Salem Witch Trials in History and Literature
An Undergraduate Course, University of Virginia Spring Semester 2001
"I veryly believe in my heart," began 19 -year-old Mercy Lewis on
April 19, 1692, "that Giles Corey is a dreadful wizzard." Lewis's
confidence in herself was not unique to her accusation of Corey
during the Salem Witchcraft Trials. Throughout the months plagued
by chaos and confusion in Salem Village, Mercy Lewis acted as a
member of the core group of accusing young women in the Village,
blatantly accusing several persons of afflicting herself and her
friends. Besides Giles Cory, Mercy Lewis accused Bridget Bishop,
Mary Lacey, Sr., Susannah Martin, John Willard, Nehemiah Abbot,
Jr., Sarah Wilds, and her former guardian, George
Burroughs.
Mercy Lewis was born in Falmouth, Maine in 1675. Early in her
life, however, she was orphaned when both of her parents were
killed in Indian attacks witnessed by Mercy herself. As a result,
Mercy was sent to live with Reverend George Burroughs as his
servant in Maine and then later to the household of Thomas Putnam
in Salem Village. At the Putnam household, Lewis befriended Ann
Putnam and her cousin Mary Walcott who were among the first to make
claims of affliction resulting in accusations of witchcraft. To
support their accusations, Mercy Lewis and the other girls
continued to display "evidence" of affliction. In one notable
incident, Lewis is reported by Edward Putnam to have been drawn
helplessly by an unseen force across a room directly towards a
burning hearth while in the presence of an accused Martha
Corey.
Is it possible that the girls, including Mercy Lewis, actually were
afflicted? The position taken by Bernard Rosenthal in Salem
Story considers two possible explanations. Either the girls
were experiencing psychological disorders or they were simply
frauds, and decides in favor of fraud. Nineteenth century historian
Charles Upham, author of Salem Witchcraft, suggests a
mixture of explanations "credulity, hallucination, and the delirium
of excitement" to account for the girls' behavior.
Regardless of what may have fueled the incessant accusations, the
fact remains that the girls accused innocent persons of witchcraft,
costing many of them their lives. Historian Carol Karlsen in her
book Devil in the Shape of a Woman attempts to explain the
girls' afflictions as a response to their personal insecurities --
both economic and social. Mercy Lewis's case illustrates Karlsen's
point well. Lewis experienced a traumatized childhood and lived in
a relatively insecure social and economic circumstances. As an
orphan, she had no money or dowry to offer in marriage, so the
chances of obtaining a husband and thus escaping her social
position of servitude must have seemed bleak. As Rev. John Hale
noted in his Modest Inquiry, several of the "afflicted"
Salem girls were anxious about their marriage prospects. Boyer and
Nissenbaum, who cite primarily socio-economic causes for the
witchcraft trials, might agree that these girls -- who possessed
essentially no social influence before the trials -- were greatly
empowered by their accusations. Moreover, many of the accused
persons are examples of people who managed to climb the social
ladder or become assertive women -- both feats that Mercy Lewis was
unable to accomplish. Furthermore, because Mercy Lewis was not
involved in the initial accusations but rather joined Ann Putnam,
Abigail Williams, and Elizabeth Hubbard a little later in the game,
it seems that perhaps a desperate need for social empowerment and
belonging were strong, underlying motives.
Finally, it may be asked, "What did an accuser hope to achieve
by naming a person as a witch?" No one's socio-economic status
improved as a result of the trials, and many of the accused
suffered financial losses. Mercy Lewis herself did not marry until
late in life and then only after she had given birth to her first
child. Perhaps Bernard Rosenthal's response to the question is most
appropriate. He replies with a quotation from Herman Melville who
simply asks, "How much money did the devil make by gulling
Eve?."
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Bibliography
Boyer, Paul and Stephen Nissenbaum. Salem Possessed: 1974.
John Hale, Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft,
1702.
Carol F. Karlson, Devil in the Shape of a Woman, 1998
Bernard Rosenthal, Salem Story, 1993
Upham, Charles W. Salem Witchcraft, 1867.
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