Written by Marnie Camping-Harris
Prompted by the majority of works glossing over gender as a catalyst for witchcraft accusations in early American society, Carol Karlsen’s book questions why most of them were in fact women. Combined with her evidence and analysis, Karlsen produces the thesis that “the story of witchcraft is primarily the story of women”. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman presents Karlsen’s evidence in seven chapters, analysing the demographic, economic, and societal causes to these accusations of witchcraft. Karlsen also effectively includes a preface and epilogue, written ten years after its initial publication, that offers an understanding of what questions she hopes to answer, what conclusion she came to, as well as what she would change upon reflection. Ultimately, the evidence utilised by Karlsen is supportive and her thesis can be recognised as accurate.
With the focus of her book being on the targeting of women, Karlsen surprisingly discusses the men of colonial New England frequently. This is largely due to the fact that to promote a certain category, one must suppress the other. Regarding Karlsen’s case, in order to prove that the prime target of witchcraft accusations were women, she must successfully eliminate the idea that men could be seen as such as well. Therefore, Karlsen’s evidence to support her thesis is relatively focused on men involved with witchcraft too; whether that be as an accuser, an accused, or as a mere bystander. Firstly, the accused men in colonial New England were majoritively relatives of female witches. This is not to say that Puritans believed witchcraft to be hereditary, but because they believed that “witches passed their craft on to the people closest to them”. Overall, around half of the men accused of witchcraft were relatives of accused women. However, once accused, these men were rarely executed; out of the thirty-three people executed between 1620 and 1725, only seven were men. These statistics strongly support Karlsen’s thesis, as it is clear that most of the accused men were only targeted because of their proximity to female witches; proving that women, once again, remained the objects of witch fear. With regards as to why men were not punished to the same degree as women, Karlsen offers the claim that most “confessing men were almost all rebuked as liars”. Now, there is no specific evidence to support this notion, but the statistics mentioned before still support her idea of men’s confessions not being taken seriously. On the other hand, men’s accusations were considered quite the opposite. Karlsen includes the claim that the powerful men of colonial New England believed that certain women were working against their “city upon a hill”. However, she does not offer clear, specific examples of men accusing women of witchcraft, with the latter as a reason. Karlsen does note that there were only eight male accusers who also claimed to be possessed. Yet, overall, this evidence points to the story of witchcraft being focused on women, as the majority of accusers and victims were female as well. Lastly, Karlsen also makes the point of husbands being helpful to their accused wives. A husband offered security to women at these times, in more ways than one, and would often deter others from accusing their wife in the first place. However, if accused, a husband could also defend them in court, usually claiming slander against their wife’s accuser. To conclude, Karlsen utilises the juxtaposition of men, alongside the evidence of statistics and their treatment, to successfully justify her thesis. Ultimately, the data speaks for itself: only 36 per cent of the accused in New England were men.
Another area of evidence in The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, that Karlsen relies on for her thesis, is the societal expectations of women in colonial New England. If these expectations were resisted or threatened by a woman, then the most likely explanation was because she was a witch. Karlsen notes that stereotypes following witches were also heavily apparent in women’s lives, with the main areas of witchcraft being focused on domesticity, reproductive processes, and defiance of one’s place in society. Firstly, a woman’s place in Puritan New England was the home, but Karlsen acknowledges how her placement there could still insight accusations of witchcraft. If a colonial woman was to take charge of her domestic affairs, as she was expected to do so, this could also be seen as her trying to overstep her husband’s authority. Lots of accused witches worked as midwives or healers. Now, not only were these women in direct competition with certain male medical practitioners, but they were also constantly involved in a part of the woman’s world that men did not wish to see: menstruation. Witches were always blamed for “obstructing reproductive processes”, such as miscarriages, stillbirths, or deformed babies; something that a midwife would have to repeatedly deal with. Moreover, Karlsen claims that female genitalia could often be mistaken or viewed as a “devil’s mark” or a “witch’s teat”, however, this is a characteristic of not only New England witches, but continental ones as well. Lastly, the overarching theme of Karlsen’s category of societal expectations is dissatisfaction. To understand why women became witches, men believed that it was down to a general dissatisfaction with one’s life. This dissatisfaction then led to disruption, which Karlsen then employs to understand a correlation between women accused and women appearing in court. To conclude, Karlsen utilises societal expectations in colonial New England, alongside how these could be misconstrued as witch activity. Ultimately, a witch’s world can easily be confused as a woman’s world, proving Karlsen’s thesis to be correct.
Going hand in hand with what was socially expected of them, Karlsen argues that the economic status of colonial women largely affected accusations of witchcraft. In The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, Karlsen identifies that “women who stood to benefit economically… became prime targets for witchcraft accusations”. Puritans would also often blame women for economic failures in their society; perhaps seeing the concept of a woman inheriting wealth as a failure. Such women were viewed as aberrations, Karlsen notes, with their inheritance system focusing on keeping money in the hands of men. Karlsen’s data clearly outlines the number of women accused without close male relatives, claiming it to be 61 per cent of the total. This point in Karlsen’s book can be said to be both strong and weak. It is strong regarding the data and evidence used; however, the category drags somewhat, with it being over-emphasised again and again. Yet, overall, the point made does support Karlsen’s thesis.
To conclude, in The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, Karlsen justifies her thesis by overviewing men’s role in accusations or witchcraft, societal expectations of women, as well as how economics affected their fate. Despite Karlsen successfully proving her thesis, some critiques can be made. Firstly, the final chapter concentrated on the possessed victims is rather weak in comparison to the others, and somewhat drifts away from Karlsen’s overall thesis. Moreover, Karlsen’s point on age also falls flat in comparison, and is very difficult to follow. In one moment, she is claiming that the majority of female witches were under sixty, next she is claiming that they are mostly over sixty. Lastly, the topic of religion is also something that continues to alter throughout, with Karlsen switching between claiming that “witchcraft accusations had little to do with women’s challenge to the religious system”, but that female dissent was a serious problem in colonial New England. Nevertheless, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman is successful in proving Karlsen’s thesis, with it being abundantly clear that “the single most salient characteristic of witches was their sex”.
Bibliography
Carol F. Karlsen, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1987)
Featured Image Credit: T.H. Matteson, Examination of a Witch Label QS:Len,”Examination of a Witch”, 1853date QS:P571,+ – -00T00:00:00Z/9 1853, oil on canvasmedium QS:P186,Q296955;P186,Q12321255,P518,Q861259, height: 97.8 cm (38.5 in) ; width: 137 cm (53.9 in) dimensions QS:P2048,+97.8U174728dimensions QS:P2049,+137U174728, 1853date QS:P571,+ – -00T00:00:00Z/9 1853, Peabody Essex Museum, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Examination_of_a_Witch_-_Tompkins_Matteson.jpg.
Retrospect Journal 
