Which Witch Ii Whieh? A tale of history, hysteria, and wickedness

By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes. That fa- mous line comes from William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. It is delivered by one of the three witches who sit around a bubbling cauldron in a cave, plotting the downfall of the tragic hero. Everyone is familiar with the trrhetvnal portrayal of a witch: an ugly, old spinster with a pointy hat, a hook nose (probably with a nasty wart at the end of it), a broomstick (for ease of travel), a stew (frogs' legs and eye of newt, anyone?), and a mind full of mischief. The wicked witch character appears repeatedly in literature. She is frightening in the Grimms' tale of Hansel and Gretel. She is dreadful (but kind of funny) in Roald Dahl's classic The Witches. And we see her lovable side in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, a novel by Gregory Maguire that was made into a Broadway musical. Witches are usually understood to be fantasy creatures who scare children and work evil through a kind of black magic, (One theory is that the unflattering stereotype reflects society's fear of powerful, single women—especially in earlier cultures, from which the witch character flrst emerged.) But three centuries ago, in this country, real people were put on trial and sometimes killed after they were accused of being witches. Mysterious Fits and Accusations It happened in Salem, Mass., in the late 17th century. When the Puritans left England and came to North America, they faced many hardships. Harsh winters and backbreaking work put their , strict Protestant faith to the test. These were people who believed that evil forces were all around them. They had to be careful not to fall into the devil's clutches. Frightened Puritans took the popular characterization of witches to heart and suspected old women with wrinkly faces and unpleasant , If the women muttered to themselves or yelled at children, they were looked at as minions of the devil, and there wasn't much they could do or say to defend themselves. In early 1692, 9-year-old , her 11-year-old cousin, , and 12-year-old started having fits. Their bodies contorted into odd positions, and they shouted obscenities while throw- ing things about the room, babbled nonsense, and carried on in ways that no one, not even their doctors, could explain. Perhaps the girls were just starved for attention. Perhaps they were afflicted by their imaginations and

4 READ October 29, 2010 the power of suggestion. After all, life for a child in a Puritan village must have been hard and drab. Whatever their reasons, the effect their actions had on the community was spellbinding. The villagers concluded that the children's lunacy must be the work of the devil. The girls accused , a young slave from the West Indies, of being a witch. They pointed to two other women as well—both were old, single women who were social outcasts for different reasons— and . Some of those accused turned around and accused others. The witch hunt was on. Once accused. Tituba must have decided that it was safer to confess. (She might have made the right choice, as her life was ultimately spared, while the lives of others were not.) In any event. Tituba told her accusers strange, colorful stories about animals and otherworldly creatures, and she accused others of as well. Perhaps Tituba was just drawing on her memories of her homeland and the voodoo traditions in practice there. But her stories caused a frenzy, and the townspeople quickly concluded that the devil was on the loose in their small New England village. Trials and Executions Throughout the area, people suspected of being witches were rounded up and put on trial. Fear was rampant, and the accusers were bloodthirsty. More than 100 men and women were imprisoned. Some were executed by hanging. Neighbors accused neighbors—perhaps people with whom they'd had some little disagreement. As the hysteria spread, people might have concluded it was safer to accuse than to be accused. To convince the court of a person's guilt, a "victim" merely had to claim to have seen the specter, or ghostlike image, of the supposed witch who was afflicting him or her. In other words, to paint someone as a witch was often a matter of say-so. On Oct. 3, 1692, the Rev , president of Harvard Col- lege, denounced the use of so-called spectral evidence. "It were better," Mather scolded his fellow ministers, "that ten suspected witches should escape than one innocent person should be condemned." Nevertheless, the trials and prosecutions went on until May 1693. Things finally went too far when the girls from Salem accused the wife of Massachusetts Gov. . The governor pardoned anyone who was still imprisoned on witchcraft charges. By the time the dust settled, more than 150 people had been accused and arrested, 25 had been put to death, and five had died in prison. Even- tually the tide turned and the hysteria died down. Many people sought to clear the names of the accused. Years after the trials came to an end, , a minister who was present at many of the trials, wrote about the fiasco in his book A Modest Enquiry Into the Nature of Witchcraft. Hale wrote, "Such was the darkness of that day, the tortures and lamentations of the Dvoca6 afflicted, and the power of former presidents, that we walked in the clouds, I ARCHETYPAL: pertaining to an and could not see our way" original type after which similar Today, many of us love a good horror story—just as long as it's things are modeled fiction. Our culture is infused with stories of vampires, werewolves, and, SPINSTER: an unmarried woman yes, witches. In this issue of READ, we give you a taste of the witching DEVOUT: committed, expressing world. The Center Stage play is inspired by , a play by Arthur deep religious fervor Miller about the . As you read, think about people's per- DEMEANORS: outward behaviors ceptions of others and how group mentalities can be dangerous. •

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