Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England

by Elizabeth Reis

In 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 understanding why women were accused of witchcraft more often than men, why they confessed more often, and why they frequently accused other women of being witches. In negotiating their beliefs about the devil's powers, both women and men embedded womanhood in the discourse of depravity.
Puritan ministers insisted that women and men were equal in the sight of God, with both sexes equally capable of cleaving to Christ or to the devil. Nevertheless, Reis explains, womanhood and evil were inextricably linked in the minds and hearts of seventeenth-century New England Puritans. Women and men feared hell equally but Puritan culture encouraged women to believe it was their vile natures that would take them there rather than the particular sins they might have committed.
Following the Salem witchcraft trials, Reis argues, Puritans' understanding of sin and the devil changed. Ministers and laity conceived of a Satan who tempted sinners and presided physically over hell, rather than one who possessed souls in the living world. Women and men became increasingly confident of their redemption, although women more than men continued to imagine themselves as essentially corrupt, even after the Great Awakening.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Witches, American History, Feminism, Witchcraft, Historical

212 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1997

Reviews

[Katherine Addison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate starting a review with "this book was meh," but . . . this book was meh.

Reis' thesis is that in seventeenth-century Puritan New England, when everyone was obsessed with scrutinizing their souls for signs of damnation or salvation, and when a central event in a person's life was likely to be their conversion testimony (you stand up in front of the church you want to join and tell the church members how you came to realize that (a) you were a sinful crawling worm and (b) God had chosen you to be among the Elect regardless), while men tended to say that their sinful actions corrupted their souls, women were much more likely to say that their corrupted souls led them to sinful actions. She talks about how this led (or might have led) to women's confessions of witchcraft--if you view sin as a continuum, and if your corrupted soul means you cannot deny that you are sinful at heart, then how can you be certain that you aren't a witch?

Reis proves her thesis, and it's a subject I'm quite interested in, but the book itself just . . . meh. It was a book. I read it. If you're researching the subject either of Puritan witchcraft or the experience of Puritan women, it's definitely worth reading. Otherwise, not so much.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Through Damned Women, Elizabeth Reis achieved something to which every historian aspires – she managed to offer up a fresh and intellectually challenging interpretation on a well-known moment in time. I’m referring, of course, to the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692.

At this point, the folklore surrounding the New England witch-hunts are pretty much common knowledge. The word “Salem” is both a household name and a cautionary tale – a hard lesson about the consequences of mass hysteria and religious fanaticism. Admittedly, the academic scholarship and associated historiography are also quite overstuffed and oversaturated.

Reis is aware of our familiarity with the Salem narrative and she takes that as her starting point. However, by focusing specifically on the ways in which gender wove together theological and lay ideas about sin and the soul, Reis is able to veer off the beaten path and expand our understanding of how Puritanism functioned as a socio-legal practice.

The bulk of Reis’ argument hinges on the following claim: Satan wasn’t an egalitarian figure in Puritan New England. Her evidence suggests that women were more likely than men to be accused of witchcraft and to be executed for those allegations. More importantly for Reis, accused women were also more likely than accused men to admit that they were sinners by nature. Although Puritan ministers preached that Satan was an equal opportunist, and that original sin was a universal feature of human nature, there was also a gap between the delivery of the sermons and the interpretation of their content on the ground.

As Reis demonstrates, when men confessed their sins during the witch trials, they tended to confess in a very specific manner. In particular, men would admit that they had transgressed or strayed away from God, but, on the whole, they would insist that their sins were merely incidental. In other words, men occasioned into sin, yet did not necessarily feel that they were themselves sinful, or that they had permanently tarnished their souls. It was as if they had given into temptation during a moment of weakness, which could then be forgiven in a public-facing confession. Crucially, accused men and their male peers also believed that their sins would not necessarily jeopardize their overall standing in the community, or indeed nullify their covenant with God.

In contrast, women confessed their sins more readily, and were more likely to believe that they were essentially sinful. Men did evil things, but women were evil. The title of the first chapter captures the logic of this distinction beautifully: “Women’s Sinful Natures and Men’s Natural Sins”. You can see how this manner of thinking is still with us today. Boys will be boys, but a harlot is branded a harlot for life.

