Witch History

Most observers now agree that witches in the villages and towns of the late Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century New England tended to be poor. They were usually not the poorest women in the community, but the moderately poor. Karlsen tries to show that a woman who was vulnerable was most likely to be accused of being a witch. Even women who had gained wealth because of the death of a husband were prime candidates.

Dahl’s definitions of witches as women speak badly about women and shows unfair judgement about gender. It criticized the women as if most of them are evil and sinner which also compared to Eva. This may be the weakness of this book. Dahl also used the ugliness of witches to communicate about standards of beauty for western women who may be seen as prescriptive or biasing to some critic. Witchcraft and magic are often see in opposition to organize religion which it maybe affects the religions of other groups. It also influences the children to be afraid to women as it was stated that witches are all

There are countless different assumptions about witches. The majority of individuals in the sixteenth and seventeenth century presumed that God and Satan were real (Lambert 1). They also assumed that “witches” were in allegiance with Satan and made a vow to bow down and serve him (Lambert 1). Furthermore, another common belief was

A woman was once looked upon as a healer, ancient persist, mid wife, therapist, cook, sever of goddess, a positive figure, etc. As time went on, women were not seen as they were originally portrayed. Women were eventually viewed as a witch. Each culture had a different perception on what a witch looked like, but each represented the same thing. In essence, the witch craze brought about the “dark side” of a female. Some causes of “witch craze” in the fifteenth century would include hallucinations, people not wanting to be tortured and people needing something to blame misfortune on.

When analyzing all of the information provided in the two books, Witchcraft in Europe by Alan Charles Kors and Edward Peters and Magic and Superstition in Europe by Michael D. Bailey, there are a multitude of common themes that appear repeatedly in both pieces of work on the topic of witchcraft. These common themes vary in topic with some relating to the stereotypical appearance of witches, the actions witches performed, or even the legal procedures involving the conviction of witches. These themes do not only show themselves in those two pieces of work, but also in The Trial of Tempel Anneke by Peter A. Morton. While common themes can be seen in reference to Tempel Anneke’s trial, there are also many

The modern film The Witch by Robert Eggers is set in the 1630’s in New England and follows a Puritan family in their struggles against witches and witchcraft after being banished from the Commonwealth. The story depicts the fears of witches and witchcraft from a Puritan perspective while drawing on portrayals from the Pagan and Christian tradition of the witch to reinforce this image. The Witch uses Pagan, Christian and Puritan concepts of witches and witchcraft to establish an superstitious atmosphere filled with fear, uncertainty and paranoia; this effect aims to represent a similar psychological state of mind the Puritans had towards witches during the Salem witch crisis. Firstly, the elements The Witch uses to develop this atmosphere are images of common witch familiars and animals that have been attributed to them throughout history. Secondly, witchcraft that have been believed to be performed by witches as well as their association with the devil establishes a sense of superstition. Finally, the personality and physical traits of the witch’s character is used to enhance the fearful atmosphere throughout the film. Appearances of animals and familiars associated with witches occur throughout the film and gives a foreboding sense of what is to come.

In this document commentary I will be analysing and commentating on an extract from Henry Goodcole’s pamphlet, The Wonderful Discoverie of Elizabeth Sawyer, a Witch, late of Edmonton. Her Conviction and Condemation and Death. (London, 1621). I will be seeing how if the contemporary public felt the same way and how this relates to the history of witchcraft.

“Silhouetted against the moon, pointy hat pushed back by the wind, the witch on her magic broomstick is an iconic image, ubiquitous during the Halloween season.” states Dylan Thuras, writer for the Atlas Obscura article “The Origins of the Iconic Witch.” Like most, you have probably gone throughout your daily life unaware of the reasoning behind witches flying on brooms, and, you probably just accepted it as a weird ideology created in the past. The truth of the story, however, is due to “witch’s brew,” the sexual oppression of puritans, and the convenience of a common household item.

Wicked, the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the East is a fantasy book by Gregory Maguire. It follows the life of the Wicked Witch, the character from the Wizard of Oz, from her birth to her death, or her pseudo-death. It also explores the question the nature of good and evil.

Margaret Atwood was one of the first poets observed in the quest to find how literature represents witches. In “Half-Hanged Mary” and “Owl Burning”, the poems read in this course, Atwood narrates scenes of witches being put to death. In “Half-Hanged Mary” it is Mary Webster who was hanged for the suspicion of being a witch. “Owl Burning” tells of an unnamed elderly woman, who is burned because she is said to be a practicer of magic. Though they differ greatly in point of view, setting, and mood, there is a key factor that is in both. The commonality between the two poems is the condemning of the ‘witches’, without valid reason or evidence. Atwood chose to write about the women who were put to death because the population of the time were

Who knew that witches can be fun to learn about? What were witches anyway? Did people believe in them? Well… I can’t answer all the questions and thoughts racking in your head but, I can tell you this…

Since identity is a construct created performatively, the new roles of the witch have allowed a creation of a new female identity, feminine and feminist, a woman of the new age. The study ventures into relatively fertile grounds with budding research. With the coming up of counter-stories, revisionist fairy tales, films and television, television rerun, fanfiction, comics based on television witches and emergence of witch focused and themed television the possibilities of study is immense and unexplored. The increase in Wiccan followers, explorations onto the parallels of women and witch oppression, the psychology of female demonization in children’s literature have left many unanswered questions. The thesis attempts to place the transformed witch within popular culture and understand the paradigm of her transformation.

The medieval European witch, who was the most intricate manifestation, is virtually identical to those witches that resided in Oceania, Africa, Asia and the Americas. In witchcraft uncertainties worldwide, women prevail, but it is commonly available to men and women equally. (InSearch 2017) It took anthropology some time to recognize its circulation and its significance since the idea of a witch is so strange. Ethnographies and explanatory studies amplified exponentially once anthropology grasped on to the idea. Witchcraft’s anthropological and historical literature today is massive.

The central themes of this play are ambition, the supernatural, fate/destiny, revenge, appearance vs reality, and gender. The abstract concept of the supernatural was portrayed through the Witch’s constant presence, symbolising the perpetual works of the supernatural.

Baum creates the idea that a women have the ability to rule and control nations and are equal or superior than men. Baum presents the witches in a traditional way by having both ‘good’ and ‘evil’. He exhibits the Good Witches as angelic and beautiful. “Her dress was pure white but her eyes were blue,” (Baum 162). Glinda’s appearance and Dorothy’s clothing show parallelism which suggest their similar characteristics. Both characters are kind hearted and willing to help others. She is presented as the ideal women – kind, motherly and beautiful. This is ironic since Dorothy is a symbol of feminism and the fight against oppression while Glinda is molded into the perfect woman in the eyes of men. The narration of the Wicked Witches contrast with personalities of the good witches. “She was so old…that she dried up quickly in the sun” (Baum 16). The Wicked Witch of the East is described as old, ashy and frail. She is given unattractive features in order for the reader to dislike the character. The Wicked Witch of the West is not identified as a ‘feminist’ character, however her actions challenge those opinions. The witch is often described as ‘wicked’, old and ugly. She is