Women's History Resource Site

King's College History Department

Book Review

Hansen Chadwick. Witchcraft at Salem. New York: George Braziller, 1969.

During the summer of 1692, the town of Salem seems to have been in a state of panic. Several young girls and young women began to have strange fits. They were eventually examined by doctors. Dr William Griggs examined Elizabeth Paris and Abigail Williams and came to the conclusion that "The evil hand is upon them" (2). With this statement he was informing the patients that they were the victims of witchcraft. Before this diagnosis, several members of the Salem community had already come to the conclusion that witchcraft was the root of the fits the girls were having. One member of the community even tried a form of white magic to find out who was guilty of afflicting the girls. Soon after this the girls began to name the persons responsible for afflicting them. Following this was a series of hearings and trials, which resulted in the death of twenty people. Chadwick Hansen gives his historical interpretation of what happened during the Salem Witch Trials in his book Witchcraft at Salem. For his book, Hansen consulted many primary sources from the time of the trials and has interpreted them differently from those historians who had previously examined these sources. He also brings into the book knowledge from the field of psychology to add a different angle to his interpretation of the trials. While his interpretations are insightful, at times he takes them further than he should as an objective historian.

Hansen’s view of the Salem Witch Trials is that the girls as well as some of those who were accused of being witches were suffering from hysteria. While hysteria might be thought of as a broad term, when used in the field of psychology it has a very clear definition. Psychology defines hysteria as any physical symptoms that occur without an organic cause. Since the time that the book was written, the terminology has changed. What once was called hysteria is now called a somatization disorder or a somataform disorder. While it is quite possible that one or even a few people suffered from his rare psychological disorder, there is no way that it can be historically proven. Psychologists have a hard enough time diagnosing patients they can examine themselves. There is no way to tell if the girls from the witch trials did in fact have an organic cause for their afflictions. Also, since somataform disorders have no known organic cause, they are easily faked. Another problem with the terminology that Hansen uses is that many people have mistaken ideas about what hysteria actually is. While hysteria has a specific definition when used by psychologists, the popular usage of the word is vague. Those outside the field of psychology often see hysteria as a phenomenon where people simply go mad. While this is in part true, hysteria refers to only a specific madness that involves physical symptoms. Hansen should have explained the psychological definition of hysteria more thoroughly so as to prevent a misunderstanding. 

Although it was quite insightful of Hansen, especially in 1969, to attribute the Witch Trials to hysteria, it is poor historical scholarship to state a theory that cannot be tested as fact. His other main purpose in the book seems to be to put the clergy of Boston in a more favorable light than previous history has done To do this he consulted many primary sources including the diaries of clergy members and correspondence between the clergy members and the courts. The result is a better understanding of the position of the clergy during and after the trials. Hansen does an excellent job of incorporating his primary source research into his idea that the clergy, especially Increase Mather and Cotton Mather were opposed to the way the trials were carried out. One of the major issues that the clergy and the courts disagreed on was the weight the courts should give to spectral evidence. Spectral evidence during the Salem Witch Trials was when one or more of the afflicted girls claimed they saw a specter of a person. The claim was that the specter was sent by the person, who must be a witch, to torment one or more of the girls. The Boston clergy, especially Cotton Mather and Increase Mather felt that spectral evidence was not grounds enough to convict a person of witchcraft. The courts, on the other hand, eventually came to convict people with little evidence other than the testimony of a girl who said a person’s specter had haunted her. The Boston clergy did not agree with the accuracy of this evidence, because they believed that the Devil could assume an innocent person’s shape and haunt someone. Hansen’s interpretations of the clergy and the courts are both insightful and scholastically sound.

Hansen writes with an enthusiasm that makes you want to believe anything he says. He seems to thoroughly enjoy the subject and believe in his findings so much that it is hard to step back and take an objective historical view. This can be both a strength and a weakness of his book. While his passion for the subject makes his book much more enjoyable to read, at times it can distract from the credibility of the author. As the New York Times Book Review puts it, "It would be a great pity if reader’s were to underestimate (Hansen’s thesis) because of the excessive vigor with which it is pursued." However, if he loses any credibility by being too vigorous, he regains it with his extensive use of primary sources. It is obvious that Hansen has thoroughly read many sources before writing this book. He cites them often and places them throughout the book to let the reader see the actual words of the people whom he or she is reading about. Reading the words of a person who lived through these Witch Trials adds a quality that cannot be conveyed through paraphrasing

There are a few problems with the way Hansen organizes his ideas. He often switches subjects. For example, he turns from talking about the Salem Witch Trials to talking about unrelated witch trials in Europe and then back to Salem. At another time he was discussing cases of witchcraft in New England before Salem. During his description of that trial, he discusses the technical aspects of hysteria and completely leaves the subject. Once again he returns to the subject leaving the reading somewhat confused as to what he was trying to say. Although his inclusion of examples outside of what happened in Salem is often interesting and relevant, it seems to be placed arbitrarily. He relays many stories about witch trials that took place in Europe so that the reader has information to compare the situation in Salem with that in Europe. However, his placement of these examples should have been more organized so as to make the book easier for readers. 

Hansen’s other major problem is that he places too much emphasis on his theory that hysteria was the cause of most of the problems in Salem. He does this with little other evidence that the works of Freud and other psychologists who are notorious for theories which cannot be scientifically tested and proved. The other problem with his use of these psychological ideas is the fact that the events happened around three hundred years before he made his analysis. As Erikson of The New York Times puts it in his book review, "Few clinicians would feel comfortable using terms like…hysteria as casually as Hansen does. Fewer still would feel qualified to diagnose the ailments of persons dead for nearly three centuries."

While Hansen’s book has its faults, it still contributes to its field by bringing in new ideas and challenging old ones. Many scholars have differing views on what happened at Salem. Some believe that the girls were lying, while some believe that a physical ailment was the cause. Because so much times has passed, it is improbably that anyone will discover what really happened. 

Witchcraft at Salem was overall an enjoyable and scholarly book. It accurately relays the story of what happened in Salem, while bringing in new ideas for the reader to consider. Although Hansen is sometimes too vigorous in the relaying of his ideas, his enthusiasm shows his passion for these ideas. If one were to read only a single book on the Salem Witch Trials, I would recommend a more general book with a thesis that is more sound. However, If one wants to find several opinions on what took place in Salem in 1692, Witchcraft at Salem should be consulted for its innovative ideas. 

Annotated Reviews

Ash, Lee. "Witchcraft at Salem" Christian Century (1969).
Lee believes that Hansen’s book is an extremely important contribution to the subject of witchcraft. He praises Hansen’s new interpretation of primary sources, and believes that Hansen refutes many previous beliefs about the Salem Trials. 

Erikson, Kai. "Witchcraft at Salem: Were some of those witches real?" The New York Times, natl. ed., 6 July 1969, Sec. 7,  5.
Erikson is very critical of Hansen in his review. He recognizes Hansen’s new insights as important but feels that his writing style takes away from the overall credibility of the book. He recommends the book but warns that Hansen’s vigor takes away from the overall reading experience.

URL: http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/wrevchadwick.html Written by Jennifer Levisky Last Revision: 12 November 2001 Copyright © MM Prof. Pavlac's Women's History Site