Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New EnglandIn her analysis of the cultural construction of gender in early America, Elizabeth Reis explores the intersection of Puritan theology, Puritan evaluations of womanhood, and the Salem witchcraft episodes. She finds in those intersections the basis for understanding why women were accused of witchcraft more often than men, why they confessed more often, and why they frequently accused other women of being witches. In negotiating their beliefs about the devil's powers, both women and men embedded womanhood in the discourse of depravity. |
Contents
Puritan Women and the Discourse | 1 |
WOMENS SINFUL NATURES AND MENS NATURAL SINS | 12 |
POPULAR AND MINISTERIAL VISIONS OF SATAN | 55 |
THE DEVIL THE BODY AND THE FEMININE SOUL | 93 |
GENDER AND THE MEANINGS OF CONFESSION | 121 |
SATAN DISPOSSESSED | 164 |