Description
Book SynopsisIn 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...
Trade ReviewDamned Women reflects the new cultural history in its exploration of magic, folk religion, and Puritan ideology at the interstice of the Salem witch trials. Through her concentration upon the ideological constructions of Satan and evil, Reis charts the transition from pre-Enlightenment to rationalist thought—her discussion enhanced by the incorporation of literary texts and striking visual images.... Intrigued by women who confessed to witchcraft and women who accused other women, Reis embarks upon a sophisticated exploration of the gendered language and interconnected ideology that constructed witchcraft, Satan, evil, and the human self.... Reis's arguments are intriguing... Damned Women is exciting and provocative.... Damned Women makes a significant contribution to the scholarship about gender and religion.
* Journal of Interdisciplinary History *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Puritan Women and the Discourse of Depravity
1. Women's Sinful Natures and Men’s Natural Sins2. Popular and Ministerial Visions of Satan3. The Devil, the Body, and the Female Soul4. Gender and the meanings of confession5. Satan DispossessedEpilogue: Gender, Faith, and "Young Goodman Brown"Index
