Witchcraft and Salem

Witchcraft and Salem

Witchcraft in general, and Salem in particular, acquire long been a focus of interest and study in
American history. The circumstances triggering witchery accusations in the Salem witchcraft trials
and the longevity of those trials are a long standing issue of debate. The Devil in the Shape of a
Woman, by hum Karlsen, examines witchcraft as a complicated, religiously lead, male rule
companionable structure. Women were held in dual roles, subservient to, and agents of spiritual leadership,
utilize events in Salem as one aspect of a global analysis to promote a feminist vision of female
persecution by a patriarchal and prudeical social system prompted by fear of social change in gender
relationships. In Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft, a study of the events of Salem
specifically, Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum minutely examine the economic byplay of the Salem
Village inhabitants, unearthing social tensions while also detailing the personal histories of the leaders.
twain of these monographs reveal new perspectives when examining the direct quill evidence of these
events.




Boyer and Nissenbaum specifically focus on the Salem episode, use a plethora of court
documents and tax records to map fall out a prior economic and religious leadership division, primarily in
Salem Village, including the controlling Salem Town. Karlsen, on the other hand, delves into the overall
concept of witchcraft by puzzling together the roles of women in the highly religious structure of the
communal Puritan communities, while still using some of the same primary resources that Boyer and
Nissenbaum use to help explain the vulnerability of women in the era. Both monographs use data
analysis of documented public training for support, but arrive at alternative conclusions.
Karlsen goes beyond economics, proffering a variety of causal explanations (i.e.demographics),
mapping the characteristic religiously structured...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com



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