Women In The Salem Witch Trials

Ceci Giebutowski

Mr. Parsons

U.S. History

14 April 2023

In popular media, we know the witch as an old, green, ugly, and monstrous creature, often brewing potions or flying on her broomstick. Think of Elphaba from Wicked or the trio of witches in Hocus Pocus. But in Salem Village in 1692, the witch was far from those portrayals. She was an ordinary woman, your neighbor, your own wife! A woman said to have participated in witchcraft or declared to be possessed by the devil. These spooky accusations were a reality for many women. It all started with two young girls, Abigail Williams and Betty Parris, exhibiting strange behaviors, such as barking, twisting into unnatural positions, and hysterical fits. When the country doctor could

The Puritans were Christian Protestants, so they relied heavily on the Bible and interpreted it literally. However, this means their fundamental perception of women comes from the book of Genesis, in which Eve betrays God first. Richard Goodbeer, author and professor at the University of Kansas, says it best: “Eve’s legacy as the female prototype was double-edged: on the one hand, she served as a successful helpmeet in the Garden of Eden; on the other, she was Satan’s first human ally.” When interpreted literally – as Puritans often did – a conclusion pulled from Eve’s actions could be that women are the most likely to succumb to the Devil, as it is in their nature. When put into the time of the Salem Witch Trials, this framing resulted in the idea that women should be the first to blame for witchcraft. In general, women in the Puritan society of Salem had little autonomy and agency, which made them easy to blame. In the Journal Dissenting Voices, Maggie Rosen states that “the reinforcement of the strict gender roles (i.e., women as mothers, caretakers, and homemakers) made it easy to target the women who stepped outside of their assigned role. Powerful women and/or women who transgressed the boundaries of the gender binary were seen as an evil.” The expectations of women in Salem in 1692 were incredibly limiting. Hence, any kind of step outside the boundary is incredibly noticeable and even labeled as “evil.” We see this in the case of Sarah Goode, one of the first accused. She was known for being a “vagrant,” as she was not like many of the other Salem women. Her family was terribly poor, her husband was known to be abusive, and she often resorted to begging on the streets. She was not particularly kind, and she would often shout at children. She had no discernable “place” in society as a woman, as she was not