The cantankerous and evil witch who appears to tempt Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter was based on an actual person. Who was the real \"Mistress Hibbins,\" and why does she remain identified as a witch? In this episode, Kenyon breaks down the perilous position women could find themselves in while living in Puritan New England, as well as the case of Ann Hibbins; a woman who committed the social crime of challenging the price and quality of some local carpenters’ work. In an attempt to win retribution for this perceived wrong, Ann instead became a pariah, condemned as a witch, and - thanks to Hawthorne - her memory has been forever bound to the crime that claimed her life.
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Sources:
John Winthrop, Winthrop's Journal, \"History of New England,\" 1630–1649, Volume 7. Edited by James Kendall Hosmer (1908).
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (Boston, 1850).
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Stephanie Buck, “This woman was executed as a witch because she complained about her carpenters,” Medium (November 29, 2016).
Olivia Campbell, “She’s a Witch!” Medium (March 13, 2023).
Nancy F. Cott, ed., Root of Bitterness: Documents of the Social History of American Women, second edition (Northeastern University Press, 1996).
David D. Hall, ed., Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth-Century New England: A Documentary History 1638-1693 (Northeastern University Press, 1991).
David Ketterer, “‘Circle of Acquaintance’: Mistress Hibbins and the Hermetic Design of The Scarlet Letter” English Studies in Canada, vol. 9, no. 3 (September 1983): 294-311.
Steve LeBlanc, “Boston had witch trials, too. A group wants justice for those accused across Mass.” WBUR (October 31, 2023).
William F. Poole, ed. “The Case of Ann Hibbins, Executed for Witchcraft in Boston in 1656” Joshua Scottow Papers, 5.
Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne
Theme music: \"Southern Gothic\" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Outro music: “D´vil,” anrocomposer
Additional featured music:
By Kevin MacLeod(incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/:
“Myst on the Moor”
“Lasting Hope”
“Lightless Dawn”
“Leaving Home”
“SPC-x5x”
“Blue Feather”
“Dark Fog”
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