of a devil-like character Darryl Van Horne. The mysterious Darryl seduces each of the women in turn, teaching them how to further their powers and creating a scandal in the town. The women come to realise that Darryl is corrupting them and the town, and resolve to exile him from their lives.

Differences between the novel and the film

While the movie portrays a very romantic view of the witches: the way they act and the things they make happen in Eastwick during the plot, and charges most of the guilt on Darryl; the book shows a more cruel and evil set of witches, mostly oriented to having affairs with the men in town and hurting their women with their spells. The book is also overly charged with sexual content, compared to the movie. And yet, although the weight of guilt is also dispersed between the witches, Darryl still kept enough of it to end the book being even more villainous and evil than his movie counterpart.

Some have expressed concern that the book is misogynistic, as it reinforces the patriarchal conception of women as witches, and of women requiring a man for personal growth. The antagonist is also an archetypical shrewish woman.

Filming Locations

Cohasset, Massachusetts

Crane Mansion, in Ipswich, Massachusetts

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Witches of Eastwick ]

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