Overview

A landmark contribution to women's history that sheds new light on the Salem witch trials and one of its most crucial participants, Tituba of The Crucible In this important book, Elaine Breslaw claims to have rediscovered Tituba, the elusive, mysterious, and often mythologized Indian woman accused of witchcraft in Salem in 1692 and immortalized in Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Reconstructing the life of the slave woman at the center of the notorious Salem witch trials, the book follows Tituba from her likely origins in South America to Barbados, forcefully dispelling the commonly-held belief that Tituba was African. The uniquely multicultural nature of life on a seventeenth-century Barbadan sugar plantation—defined by a mixture of English, American Indian, and African ways and folklore—indelibly shaped the young Tituba's world and the mental images she brought with her to Massachusetts. Breslaw divides Tituba’s story into two parts. The first focuses on Tituba's roots in Barbados, the second on her life in the New World. The author emphasizes the inextricably linked worlds of the Caribbean and the North American colonies, illustrating how the Puritan worldview was influenced by its perception of possessed Indians. Breslaw argues that Tituba’s confession to practicing witchcraft clearly reveals her savvy and determined efforts to protect herself by actively manipulating Puritan fears. This confession, perceived as evidence of a diabolical conspiracy, was the central agent in the cataclysmic series of events that saw 19 people executed and over 150 imprisoned, including a young girl of 5. A landmark contribution to women's history and early American history, Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem sheds new light on one of the most painful episodes in American history, through the eyes of its most crucial participant.

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9780814713075

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<p> A fine example of readable scholarship. <br>

A fascinating theory about the origins of the witch hunt that is sure to influence future historians... a valuable probe of how myths can feed hysteria -The Washington Post Book World A fine example of readable scholarship. -Baltimore Sun An imaginative reconstruction of what might have been Tituba's past. -Times Literary Supplement

A study of Tituba, a central character of the notorious Salem witch trials of 1692, based on skimpy historical evidence that could have been exhausted in one short article. The slave Tituba, accused of inducting young Salem innocents into the practice of witchcraft, has long presented fodder for the imagination. Unfortunately, she provides much less nourishment for a historical treatment. While the sorry tale of the Salem trials is well known - two young girls were suddenly afflicted with a strange illness involving fits, contortions, and other unexplainable symptoms, which were eventually attributed to witchery - Tituba's role in the affair and, more particularly, her life before and after 1692 are shrouded in mystery. This is partly due to the lack of documentation, which becomes conspicuous early in this treatment, with the preponderance of phrases such as it may well be and it is possible. The only definite records of Tituba's existence are found in relation to the Salem trials - the transcript of her examination, a warrant for her arrest, etc. Still, relying on the property records of a plantation owner in Barbados who can be connected to Tituba's Salem owner, Breslaw (History/Univ. of Tennessee) argues fairly persuasively that she was an Arawak-speaking American Indian, not African or Carib Indian as is often assumed. Breslaw also asserts that Tituba contributed significantly to events in Salem, not because she was guilty, but because her confession helped reshape the Puritans' belief in the devil by giving them a multicultural tale of sorcery with which to enhance their own notions of evil. But though Breslaw is convincing on these points, the book is so packed with repetition and filler (such as an illustration depicting a house that most closely resembles the Salem Parsonage where Tituba lived ) that the author often seems to be grasping at historical straws. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Elaine G. Breslaw retired as Professor of History from Morgan State University in Baltimore after 29 years and has taught on an adjunct basis at Johns Hopkins University, Goucher College, and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is the author of Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies (NYU Press, 1995), Witches of the Atlantic World: An Historical Reader and Primary Sourcebook (NYU Press, 2000), and Dr. Alexander Hamilton and Provincial America: Expanding the Orbit of Scottish Culture.

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