Practical Magic

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1995

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Part 4

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Background

Cultural Context: The Practical Magic Legacy

While Alice Hoffman’s novel was first published in 1995, many readers discovered it later after seeing the 1998 film adaptation, Practical Magic, starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as Sally and Gillian, respectively. The film follows the novel’s plot only loosely, being more inspired by Hoffman’s book than truly based on it. The film has had an unlikely journey to its current cult status. Initially, it was widely panned by film critics, garnering a 23% rating on the review platform Rotten Tomatoes. One of the largest complaints about the film was that it didn’t have a clear target audience. It oscillated between moments of family-friendly wholesomeness and moments that veered toward domestic horror. Financially, it was a box office failure. An interview with director Griffin Dunne revealed his concern that the film may have been cursed by a witch who felt her consulting work on the set had been taken for granted. Dunne, a then-nonbeliever, invested in an exorcism, which contemporary pagans would call an “uncrossing,” to “cover [his] bases” (Shapiro, Lila. “Practical Magic Got Cursed by an Actual Witch. Is That Why It Bombed?” Vulture, 2017).

Despite its challenging beginnings, Practical Magic’s feminist themes and strong matriarchal values—a direct predecessor of 1990s and 2000s magical shows like Charmed—gave it an enduring cult status and a devoted fan base. Stockard Channing, best known for her leading role in the film musical Grease, won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress, while the film and its cast were nominated for numerous other accolades. In 2017, to coincide with Hoffman’s prequel The Rules of Magic, Enchanted Living Magazine released a “Practical Magic” issue inspired by the film’s aesthetic. Today, the film has become one of the most popular Halloween and autumn-season films for viewers who prefer comfort over gore and thrills.

Sociohistorical Context: Witchcraft in New England

The town’s suspicion toward the Owens women is a core underlying thread of the novel. In the novel, Hoffman depicts this attitude via a flashback to when the first Owens, Maria, came to New England two centuries before the present day. Because she was a single, unmarried mother as well as young and beautiful, she immediately became a target of suspicion and prejudice. In 17th-century New England, mere suspicion was adequate reasoning for persecuting a woman. During that time period, over 200 women faced charges of suspected witchcraft, and nearly two dozen were executed for their alleged crimes.

By the time Maria arrived in the late 1700s to early 1800s, however, the mass persecutions of women suspected of witchcraft for which New England became notorious had largely subsided. By the early 18th century, witchcraft was no longer illegal; however, suspicion and distrust remained rampant (“New England Witchcraft Trials: It Wasn’t Just Salem.” New England Historical Society, 2022). Even if officials could no longer jail and trial a woman for spellcasting, she could be ostracized by her neighbors, or worse. Many women were assaulted or cast out from their villages in the belief that such treatment would protect the community. This is the environment Maria was subject to and that haunts her descendants to the present day.

Today, witchcraft—both historic and contemporary—draws tourists to New England, but especially to Salem, Massachusetts. In addition to the Salem Witch Museum, the region features a plethora of metaphysical shops and workshops that introduce people to a new reality of witchcraft. Although suspicion surrounding paganism and witchcraft persists in parts of America as well as Europe, these stories are reaching a wider audience and educating people on the true nature of New England witches, past and present.