A morning full moon.

Beginning with the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, the perception of witches has changed drastically. Through writing and film, witchcraft has gone from being depicted as deviant and sexual to empowering and accepted. The Salem Witch Trials were accuser focused, believing the young girls who named other women even though there was no proof. The new media is witch-centered, showing that witchcraft is not always harmful. The Salem Witch Hunt, by Richard Godbeer, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, I, Tituba Black Witch of Salem, by Maryse Conde, and the new Netflix show The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, all showcase the changing views on witches throughout time.

The Salem Witch Hunt, by Godbeer included the actual accounts that took place during the real trials in 1692. From this book, a consensus can be drawn that witches were viewed as defying creatures that were not worthy of life. The magistrates during this time were not concerned with the accused’s truth but rather with the accusers who, even though there was no substantial proof, were overwhelmingly believed. In Godbeer’s book, the testimonies from the trials are those of the accusers because the accused did not even get a chance to defend themselves. Most, if not all, the testimonies say that the accused pinched or tortured people, they have been seen signing the devil’s book, or talking with a man who was assumed to be the devil. During this time, the Puritans were very much based in religion and thought anyone accused of witchcraft was in league with the devil and so they took things to the extreme by hanging these individuals.  In a testimony against Bridget Bishop it was said that, “Mary Warren, age twenty years or thereabouts, testifieth and saith that several times after April 19 when Bridget Bishop, alias Oliver, was in the jail at Salem, she did appear to this deponent, tempt her to sign the book and oft times during her being there, as aforesaid, the said Bridget Bishop did torture and afflict this deponent”(Godbeer). The testimonies from the trials inform people today that witches used to be thought of as disgraceful creatures who were not allowed to defend themselves.

Moving forward in time, The Crucible was first published in the 1950s, almost three hundred years after the trials. In this play, Miller constructs the views of witches as sexual. The play is centered around Abigail Williams who accuses Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft out of jealousy. Abigail lusts for John Proctor, Elizabeth’s wife, and through her sexual desire for him, she accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft so she can die and Abigail can finally be with John. Not only is the accuser’s reasoning sexualized, but the accused, Elizabeth, is also shown as the obedient wife who believes she drove John to cheat on her because she wasn’t the best wife she could be. In the article, “Retelling Salem Stories: Gender Politics and Witches in American Culture”, Gibson writes, “Both women are blamed for the play’s tragedy, with Elizabeth acknowledging ‘it needs a cold wife to prompt lechery’, whilst Abigail and her female fellow-accusers emerge as the play’s real witches, with the revelation that they ‘danced’, ‘Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters’ and Abigail ‘drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor’ (Miller 1988: 323, 238).”(Gibson). Continuing on in the article it is written that, “The reactionary link between witchcraft and sexual politics was strongly reaffirmed by The Crucible”(Gibson). The Crucible takes the Salem Witch Trials and turns them into a spew of lust, jealousy, and sexual desire that drives the accusers to name names and allows those accused to feel as though it is their fault because they may not have been the best wives. Miller’s play forms the perception that witches, and women, accused and committed acts of witchcraft because of their sexual wants or because they did not treat their husband well enough and therefore the genre of the domestic housewife witch comes into action.

Before jumping ahead to how the media represents witches today, it is worth noting how Maryse Conde retells, what could have been, Tituba’s story. Tituba was Samuel Parris’ slave from Barbados and she was one of the first three women to be accused of witchcraft. Conde has a unique perspective on Tituba that helps shape the perception of witches in the media. Instead of the obedient, helpless slave that is shown in the testimonies in the book by Godbeer, Tituba is now shown as a strong, confident individual shaped by her past and enjoys the practice of healing. She embraces ‘witch’ activities without putting a label on it, she simply uses herbs and chants to help herself, other humans, and animals. Tituba uses this knowledge for good only, which is the first time Tituba is seen as a ‘good witch’, and that helps solidify the idea that witches can be good. In the novel Conde writes, “What is a witch? I noticed that when he said the word, it was marked with disapproval. Why should that be? Why? Isn’t the ability to communicate with the invisible world, to keep constant links with the dead, to care for others and heal, a superior gift of nature that inspires respect, admiration, and gratitude? Consequently, shouldn’t the witch (if that’s what the person who has this gift is to be called) be cherished and revered rather than feared?”(Conde). In this quote, Tituba is thinking about what it means to be a witch and why others view it as bad, because she was raised with this gift to perform acts of good and does not understand why that could be a bad thing. The novel by Conde sparks a change in the perception of witches and shows that the term ‘witch’ is not to be defined by the trials of 1692, what young girls said with no proof, and what the magistrates deemed as correct or incorrect in society back then. Instead she switches the narrative to show a witch, or someone with these exceptional healing gifts. The novel softens the views on witches and creates a character that is accepted and loved, which helps influence the media around witches to come.

