Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692 (Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture, Series Number 73) - Softcover

Rosenthal, Bernard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521558204 ISBN 13: 9780521558204

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1995

Synopsis

Salem Story engages the story of the Salem witch trials through an analysis of the surviving primary documentation and juxtaposes that against the way in which our culture has mythologized the events of 1692. Salem Story examines a variety of individual motives that converged to precipitate the witch hunt. The book also examines subsequent mythologies that emerged from the events of 1692. Of the many assumptions about the Salem Witch Trials, the most persistent one remains that they were precipitated by a circle of hysterical girls. Through an analysis of what actually happened, through reading the primary material, the emerging story shows a different picture, one where "hysteria" inappropriately describes the events and where accusing males as well as females participated in strategies of accusation and confession that followed a logical, rational pattern.

About this title

Book Description:

The most persistent assumption about the Salem witch trials remains that they were precipitated by a circle of hysterical girls. This study examines a variety of individual motives that converged to cause the witch hunt as well as the subsequent mythologies that emerged from it.

About the Author:

Bernard Rosenthal is Professor and Chair of the English Department of SUNY, Binghamton.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0521558204
• ISBN 13: 9780521558204
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304