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The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England ReviewThe Devil in the Shape of a Woman is a study of New England witchcraft during the 17th and early 18th centuries and its interconnectedness with womanhood. While most studies on colonial witchcraft are concerned with the Salem outbreaks in the late 17th century, Carol Karlsen's approach is to examine New England witchcraft as a whole and argue, persuasively, for its particular influences on colonial women.To appropriately grasp the history of New England witchcraft, Professor Karlsen argues, it is imperative to understand the role of women in colonial society (xiii). Karlsen further argues that past historians have scarcely noted the misogyny of the witchcraft craze in New England. Rather than continue this practice, Professor Karlsen gains a greater understanding of these witch crazes, through the study of women in Colonial New England society. Karlsen asserts: "Only by understanding that the history of witchcraft is primarily a history of women, however, can we confront the deeply embedded feelings about women".
Karlsen uses a great deal of primary and secondary sources to support her thesis. With nearly one hundred pages of supportive details, Karlsen provides a wealth of documentation. She uses first hand accounts of witch trails. A good example is her use of Cotton Mather's personal writings. Mather provides interesting insight regarding the attitudes towards women commonly held by the colonial elites. Her next major types of sources are court records. These records detail court proceedings, depositions and court rulings. Furthermore, statistics, drawn from these records, provide the basic arguments for Karlsen's book. While she relies mainly on primary sources, Karlsen does use secondary sources on woman's history, colonial society and recent witchcraft scholarship.
In addition to her sources, Karlsen provides an excellent research tool in her appendix. Here she includes an alphabetical listing of accused witches and their brief history describing their cases. This addition makes, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, more manageable for her readers.
The book begins with a brief history of the colonial witchcraft. Each chapters is structured with an orientation, presentation of evidence and her conclusion. A good example of her structure is in chapter two, on the demographics of witchcraft, here she summarizes the importance of age and marital status in witchcraft accusations--The essential arguments of chapter 2. Following this summary, she provides a good transition into the her next chapter [Chapter 3: The Economic Basis of Witchcraft] in the final sentence of chapter two, "A closer look at the material conditions and behavior of the accused reveals other characteristics-intimately related to their sex, age, and marital status-that set witches apart from other older women in their community."
In substantiating her claim about the importance and the interconnectedness of colonial womanhood and witchcraft, Karlsen examines the colonial beliefs on witchcraft and the rampant misogyny of the period. In this study she addresses the accused and the accusers, the young, the old, the poor and the elite. She even constructs an interesting analysis and statistically significant interpretation of those females who were possessed and why these particular females responded to their possession in Puritan society-[see Chapter Seven: Brand Plucked out of the Burning.]
In order to prove her case, Professor Karlsen mainly uses statistical evidence associated with those who were the accusers and the accused during the witchcraft trails. Through the use of statistical evidence, Karlsen produces her most historically significant findings linking colonial witchcraft and colonial womanhood. On the whole, Karlsen proves that women who were out of the social norms of colonial society were more likely to be suspect of witchcraft. In Puritan New England this mainly meant non-married women, widows and nonconformist females. These distinctive behaviors and demographics were seen as potential threat to New England society, especially during period of great change or social upheaval.
In addition, Karlsen has established, statistically, that women who were married, but had no children, women who were married, but had only daughters, and finally, women who were daughters of parents who had no male offspring were more vulnerable to calls of witchcraft (pg. 101). What this shows is the clear linkage of economic interest and the importance of inheritance in witchcraft accusations in colonial society. Karlsen argues, "Inheritance disputes surface frequently enough in witchcraft cases, cropping up as part of the general context even when no direct link between the dispute and the charge is discernible, to suggest the fears that underlay most accusations". Karlsen goes on to assert that women with inheritance rights were more susceptible to accusation of witchcraft throughout the entire history of Colonial New England witchcraft than those women who did not have inheritance privileges.
While statistics were effectively used in several areas of Karlsen's book, I had to keep asking myself an important and relevant question. Is Professor Karlsen an historian or a statistician? Surely she has added significant insight into colonial woman and the history of witchcraft, but it also seems probable that she has, on occasions, overused statistics. Would it not be an historical fallacy to assume something purely based on statistics? While Karlsen does include other forms of evidence to prove her arguments besides statistics, they are, unfortunately, in need of further development. By over-emphasizing statistics, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman undermines its otherwise, excellent argument.
While Carol Karlsen has argues that other historians has neglected the influences of women in Colonial New England witchcraft history, she has done just the opposite. Rather, she has focused her study specifically towards the role of women in colonial society. Since The Devil in the Shape of a Women is aimed towards the women's role in colonial witchcraft history, it is not a complete history of witchcraft in Colonial New England. In view of that, I can only recommend, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman with reservations. Rather, I would recommend that The Devil in the Shape of a Woman be read with other works on colonial society in order place its history in a broader viewpoint. Only through a more comprehensive understanding of the social, political, religious, environmental and generational factors that shaped colonial society can we truly come to terms with the impact women had on New England society and their particular relevance to their witchcraft accusations and the subsequent witch craze.The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England Overview
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