ipl-logo

Witchcraft Vs Women Analysis

605 Words3 Pages

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 …show more content…

As stated by Levack, 84% of those accused were women. There are a plethora of possible explanations for this, but the one that correlates the best with the Thomas and Jane Weir case is the difference in status held by each gender. However, it was common during this time period that those tried for witchcraft were accused by their neighbours due to four main reasons. these included magical practices, moral deviance, personal temperament, and economic circumstances of the accused. This was stereotypical during the time, but in Thomas’ case he began to feel extreme remorse for his crimes including adultery and incest which led to his declaration to the neighbours of the aforementioned crimes. However, it is crucial to note that his confession did not include witchcraft. It was not until his confession indicted his sister for the crimes as well, which resulted in her confession of witchcraft. This leads the reader to question what occurred during her interrogation that led to her confession of witchcraft? This concept leads back to the concept that the church and the state were linked which led to high levels of religious influence in court proceedings, including interrogations. It was common for people interrogated to confess to crimes of witchcraft, but these people were frequently tortured to meet these ends. Therefore, the fact that it was Jane who confessed to witchcraft steers one to the belief that women were unfairly treated in trials due to their gender

Show More
Related

Salem Witch Trials Dbq Essay

319 Words | 2 Pages

Did you know that more women were accused of being a witch than men. People In Salem, Massachusetts were involved. There was a high number of people being accused of a witchcraft in 1692. Evidence suggests that the Salem Witch trials happened because single women were jealous that they didn't have a husband. Salem Witch Trial in Salem Massachusetts, 1692

Read More

The Economic Basis Of Witchcraft By Carol Karlsen

243 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More

Summary Of A Delusion Of Satan By Frances Hill

1532 Words | 7 Pages

As Whitney mentioned, the witch hunts occurred in the 17th century were due to the fears of women becoming “economically and psychological” independent, and threatening the male control of property and social order. Those women were viewed as “discontent” meaning the refusal of accepting their predetermined social status (Whitney 85). In contrast, men who had high authority and social status like the Putmans and Parris could purposely manipulate women and instigated the public resentment to falsely accuse, and cruelly eliminate their enemies such as Rebecca and other accused witches. Certainly, the girls and women in the Putman and Parris’s families who made the false accusations of witches and witchcraft were wielded by

Read More

Ap Euro Witch Dbq Essay

631 Words | 3 Pages

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 !

Read More

Essay On The Salem Witch Trials Dbq

480 Words | 2 Pages

This jealousy was created from other’s female gender, age and marital status. Based on document B provided, the accusers were around the age of 16-20, female, and accused mostly women (41-60), that were married of being a witch. Drawing to a conclusion, the accusers, younger and single girls, were jealous of old, married women who had their future set for them

Read More

Analysis Of A Modest Inquiry Into The Nature Of Witchcraft By John Hale

128 Words | 1 Pages

In his book, “A Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft (1702),” clergyman John Hale comes forth to confront the recent events going on at the time. Initially, Hale alludes to the questionable actions and activities of the townspeople being accused of witchcrafts, and being imprisoned as punishment. In addition, he discloses how everyone suspicious will be accused, not even young children are safe from the hands of this fate. Hale’s purpose of publishing this book was to describe the incident of the Witch Trials, and to reveal his experience of the trials, since his own wife was accused. By employing a didactic tone, Hale relays the actions of the past that targeted the Puritans and those wrongly accused of witchcrafts, so this occurrence

Read More

Salem Witch Trials Dbq Analysis

712 Words | 3 Pages

In Document B, Demos presents that most of the accusers of witches were single females in their younger years of age. In the late 1600s, women were extremely dependent upon men for their financial stability, overall safety, and mental/emotional well being. In an interpretation of this document, it can be assumed that these younger female women were seeking family ties and protection in a harsher time period. On the same hand, Document C, a most likely extremely biased account, recounts the “bewitched actions” of Bridget Bishop, a witch, upon the afflicted. Samuel Parris, the examiner of Bishop, seems to shed a negative light on Bishop.

Read More

The Salem Witchcraft Trials: Gender Roles And Women

252 Words | 2 Pages

Gender roles played a heavy role in colonial society, and the women who did not conform to these roles were easy targets for witchcraft accusations. Women who were post-menopausal, widowed, unmarried were not fulling their “duty” to society of bearing children and thus could come under fire (Lecture.) Those who were aggressive, out spoken, or did not do as another wished could also bring cries of “witch!” (Lecture.) This is highlighted in Cotton Mather’s Accounts of the Salem Witchcraft Trials, one of these accused women Susana Martin stands trial with many of the testifiers being men who had been wronged by Martin in some way or another.

Read More

Witch Dbq

1436 Words | 6 Pages

Mostly woman were accused of witchcraft during this time period, however, men could be dragged into the accusations and sometimes persecuted as well. Citizens that were high in the community usually did not bother to believe those who were accused of being witches, however, if someone was accused of being a witch and they were not high up in the community, then they were usually accused and convicted. These types of cases were not fair to the slighted and was a major reason why the Puritan religion had some bad qualities behind

Read More

Gender Roles In The Salem Witch Trials

893 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the trials, the courts realized women that confessed to signing a pact with the devil were more helpful alive than they were dead. As much

Read More

Salem Witch Trials: Inequality Between Men And Women In 1692

505 Words | 3 Pages

Women make about seventy-nine percent of men’s average hourly wage. This relates to the salem witch trials because women who are seen

Read More

Salem Witch Trials Essay

435 Words | 2 Pages

Women were believed more likely to side with the devil then men due to their lustful nature and obedience to men. The first 3 people to be accused of witchcraft was: Sarah Good(a beggar), Tituba(a native) and Sarah

Read More

Mass Hysteria Research Paper

588 Words | 3 Pages

It is unbelievable 2,000 women were murdered in India of witchcraft. It is not a right to kill someone innocent. It does not matter whether accusers believe the person committed something wrong. The person killed could have been innocent, there was no evidence that they were harming anyone. Women are an easy target because women were defined as frail, and never accused men.

Read More

Carol Karlsen The Devil In The Shape Of A Woman Analysis

1059 Words | 5 Pages

Karlsen leaps to the present with two short paragraphs concerning the connection of early America belief in witchcraft influencing modern thinking and fascination with historical witchcraft. She asserts, "the continuing power of woman-as-witch in our collective imagination"; she addresses the issue of the power that continues to mold and shape the perception of witches and witchcraft in modern America. Why is this relevant to the book and her original story? Why would she throw this in? Pondering these questions led to the conclusion that the reference to current thought links the "woman-as-witch" ideology to the current emphasis on female empowerment prevalent in feminist writing today.

Read More

Witchcraft In Popular Culture

1209 Words | 5 Pages

Witchcraft (witches are beings who have been known to be healers and demons alike) is a concept which comprises of so many different phenomenon rolled into one concept that it is difficult to attempt to succinctly describe it in a few words, sentences or ideas. Across time and across cultures, what anthropologists call “magic and witchcraft” widely varies. Different ideas, different beliefs, different practices etc. which come under the heading of “magic and witchcraft” have been known to be so different form one another that it has been difficult to trace a common origin. At best, it has been posited that witchcraft has been a popular belief among societies since the data on human societies has been available.

Read More

More about Witchcraft Vs Women Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document