After reading “Devil in the Shape of a Woman: The Economic Basis of Witchcraft “by Carol Karlsen I was intrigued by Karlsen’s interpretation, and upset about the ways women were treated. During these witch hunts women and men alike were accused of the crime, but the majority were women. I found it interesting that she related the commonly known Puritan beliefs, which lead to accusations of witchcraft, with gender roles. She ultimately says that Puritans feared these accused women because they symbolized female independence. I found it shocking that women, often the wealthier, had a greater chance of being let go of their accusations if they had a husband to spoke on their behalf.
“The fact that overall about 20 per cent of the accused were male is less an indication that men were associated with witchcraft than it appears. Most of these men were related to women already convicted of sorcery […] Of the few that were not related, most had criminal records for other felonies, such as theft, highway robbery, murder […] For them, witchcraft was not the original charge, but was added on to make the initial accusation more heinous. Witchcraft was thus perceived primarily as a female offence.”
There was much superstition and ignorance in the 17th century England and hundreds of women were wrongly accused and punished. From 1484 until around 1750 some 200,000 witches were tortured, burnt or hanged in Western Europe and England. Most supposed witches were usually poor old women. Women who weren’t lucky enough to look beautiful. Any woman who was ‘crone-like’ with broken irregular teeth , sunken cheeks and a hairy lip was assumed to be a witch !
Also, people thought they themselves would be accused, so they kept accusing more people. They would not be able to defend themselves from the devil. Therefore, they were most likely witches. For example, 110 of the 134 that were accused were women. If one confessed they were set free.
The European witch craze between 1563 and 1620 highlighted a variety of problems across society over how these individuals were treated and what the root cause of the increase of the sweeping paranoia of witchcraft and magic. Ultimately, like the beliefs of historians such as Anne Barstow and Marion Gibson, the sweeping paranoia increase was ruled by misogyny both as a direct and underlying cause. Justification for misogyny during trials came in many forms such as religious justification as female witches magic was viewed as the complete opposite to Christianity’s God and his holy power. Legislation against witchcraft didn’t really come into power in England until the 1563 Witchcraft Act created by Queen Elizabeth I and it “formally criminalised
Being female automatically means less power, so the girls “[become] intoxicated...by the terrible success of their imposture (acting), and [are] swept along by the frenzy they [have] occasioned” (Doc D) to get more power. After seeing that they have the power to condemn someone to death, the girls went power-crazy and started to accuse random women and men of witchcraft. Consequently, with each success, they become more more confident in their acting and continue to send innocent women to their deaths. Having this power makes the girls feel important and valued; because of this, they don’t care about the fact that helpless women are being sent to their demise. Additionally, whenever the accused person “[turns] up her eyes,... the eyes of the afflicted [turn up]” (Doc C).
In medieval times, there was a widespread belief among Christians and others that witches had made deals with the devil to harm people. This led to the execution of tens of thousands of suspected witches, with the majority being women. It caused a "witchcraft craze" across Europe, highlighting the influence of superstition and fear during that dark period of history (Blumberg). To add on, showing the impact of hysteria, one editor claimed that “many in the community who viewed the unfolding events as travesties remained mute”, they felt this way because they were “afraid that they would be punished for raising objections to the proceedings” (Wallenfeldt). This fear arose because if they were to be punished, they would be “accused of witchcraft themselves” and could be hanged as well (Wallenfeldt).
The Great Leap Forward took place during 1958 and 1960 (C). Mao introduced the Great Leap Forward as a means to catch up to the West’s development through agricultural and industrial development. The key factors of this movement were Propaganda, the introduction of communes and hard labour. While this was claimed to be in the interests of the Chinese population, the manner in which Mao lead this campaign, in addition to its devastating consequences, cannot prove these claims true (A). Mao’s goals for China were impossible to achieve as he believed the country could make a century’s worth of achievements in as little as a few decades (B).
Those who denied were seen as the ones who were lying, those who never acknowledged their pacts with Satan and those who never opted for redemption. These women would eventually be executed. For all these reasons, in Puritan terms, it was better if women confessed to be witches even when
In 1692, people were accused of casting spells, which meant they were siding with the devil in Salem, New England. Many people who lived in the countryside of Salem believed that the Holy Bible were God’s direct words and should be followed precisely. Women were more likely to be accused of casting spells because they were expected to be at home, listen to their husband, and weren’t aloud to be ministers so there were more likely to preach the devil. People believe that women aren’t good enough and men are superior to women, even now in this century. There is still a pay in inequality between the average men and women.
Firstly, as stated by Julian Goodare in his piece entitled “Women and the witch-hunt in Scotland”, the belief that was forced upon the people stemmed from King James’ belief that women were the frailer sex and as such, were more likely to be seduced by the devil. This has been a reiterated theme for hundreds of years: for example in the biblical story of Adam and Eve, Eve is enticed to eat the apple by the Serpent and tempts Adam as well. Therefore, reiterating the notion that women are the cause of men’s troubles. King James further supports this in Daemonologie when discussing why women are more frequently accused of witchcraft he states “… for as that sexe is frailer then men is, so it is easier to be entrapped in those gross snares of
This was more commonly found in women more so than in men, this is able to be seen in (Document N and E). While looking at the two tables in (Document E) it is divided into two subjects The Accused and The Accusers, in each table we see the majority of each table is centered around women. A majority of the people that consumed bread and showed the symptoms could be seen as a witch, the symptoms were usually a crawling of the skin sensation, hallucinations, delirium, etc. If you were seen in public seeing things that weren 't there or scratching your skin as if things were on your body you could potentially end up being seen as a witch and killed. This evidence helps explain the hysteria and the hangings because it showed that everyone was on high alert at all times everyone around them could be seen as a someone to blame or as a
These views, in and of themselves, speak to the level of intolerance permeating America and to the level of fear associated with witchcraft. The Religious intolerance and fear experienced in English North America was not a sole construct of Puritanism in New England. These ideas permeated Southwards throughout the length of the thirteen English colonies. Oftentimes, the fear of witchcraft led to colonial governments establishing capital laws against any person entering into communion with Satan.
Not so Pure Sexism "The United States identified women as legal entities as late as 1875", this leads us to believe that women weren't even considered to be citizens even in the late 1800's, what must have been their image in society all the way back to the puritan time period?. Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" occurs in the early puritan time period, and it all starts when two girls are in a coma like state after they have been caught to be dancing around naked in the forest. The town is immediately lead to believe that they are involved in witchcraft. At the time, denial of accusations lead to the person being hanged, but surprisingly enough if you confessed to witchcraft, you were saved. The group of girls claim witchcraft at first but then continue with their lies to gain things out of it.
Additionally, when men were displeased with their wives who were witches would accuse them in Essex of witchcraft and would result in half of the men that would complete such a task. Contrarily, in societies in which there was a few number of women who were not married the number of witch trials became very infrequent because no one had few suspicions because the stereotype among the French colony in Canada was limited. An additional source that many would use at the time from the late 15th century to charge witches was The Malleus Maleficarum which contained demonological works which discussed the evil of women which is the reason they practice witchcraft moreover, as time passed these trials became less common as the reforms on sexuality arose and altered the motives of the witch hunts to becoming sexually repressive witch hunts. Ultimately, displaying the misogyny that women faced from the 16th and 17th centuries when it came to convicting during the witch trials. Despite the witch trials in Europe not completely targeting men as more often than women, they were still persecuted and were more often than not had greater possibilities of being targeted because women at the time were responsible for the survival of the community