Reis explores how this fundamental distinction played out during the trials to damn women even before they entered the courtrooms. Much of this disparity, she argues, revolved around the Puritanical idea of the soul as something atemporal and eternal, yet qualitatively feminine and weak. For Puritan New Englanders, then, the soul was gendered like a woman - it was considered fragile, easily persuaded, and prone to attack. Salem was therefore conceived as a battleground between the forces of good and evil, and a platform upon which God and Satan vied for souls. And, as most Puritans believed at the time, it was women who were considered the easiest targets in this cosmic struggle.

The structure of Damned Women flows like a doctoral thesis, as Reis makes it very clear how each chapter ties back to her central argument. She offers a wealth of evidence from primary source materials to support her ideas, and it allows her interpretation to carry weight. I noticed that some Goodreads reviewers complained about the argumentative structure, suggesting that it felt repetitive or redundant. To each their own, but frankly, that’s just the style of an academic work – you can take it or leave it.

That being said, Damned Women is not without its flaws. Reis loses some focus in the final chapters, sputtering a bit as she heads into the “Epilogue”. That’s a minor gripe, probably relating more to my preference for pacing than any slight against her organizational structure. However, it is on the question of race where Reis’ analysis falls flat. Race – particularly Blackness – looms heavily over chapters two and three, respectively titled “Popular and Ministerial Visions of Satan” and “The Devil, the Body, and the Feminine Soul”. Yet Reis fails to unpack how the discursive practices surrounding the allegations of witchcraft factored into the trials themselves.

Unfortunately, this leaves the racialized qualities of Satan’s myriad forms and specters – as well as the very nature of Puritanical sin and evil – completely unexamined. On numerous occasions, New England men and women testified that Satan appeared to them in the form of a “black man”. What did that kind of racialized description infer about the physicality of evil, or the nature of the Puritan soul? Did Black people have a soul, or was providential membership written on the skin of the body? How did the presence of African-Americans in colonial New England factor into the Puritanical ideas of moral purity and the damnation of the soul? In her narrow emphasis on gender, Reis misses opportunities to connect gender to race and racial discrimination. This problem is not unique to Reis' book, but is part of a broader pattern I've seen in other feminist social histories as well.

Damned Women is an excellent piece of scholarship that probes our collective assumptions about this part of early Americana. The conclusions that Reis draws from her research complicate how we previously understood New England religiosity, for Puritans ironically conceived their universals and atemporalities in highly subjective and temporal ways. In her book, the familiar becomes a little less familiar, and that alone is worth the read.

[Cadence · Rating 1 out of 5]

istg men have have always hated women. The Putitans literally believed everyone had a “feminine soul” in order to be closer to God during their reunion, but yet women were so much weaker than men that they were more likely to be taken by the Devil.

like bro. i thought yall said you were pre-destined to hell or heaven so what the heck are yall talkin about.

the book is great, i’m giving it a one star because of the context which just shows how much it women still had to walk on thin ice and were literally damned to death no matter their response to being accused of witchcraft.

[Kate M. Colby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be a really interesting read. As the title suggests, it decribes how gender roles and assumptions affected the Puritans' views of sin, witchcraft, and relationships with the devil. While the focus was on women, the author also details how masculine norms informed these issues. Another intriguing topic was how the author traced the evolution of Satan, from an active, physical antagonist (as the Puritans believed) to a passive, distant punisher (more akin to modern religious beliefs). Overall, it was a quick and informative book. Recommended for those who want to learn more about the roles of gender and Satan in the Salem Witch Trials and Puritan religion.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the seventeenth century New England Puritan culture, the discourse of depravity can mainly be applied to women. During this time, women were looked on more as being sinful in mind and body, more of an internalization of themselves; whereas men’s sinful natures were more external and easier to forgive. Women’s sinfulness was in their nature and inherent, supposedly predisposed to sin. Due to the fact that women were naturally sinful it was much harder for them to prove their innocence in the witch trials because even convincing the court that they had not signed the devil’s black book did not mean that they had not committed a sin which entailed being lead by the devil’s influence. Also, due to the fact that women were innately sinful most of the convicted and accused witches were women.

