Salem Story

Reading the Witch Trials of 1692

Bibliographic Data

ID19934770
AuthorsBernard Rosenthal (corresponding author)
Year1993
Publication date1993-10-29
Open AccessYes
TypeBOOK
VenueSalem Story (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/cbo9780511519352
OpenAlexW4231169155
Open LibraryOL34438048M
ISBN9780511519352
LanguageEN
Citations received12

Salem Story engages the story of the Salem witch trials by contrasting an analysis of the surviving primary documentation with the way events of 1692 have been mythologised by our culture. Resisting the temptation to explain the Salem witch trials in the context of an inclusive theoretical framework, the book examines a variety of individual motives that converged to precipitate the witch-hunt. Of the many assumptions about the Salem witch trials, the most persistent is that they were instigated by a circle of hysterical girls. Through an analysis of what actually happened - by perusal of the primary materials with the 'close reading' approach of a literary critic - a different picture emerges, one where 'hysteria' inappropriately describes the logical, rational strategies of accusation and confession followed by the accusers, males and females alike

Art · Confession (law) · Context (archaeology) · False accusation · Linguistics · Literature · Psychoanalysis · Reading (process) · Temptation · Theology · Witch · American History and Culture · Canadian Identity and History · History · Literature: history, themes, analysis · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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