Bibliograph

Type

Label

The devil in the shape of a woman, witchcraft in colonial New England, Carol F. Karlsen

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The devil in the shape of a woman

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

39167442

Responsibility statement

Carol F. Karlsen

Sub title

witchcraft in colonial New England

Summary

From the Publisher: 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. In 1662, Ann Cole was "taken with very strange Fits" and fueled an outbreak of witchcraft accusations in Hartford a generation before the notorious events in Salem took place. More than three hundred years later the question still haunts us: Why were these and other women likely witches? Why were they vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft? In this work Carol Karlsen reveals the social construction of witchcraft in seventeenth-century New England and illuminates the larger contours of gender relations in that society

Table Of Contents

Preface -- 1: New England's witchcraft beliefs -- 2: Demographic basis of witchcraft -- 3: Economic basis of witchcraft -- 4: Handmaidens of the devil -- 5: Handmaidens of the lord -- 6: New England's well-ordered society -- 7: Brands plucked out of the burning -- Epilogue -- Afterword to the Norton paperback edition -- Appendix: List of accused witches -- Notes -- Index

Classification

Creator