The Devil in the Shape of a Woman - Witchcraft in Colonial New England

Confessing to "familiarity with the devils," Mary Johnson, a servant, was executed by Connecticut officials in 1648. A wealthy Boston widow, Ann Hibbens was hanged in 1656 for casting spells on her neighbors. The case of Ann Cole, who was "taken with very strange Fits," fueled an outbreak of witchcraft accusations in Hartford a generation before the notorious events at Salem.

More than three hundred years later, the question "Why?" still haunts us. Why were these and other women likely witches-vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft and possession? Carol F. Karlsen reveals the social construction of witchcraft in seventeenth-century New England and illuminates the larger contours of gender relations in that society.

About the author

Carol F. Karlsen is professor emerita of history at the University of Michigan.

Summary

"A pioneer work in…the sexual structuring of society. This is not just another book about witchcraft." —Edmund S. Morgan, Yale University

Product details

• Authors: Carol F Karlsen, Karlsen Carol F.
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 08.01.2010
• EAN: 9780393317596
• ISBN: 978-0-393-31759-6
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 208 mm x 25 mm
• Weight: 336 g
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; USA, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Women's Studies, RELIGION / Wicca, HISTORY / World, HISTORY / Women, RELIGION / Sexuality & Gender Studies, General & world history, 17th century, c 1600 to c 1699, United States of America, USA, Gender studies: women, Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700, General and world history, Gender studies: women and girls, 16th century, c 1500 to c 1599, Occult Studies