However, many elements of "Liliom" are retained faithfully in "Carousel", an unusual step in the 1940s for a musical play based on such a serious drama. Molnár's basic plotline for Liliom and Julie is largely adhered to, as is much of his dialogue (although Hammerstein makes it more colloquial and gives it a New England flavor). Billy Bigelow is a womanizer and an abusive husband, as is Liliom in the non-musical play; however, both the Molnar play and the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical are careful to stress that he has hit his wife only once, and that other characters erroneously believe that he is a habitual wife-beater.