As I read Roper's chapter on womanhood, I'm realizing just how many risks, both real and imagined, surrounded a pregnancy. First you have the worry that you may miscarry, if you manage to reach birth, then the mother, child, or both might end up dying, and if you're lucky enough to make it to the laying in period, well your child may end up being killed by a witch. Roper's accounts of the "terrors, anxieties and dependence" brought about by the childbed makes me wonder whether post-partum depression played a part in the accusations of witchcraft. We know from prior readings about guilt transfer, and from the actions surrounding the "satanic abuse" cases, just how heightened a mother's sense of guilt can be. I wonder if perhaps feelings brought on by post-partum depression would cause a new mother to feel extremely guilty, and therefore try to transfer her guilt onto someone else if something happens to her baby.
The government crackdown on marriage and illegitimacy, combined with the need to continue lineages and the population overall, caused quite a catch 22. One can see why fertility became so important. By having to wait longer for marriage, a woman decreased her likelihood of having children and in conjunction with the high infant mortality rates, women of the time became less and less likely to have living children. Without knowing that her "advanced" age would have an effect on how many children she would bear, its easy to see why a jealous witch may want to steal what fertility she has left.
Roper 126-159
Great post, Rita! It is interesting to take into account all that a woman had to endure, especially when it came to pregnancy. I would also like to add Roper's comment on the nature of women's sexuality, in that they were expected to be like the Virgin Mary, but were "naturally" made up like Eve. Though a woman was expected to have children, it had to be within the sanctity of marriage, which, as you mentioned, the government made out to be pretty difficult to accomplish.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. It is interesting to read about all the real and possibly fake ideas about pregnancy and motherhood. Just like the guilt transfer people tend to put there problems onto other people.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your warning to women everywhere to be on guard for witches during and after their pregnancy. Prior to this class, I never would have known how dangerous the world was, what with witches, satanic pacts, and sexual relations with demons! There is little doubt of the role that the psyche had during this period. Much like you expressed Rita, I wonder how much depression may have played on mother's and accusations of witchcraft and demonic pacts. Definitely a topic for further research! Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteReally great post, while I was reading I was also thinking about the thought and pressure on women that couldn't have children. I wonder if the societal pressures to have children caused those women who were unable to conceive to accuse others of causing it through witchcraft, not only to pass blame but to make sure they couldn't be accused of witchcraft themselves.
ReplyDeleteYes! The transfer of guilt has been something that I've been thinking was central to accusations for a while now. In a society where everyone is considers piety to be of the utmost importance and really relies on the idea of getting what you deserve, it's not odd to think that people would pin shortcomings on the jealousy and wrongdoing of others.
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