Your cart is empty
Salem Story
Details
Description
Description| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| Author(s) | Bernard Rosenthal |
| Subtitle | Reading the Witch Trials of 1692 |
| Published | 29th September 1995 |
| Related course codes |
Reading the Witch Trials of 1692
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.Translation missing: en.general.search.loading