Summary Of Witchcraft At Salem By Chadwick Hansen

In 1974, Chadwick Hansen explored further ideas about the girls’ fits having to do with mental breakdowns and fear.11 Descriptive sermons were being given frequently about and against witchcraft around the time of the Salem Witch Trials. It is obvious to say that the girls could have felt terrified about this and the witchcraft that they would have seen throughout the village. In Witchcraft at Salem, Chadwick Hansen says, “The cause of these hysterical symptoms, of course, was not witchcraft itself but the victim’s fear of it.”12 This could definitely be seen as a possible explanation for the fits but there has to be more to the story. More feminist approaches emerged when Mary P. Ryan, an American historian, somewhat agreed with Demos’ theory in 1975. They differ on the fact that Ryan does not believe that the girls were rebelling against their mothers but actually against the idea of motherhood in general.13 This plays back into Hale’s argument from 1702 that was mentioned above. Motherhood suffocated girls during the time of the trials because it was thought as necessary in Puritan society. Some girls may not have wanted to succumb to the role of being a mother or were scared to commit to something they did not want to do at the time. Ryan sees the
Convulsive ergotism was explored by Linnda R. Caporael, a science and technology studies professor, in 1976.14 Other writers during this time also agree that ergot poisoning and encephalitis could have occurred. Ergot is a fungus that grows on bread and when you eat it, it causes you to have LSD-type hallucinations. This theory may be valid but some theorists believe that the girls would have looked sick and exhibited some signs of illness if they ate this, like disintegrating fingertips. This idea never died down through more modern studies. Laurie Winn Carlson also attributed the hysteria to