Arthur Miller's intrusions into the play help readers to better understand these complicated characters because he offers us quite a bit of insight into their fictional lives. For example, he tells readers that Abigail Williams is a fantastic liar and master manipulator, and this helps us to read into her behaviors and get to know her much more quickly that we might otherwise. Likewise, we quickly develop an understanding of the complexities of John Proctor's character as a result of Miller's exposition on him (exposition is the presentation of background information that usually occurs toward the beginning of texts as a way to help the reader quickly get to know the people and places). This helps us to contextualize Proctor's and Abigail's conversation with one another in Act I, and our opinions of these characters can begin to crystallize much more quickly.
Additionally, Miller's comments -- in acquainting us with these fictional characters -- help readers to understand how Miller has differentiated and changed them from their real-life counterparts. Many of these names were real players in this tragic era of American history, and Miller makes some important changes (such as bringing Abigail and John closer together in age and creating their sexual affair). His intrusions into the text allow us to quickly ascertain what changes he's made to the history.
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