Carol Karlsen s The Devil - 1692 Words

Name Class Professor June 22, 2015 Carol Karlsen s The Devil in the Shape of a Woman† Carol Karlsen s The Devil in the Shape of a Woman† was written to provide the reader with an understanding of the role of the â€Å"witch† in colonial New England. During the early colonial period, pilgrims lived in a male-dominated society and the classical witch hunts were conducted in an attempt to maintain this societal structure. Since these hunts were placed under a religious guise, it was simple for these individuals to act as if they were maintaining the safety and justice of society. Karlsen explains that in many instances, women who were labelled as witches were often females that had managed to acquire great economic and social status and society. In fear of these women, the neighborhood targeted them and called them witches to weaken their power. Independent of guilt, women who were accused of witchcraft could not possibly recovered. If they claimed their innocence, they would be stoned or burned to dea th because the counsel would decide that they were not being truthful. If they admitted to their guilt, their place in society would be marred and they would be embarrassed for partaking in these evil acts. Through this violence, men have been able to maintain their place in Puritan society. In her book, Karlsen aims to provide the reader new insight into the witch trials, demonstrating the societal, rather than religious causes for this well-known historic tragedy. KarlsenShow MoreRelatedThe Devil in the Shape of a Woman by Carol Karlsen Essay examples641 Words   |  3 PagesThe Devil in the Shape of a Woman by Carol Karlsen Carol Karlsen was born in 1940. She is currently a professor in the history department a the University of Michigan. A graduate of Yale University (Ph.D, 1980), she has taught history and women’s study courses at Union College and Bard College. In this book Carol Karlsen reveals the social construction of witchcraft in 17th century New England, and brings forth the portrait of gender in the New England Society. The books thesis is based onRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Devil On The Shape Of A Woman By Carol Karlsen Essay1637 Words   |  7 PagesConversely, Carol Karlsen who was a Professor of History and Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan had a different take on the trials. Karlsen wrote The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England in 1987, a book examining the role of women in the Salem Witch Trials. Karlsen was â€Å"concerned with the meaning of witchcraft for New England’s first settlers†¦ and why most witches in early American society were women.† Karlsen obviously felt that there was a disparity ofRead More Salem Witchcraft Essay2617 Words   |  11 Pagesdecided to condemn the people around them as witches and why they did what they did to one another. Carol Karlsen in her book The Devil in the Shape of a Woman and Bernard Rosenthal in Salem Story give several factors, ranging from woman hunting to shear malice, that help explain why the Salem trials took place and why they reached the magnitude that they did. The theories put fourth by Karlsen of a society that accusations against women as witches explain the trail, and Rosenthals ideas of discourseRead MoreWitchcraft Hysteria By Laurie Winn Carlson1307 Words   |  6 PagesAs Peter S Beagle says, â€Å"You ever want to see real witchcraft, you watch people protecting their comfort, their beliefs.† This quote is saying if you want to truly understand someone, learn about what they believe in. It all began in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The accusations toward people who were thought to be witches was on the rise. These would not be the kind of witches a person would think about in today s world, but women and men who were put on trial for witchcraft hysteria, which inRead MoreThe Hysteria of Salem Witchcraft Essay910 Words   |  4 PagesAmerican colonies alone there were over 100 witchcraft trials alone, were 40 percent of the accused were executed. Now two professors, Carol F. Karlsen of history and Kai T. Erikson of sociology, examine the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria to see if it was caused by a fear of women and give two entirely different interpretations. The first professor, Carol F. Karlsen, agreed that the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria was caused by a fear of women. She agrees that the belief in the Puritian culture, that Read MoreEssay about Gender Politics in the US Criminal Justice System1736 Words   |  7 Pagesof who was designated a witch was gender, in fact eighty percent of all those killed were women. Of those women, females who were spinsters or widows, rather than wives or mothers were represented disproportionately among the witches. In the 1800s, imprisoned women suffered the same terrible conditions as their male counterparts, yet they were not allowed to go to workshops, mess halls, or exercise yards , but rather were brought needlework and food and forced to remain in their cells. In theRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials1297 Words   |  6 Pagesalongside her working the devil against the Puritans. As chaos spread through Salem and the rest of Massachusetts, a large number of others were accused (about 200 plus people were accused), including Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse– who were highly respected members of the church and community–and the four-year-old daughter of Sarah Good. After Tituba’s alleged confession, many others of the accused witches had â€Å"confessed† to performing acts of witchcraft and to â€Å"signing the devil s book.† The trials againstRead MoreAnalysis of the Salem Witch Trials2099 Words   |  8 PagesPuritans that comprised the colony of Salem, Massachusetts, were extremely religious, attributing biblical meaning to all aspects of their lives and being accustomed to personify the devil (Kocić, 2010). Specifically, church elders strongly believed that their congregation was superlatively righteous and for this reason the devil would try to target it with attacks in all forms , hence it was impressed upon the community to be vigilant against any signs of his presence. Such signs were subject to interpretationRead MoreNineteenth Century Americ A Bleak Portrayal Of The Sociopolitical Scene3092 Words   |  13 Pagesconsidered sexless, the impression of the woman as the devil’s tool was inevitable. Women were expected to seek purification through the church, which was almost shielded by men. The result of sin was severe punishment, which often involved execution. Karlsen suggests that the execution of many women aged forty and above was connected to the notion that these women did not fit the ideal puritan society because they could not be groomed into obedient wives to their men (07). As a result, majority of theRead MoreIn Depth Research of Witchcraft Essay3980 Words   |  16 Pageswitchcraft, Meghan Lewis and Carol Karlsen. Witchcraft the religion is quite old. Practices have said to be dated back to Neolithic Stone Age cave painting, but it is hard to be completely certain if the pictures have been interpreted properly. Witchcraft is known to have grown out of pre-Christian pagan beliefs. The beliefs have developed over the years, being taken from various sources. The idea of witchcraft took a major turn around the end of the mid-evil period. Around the 1500s the religion of witchcraft