It is also interesting to note the specific powers between the genders that witnesses accused the ‘witches’ of having, given to them by the devil. Men were supposedly given supernatural strength so that they could do harm to men and women alike in trying to recruit them to the devils side. However, women were limited in the power that they were given and very rarely were able to inflict harm physically upon a male. Instead, women used their powers mostly to inflict harm on children and other women or let the devil take their shapes so that he could torment other people into conforming to his whims instead of those of god.

During the time of the Salem witch trials the people that actually confessed to being in league with the devil were not killed because the court thought that they could gain more information out of them and also be able to find out if there were more witches about. Women, who were accused more frequently, confessed to being witches so that their lives would be spared, “If [women] publicly affirmed their depraved nature, their lives were spared. Those who failed to conform, those who denied and therefore hanged, cast themselves not only as witches but as rebels against the entire order” (163). If a person confessed to being a witch and then renounced their claim, they were still considered associated to the devil because they committed the sin of lying.

Throughout this time the gender roles greatly differ which is blatantly seen through how the court choose to judge women. It is even seen in how women were falsely accused and could be accused for practically anything from making someone’s cows runaway to making beer jump out of a barrel. Some of the ideas the witness’s came up with to charge the so-called witches were absurd and in very few cases could substantial evidence be provided.

[Jaime Inflore · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author made two claims that I couldn't have disagreed with more; that the Puritan society was not misogynistic and that men and women experienced equality in the church. Then, well into the book, she explained that she did not believe that "the devil actually visited Salem." Wow. No kidding?! I read and enjoyed The Devil in the Shape of a Woman by Carol Karlesen and was hoping to learn more on the subject but found this study narrow and biased.

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England, a gender study of the Salem witch trials, Elizabth Reis seeks to answer some important questions. Why were women accused of witchcraft more often than men? Why did more women confess to witchcraft than men? And finally, why were women so ready to accuse one another of witchcraft? To answer these questions Reis forms a multifaceted thesis that follows the intersection of three lines of evidence: Puritan theology, women’s gender roles in New England culture, and the belief in a corporeal Satan. Within this trifecta Reis finds the fertile ground from which the Salem gallows sprung and a people who were caught in the violent trap of their own theology.

In Reis’s view, the Salem witch trials were inextricably linked to Puritan theology, and the prominence of female victims to the social mores which it accompanied. This is not to discount other more secular explanations put forth by other historians, but to ignore these essential elements is to the only partly understand the episode. Indeed, Reis’s work is meant to be read within, and as a compliment to, other scholarship of the era. Puritan theology was Calvinist in its essentials, yet though only a pre-chosen elect could enter heaven, they nevertheless believed that one’s sins could guarantee a place in hell. The souls of both men and women were viewed by New Englanders as feminine. This carried with it the social understandings and expectations of that culture of what it meant to be feminine, which included presumptions of weakness and insatiability. The Puritans believed that the strength of one’s physical body could act as a shield for the soul, and so women, who were naturally physically weaker than men, were seen as more susceptible to the sin’s (and therefore the devil’s) temptations. Their very nature’s made them more prone to corruption. As Reis contends, “New England culture as whole regarded women as more likely to be damned than men” (1). Women internalized this view and here Reis recognizes a distinction drawn along gender lines, for whereas men saw sin as corrupting their souls, women saw their very souls as corrupt, or as Reis says: “Lay women and men feared hell equally, but lay women… tended to believe it was their vile natures that would take them there rather than the particular sins they may have committed” (37). For men, sin was rust on the iron soul that could be cleansed with vigorous attention; for women, the soul was but tin. Add to this an idea of the devil, largely drawn from folk traditions, of a physical tempter and one to whose service a person may commit themselves – which was the Puritan definition of a witch – and a potent potion for witchcraft accusations, trials and condemnations for which women were the focus results. It also created a situation in which a woman’s “unwomanly behavior,” at least in the minds of Puritans, was evidence of their sinfulness and guilt, thus emphasizing social norms within the society.