The idea that witches were not innately evil and did not have to use their powers and gifts to do so became overwhelmingly evident in film. New T.V. shows and movies began to feature witches as respected and loved individuals who, though they would sometimes use their powers to do slight evil, were good in nature; “It was not until the 1960s that an American witch-comedy was brave enough to suggest that witches might be both liberals and liberated. Most significantly, they did not have to be, or even begin as, bad women.”(Gibson). Witches began to take the form as a domestic housewife on screen, using their powers to do the dishes while also holding more power in the household than their husband. This new media introduced the idea that even though a witch holds serious power and can harm, they still must obey their husband and do the house chores. Through this representation, witches are seen in a softer light than they were at the original trials of 1692. Now they are allowed to be loved and respected by society and their significant other, even if it means they still have to fit the model of a domestic housewife; “There were more positive uses of the ambiguities bequeathed by Bewitched, however. The 1990s television series’ Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Charmed, and the 1998 film Practical Magic (Dunne 1998), based on Alice Hoffman’s novel, used the tricks taught by Samantha Stephens to domesticate, and thus paradoxically liberate, their witches’ power.”(Gibson). Despite media conforming witches to the womanly household figure, they still were seen as embracing their powers which was a huge leap from how they were originally perceived.

To continue with the new and improved perception, the media also portrayed witches in a family-friendly manner that enforced the idea that not all are evil. In the article, “All of Them Witches Individuality, Conformity and The Occult on Screen”, it is mentioned how witches can be shown in this new light but the characteristics that make them stand out as a witch never go unforgotten, “Even more accessible interpretations, such as family-friendly fantasies Teen Witch (Dorian Walker, 1989), Hocus Pocus (Kenny Ortega, 1993) and Practical Magic (Griffin Dunne, 1998), and small-screen efforts Bewitched and Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, all highlight the traits that make their witch characters stand out, even if approached in less scare-inducing, more inclusive terms.”(Ward). Even though witches are beginning to be shown in a misogynistic light, at least they are depicted in family-friendly, warming films as they embrace their power and are able to use it while still being accepted and loved, unlike the sexual and deviant way The Crucible formerly depicted them.

The newest and most relevant example of a witch in the media is the new Netflix original series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The show has become wildly popular as a new version of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, and this time Sabrina is a an empowered feminist who fights for what is right. In this series, an entire new witch perspective is taken. Sabrina isn’t even sure if she wants to be a witch at first. When Sabrina accepts the ‘Path of Night’ and becomes a witch, she works out a deal so she can still have a mortal life. While this may parallel the original show, Sabrina is now more defiant than ever. Again and again she defies the devil’s will for her, tries to find ways to fight back, and consistently uses her powers for good. In the media, there has not been a witch as independent and courageous as this new Sabrina. Constantly defying the devil and the coven are things a witch is never supposed to do, but this show proves witches can be strong, confident, and do not have to obey anyone. This also continues on the theme of the domestic-housewife-witch because Sabrina defies the devil the same way a housewife would never dare defy her husband, witch or not, but this new media provides a way for feminism to take hold and for Sabrina to show people that witches can do more. The article by Ward also says, “Witch-focused cinema offers similar yet multifaceted interpretations of daring to defy convention–or the consequences of simply being suspected of such–that tunnel to the heart of societal needs to both fit in and stand out.”, and while Sabrina may want to fit in with her friends, she embraces what makes her stand out as well (Ward). The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina shines a new light on empowered, feminist witchcraft which is evidently different from the original perceptions during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.

Over the course of history, the word “witch” has conformed to different meanings as shaped by the media. During the original trials in 1692 they were seen as outcasts, deviant from the Puritan religion, and innately evil. Witches then become sexualized in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, only to gain a warmer, more spiritual and healing perspective in I, Tituba Black Witch of Salem, by Maryse Conde. Continuing through time, the newest perception has emerged into a witch that fights for what is right, uses her powers for good, and is accepted into society in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The media has casted witches and their craft in various ways, and it will be interesting to continue watching the evolution of these bad-ass women.