Salem Witchcraft Trials

2727 Words11 Pages
SALEM WITCHCRAFT TRIALS. Salem witchcraft trials have long inspired interest of scholars and researchers and this phenomenon is analyzed on many levels: sociological, historical, anthropological, psychological, demo graphical, theological. The focus of this paper is the possible interpretation of Salem events in view of the role and the position of women in Colonial America. Furthermore, through the analysis of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, especially its female protagonists, an attempt is made to see whether this role has been redefined in this modern reinterpretation of this event. Although it is difficult to tell with certainty what happened in Salem in 1692, a majority of historical sources suggest that everything started when…show more content…
However, these events not only deeply undermined the Puritan order in New England, but also became an important historical point against which many contemporary events would be measured. Furthermore, bearing in mind that a majority of the accused and convicted were women, as well as that all of the accusers were women, this episode was important for the (re)definition of the role of women in New England. The following section will give some of the more important characteristics of a woman's life in Colonial New England. Bremer (1995) states that the position of women in Colonial America was clearly…show more content…
Karlsen'e feminist study The Devil in the Shape of a Woman (1987) deals with witchcraft trials on a larger scale: she analyzes data from both Europe and New England, establishing that the majority of the accused and executed were women and most often women over forty, past their childbearing and child-rearing years, therefore, most likely to be care-receivers than care-givers. Furthermore, she claims that those women were particularly the ones who did not fit into the typical Puritan framework of a good, obedient wife, the one who is supposed to help reinforce the male-dominated hierarchical structure of the society Unlike the above mentioned Demon's study, Karlsen maintains that the accused and executed women were predominantly held in higher esteem in the society, the ones who by exhibiting non-conformist views and employing independent judgment endangered male hegemony, and consequently, God's preordained system of order in which women, children and servants were supposed to submit to male
Open Document