Reis’s line of reasoning is certainly sound, though it is difficult for one unfamiliar with the resources of the era to ascertain whether or not the evidence she gives is sufficient to prove her contention, or whether or not contrary evidence exists. Indeed, her work assumes a prior knowledge of the details of the witch trials, including the outcomes and its victims, with which most lay readers may not be equipped. Her audience is not a general one, but rather one of scholarly peers. All this becomes especially evident in the first chapter when she seeks to make her case for women’s “sinful natures,” yet most of the conversion narratives and all of the sermons from which she quotes are from men. That these male accounts are given to what feels the point of redundancy does not help, and at times when one thinks Reis has moved onto a different part of her argument she then returns to an earlier part for reasons which are difficult to fathom. Women, which are the thesis’ focus, are drowned out. Fortunately, however, she strengthens her case in the court testimonies later in the book, though the book as a whole would be improved by a more carefully plotted opening chapter. Other elements of the book are curious, such as when Reis oddly inserts herself into the analysis of the fourth chapter, feeling the need to declare: “Let me state frankly I do not believe the devil actually visited the people of Salem and urged them to sign his book in blood” (131). Was this a necessary confession? This late in the book, her position should be obvious. I would assume her academic peers, for whom she is clearly writing, would not expect otherwise. Are such clarifications necessary when discussing theology in the scholarly manner? Could this point to a sign of caution an author may face in being misunderstood when writing in an interdisciplinary format for multiple audiences, in this case secular historians and religious theologians, whose preconceived notions may interfere with their understanding of her thesis? Though it is a single line, it offers many intriguing questions about the current state of the field of study.

Yet there are many highlights to this work. Her chapter on the changing perceptions of the devil in New England that preceded and followed the trials, from that of a physical aggressor who captured souls to a symbolic tempter of sins (which are punished by God alone), is clearly presented and fascinating. Overall, the book improves as it goes on, the structure tightening and the evidence becoming more directly relevant, culminating in a pleasurable analysis of Hawthorn’s “Young Goodman Brown”, which she employs to demonstrate her arguments about the New England Puritan mindset. Reis also presents an eye-opening insight into the heterogeneous nature of Puritan society, including the many skeptics that commented on the trials both during and after their commencements, such the forward-looking Thomas Brattle, who wrote that our own modern world “will laugh at the demonstration, and conclude that the… [Salem gentlemen, being the courts] are actually possessed, at least, with ignorance and folly” (86). He cannot be proved more correct.

Reis’s work includes many helpful illustrations, though further additions to the text would enhance the lay reader’s understanding and pleasure. As mentioned earlier, Reis assumes a foreknowledge of events in her audience, and therefore a quick summary of the Salem witch trials at the beginning of the book would shed more light upon the court testimonies, as would a timeline of events or, at the very least, an appendix which lists the victims of the 1692 hysteria that a reader might turn to for reference. In the end, Damned Women offers an interesting thesis that takes into account the Puritan’s own declared convictions, a theological lens which was inextricable from how they operated and interacted with each other and the world around them. Other motivations may have been at work in the witchcraft trials, but Reis convincingly shows that the trials would never have been possible were it not for Puritan ideas of women, the devil, and the soul. Like later popular images of the witch, warts and all, the thesis is difficult to disregard.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book to be interesting -- it provides some really good information as to what the Puritans believed and the disparity in punishment between men and women when they failed to lead pure lives. The author addresses the issues of self-preservation, strong religious beliefs, and gender roles [especially women being subservient to men - as those who stood up to the male judges were usually sentenced to death] as possible reasons women confessed to being witches. I believe that history this complex cannot be blamed solely on the single factor of religion. While I think she is correct that the Puritan religion in New England caused women to find sin in themselves and accept blame [akin to having women live up to the ideals of the Virgin Mary] and a male dominated community ready to judge these women harshly when they failed even slightly, I think it is probably not so one dimensional.

While this book is full of great information, there is some repetition in her arguments and it is written in a more scholarly tone than a literary style which some readers may find dry.

As I listened to this book -- the narrator, Susan Marlowe, did a good job in conveying the text.

[Kenzie Barnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book, that explored a lot of interesting topics. It was assigned for my history class and though it was definitely geared more towards others following these sorts of topics, it was understandable even for a lay person such as myself. It actually had quite an interesting take on what happened with good resources to sustain it and help ask and answer questions it presented. Certainly helps add another layer to the Salem Witch Trials so I would recommend it for anyone interested in that or theology.

