Witchy Woman

This week’s readings focused on the feminist perspective of the witch trials in Europe. Witchcraze by Anne Llewellyn Barstow tries to view the witch trials in regard to their effect on the women of this period. Viewing these events from the perspective of feminism is interesting and can seem a little unnecessary. I initially found it challenging to pull any new or deeply interesting information from this book, mostly because the idea of female persecution during the witch trials seems to clear cut that it’s hard to consider this perspective as feminist or groundbreaking. As I continued to read and digest information I was able to find some intriguing nuggets of information that I had not considered previously. These little tidbits of information greatly influenced my views on these trials and on what women, as individuals, went through after having an accusation of witchcraft leveled against them. 

During the first few weeks of this class we focused on the witchcraze as an overview. We learned of the intense and lengthy period of build up that culminated in the beginning of the witch trials as well as the overall trends that can be viewed, and the reason for the somewhat sudden end to these tragic events. I found this to be a very important because I realized just how unaware I was of what actually took place during this period of time. There were plenty of snippets of information that I had known but I completely lacked awareness of the truly important details that allowed the fear and superstition to take hold and grip Europe and New England. I also lacked key understanding of how we arrived at the point where accusations of witchcraft could lead to the death of an individual. I also failed to see the countless individuals who were victims to these terrible fates as people. It was always hard for me to understand how individuals could accuse members of their community, friends and even family members, of such horrible things. It was also difficult for me to imagine good people allowing individuals they knew to suffer the physical pain and even stigma that comes with a witchcraft accusation. Understanding how such things came to be has allowed for a greater appreciation of these events and how easy it can be for things to escalate to such a point. 

While reading Witchcraze, I found a lot of information that initially seemed somewhat repetitive since I already had a good overview of these events. What I realized is that this book helps with an understanding that I could never have with an overview of these events. This book focuses on the individuals who were forever changed and impacted by what took place during this period of time. It seems like a very simple thing to understand, these were real people and these accusations had severe and lasting impacts even for those who escaped with their lives, but when viewing these events from such a distance I tend to forget these clear facts. This book spends a great deal of time putting names and actual people with the historical events. 

There were two major areas to examine. The first is why  women served as ideal victims. Why were women so heavily victimized during this period of time? Women are frequently victimized even to this day so understanding the historical setting for what set up mass victimization in this area is crucial. There was one very interesting point that was brought up about the gap in those who were persecuted. I had already learned that far more women were persecuted than men (roughly 80% women to 20% men depending on the area) but I had not thought to look into that further until this book which pointed out that of the men who were accused many of them were connected to an accused woman in some way, making their persecution an extension of the same persecution of the women involved. For a large period of time women could not be held responsible for their actions in a legal sense. After finally being viewed as people who could be held legally responsible for their own actions, this change in society’s perspective was specifically for the purpose of attacking women. Additionally, the crime of witchcraft was so serious that many husbands, sons, and other family members turned on the women accused in order to deflect blame. 

The second area of note is what the structure of the witch trials looked like. The structure of the witch trials was critical in understanding these women and what became of them. The first step in a trial was the accusation. Women were accused for a variety of reasons. One story examined proved that the smallest slight could lead to an accusation. When a woman by the name of Anne Redfearne was accused seemingly because she refused the sexual advances of a well connected man of higher status than her, she found herself accused of practicing witchcraft. Many women were accused simply because those in their towns and villages who were experiencing hardship wished to blame someone for their troubles. Wives could also be accused if a husband suspected infidelity. Since men had all of the power in society at this time these accusations carried a particular weight and a sharp sting. Women were accused because they were easy targets with little options for legal recourse, poor individuals were often accused for the same or similar reasons, making lower class women prime targets for this form of persecution. 

Once a claim had been leveled and the judiciary took over conditions did not improve for the women. They were subject to torture and judgement at the hands of a legal system comprised of men. The switch from a religious court to a secular one proved detrimental to the accused as it opened the door for torture to be used to extract confessions and in the pursuit of co-conspirators. While I had an idea of the torture used, I failed to grasp how truly demeaning this treatment was for these women; who were stripped and searched in a quest for damning evidence that would show their allegiance to the Devil. They were subject to terrible torture but first they were subjected to humiliation that would cause shame and guilt, helping to explain a great many of the false confessions. Women who did manage to escape these accusations with their lives still had to live with the stigma left behind for their remaining days. Additionally this system was set up to insure that being released was not the same as an acquittal and held little weight with the townspeople who often doubled as the original accusers. 

While I originally couldn’t see much use in viewing the witch trials through a feminist perspective, I have come to really appreciate the added depth this has given to this subject. I already understood the history behind these events and the ways in which women were victimized yet I failed to appreciate the magnitude these accusations had on the individuals, particularly the women accused. I also had a more simplistic idea of why women were more frequently accused than men, chalking it up to them being easier targets and missing all of the subtle slights that could lead a woman to be the target of someone’s wrath. In short, this week’s readings have given me a better and more realistic understanding of why women were so frequently targeted and how the system was set up against them.