[Elliot · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting but also kinda of a boring read

[Kennedy Spitzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know good points were made. I don’t really remember them, but I know they were there and this was a good class.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read it for school, but I do find the New England witch trials and related history really interesting, so I wasn't dreading reading this book by any means. However, despite some very interesting and well-researched claims, much of the book is obnoxioiusly repetitive. It should either have been shorter or she should have added more to her thesis, because as it was, the interesting points were quickly beaten to death. I kind of wanted to take a nap after reading the first five pages of every chapter.

Also, I sometimes felt that the author was reading her sources with her thesis in mind rather than basing her thesis on what she observed from her sources. So I remained unconvinced of some of her assertions (despite her going over those same assertions again...and again...and again...). Her footnotes were distracting as well - mostly just long lists of source material and suggested reading for related topics - and I wished she had cut those out and just listed them in the back of the book. I also would have appreciated a little more context as to the actual timeline and location of the events happening.

So, interesting thesis, somewhat flawed execution. Did not love it, would not really recommend it.

[Becki Basley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting and a more understanding view of the Salem and other witch trials. It seemed to me that the Purtians before the horrid witch trails created their own version of hell by their own beliefs and their fears of possession of the devil. This book brings this out by showing evidence that they all believed that they were indeed all afflicted by the devil and therefore in some ways all witches. this led to the ones who confessed to this being allowed to live and those who did not being executed. And after Salem the preachers made the devil less of a possessor of souls and more of a person who pointed out ways you could stray from the Word but it was on you if you did. Giving the people they rational choice to their own destiny. Being a pagan, this was an interesting view of the life and times back then. I haven't read enough of the trials or talked to enough people who have done more research than me to claim "expert opinon" but this is have I PERSONALLY took from the reading.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book interesting due to well-established theory of the author. She takes the approach on how Puritans lived divided by genders and how that affected the Salem witchcraft trials. It's very focused and limited, not touching on other scholarships about these episodes. I also felt that the book was very repetitive. I can appreciate that she drove her point hard but it seemed like she was striving for length rather than making valid points more valid. It's not an introductory book so readers would have to know facts about the seventeenth century, Puritanism, and the trials themselves but it's an interesting look on how religion and gender played a role in these terrible episodes.

[Jewels · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book gives a nod to Ms. Karlsen's work along the same lines, Ms. Reis keeps it more to a flowing narrative of the actual feelings and worries of the people around the time of the Salem Witchcraft Trials as well as a bit before and after. She uses vivid images of the devil and how he afflicted the people of those time periods, admitting that she doesn't buy into it but this is how frightened those people were of the devil being a real figure. She also gives a good example of the shift of Puritan thought away from having a physical devil hounding saints to themselves taking responsibility for their sins. It was an interesting viewpoint.

[Robert Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is not as engaging as Salem Possessed. However, it gives very significant religious issues that help to fill in the blanks left by the account presented in Salem Possessed. This book would have been much better as possibly a 36 page article because the author is very redundant with many points. She beats the horse to death and then beats it some more heating the dead horse so much so that the horse becomes glue. It does provide helpful information though.

[Laura Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was THE highlight of all of my college-course reads. It opens your eyes to issues relating to problems in culture (particularly between the sexes), history, and definitely religion. It is imperative to learn about past mistakes and sins of society (particularly within the undereducated fear-mongering mobs), so that we can identify and correct them in the present and future!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful and engaging contribution to the existing corpus of historical research surrounding early modern New England and the witch trials of Salem. Examines the religious self identity of women within New England, the Puritan conception of a female soul and the impact such facets of New England life had upon the infamous Salem trials. A truly delightful book to use within one's own research.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this for a History class, and while it isn't something I would think... "hmm... this sounds good... I'll read this." I was glad I did. It's amazing how the Witch Trials took place, and why it was women who were the ones being accused. This book dives deep into the WHY that might have been. Very interesting theories if I do say so myself.

[Bradley]

Read for a history course at Baylor University

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-researched but rather limited; the thesis would have been just as convincing if explored in 60 pages rather than 212.

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

slightly more useful than the last