Original Title: Lois the Witch
Translator: Roger Kann and Bertrand Fillaudeau
Editions: Jose Corti
Collection: Romantic No. 73
date: 1999
Number of pages: 210 p.
Preface: Bertrand Fillaudeau
Dedication: A F. , another witch
Brief History of the Salem witch case: "In 1692 , to Samuel Parris, pastor of Salem, ten teenagers were taken with convulsions and indulged in obscene and abominable acts. The nurse of the daughter of Indian pastor offered a magic bullet, which he was subsequently charged - only contrition saved her from the pyre. The case was launched. fusèrent Charges, cases of possession pseudo-demonic multiplied. Over two hundred people were arrested. Nineteen were hanged. Only in April 1694, by Governor Philipps released him one hundred and fifty prisoners. In 1957, the Parliament of Massachusetts rehabilitated victims - the success of the play of Arthur Miller was perhaps not unconnected with this development very late. " (from the preface of Fillaudeau)
Comment: Lois Barclay is a young English girl of 18, leaving his native England to New England in 1691 following the death of his parents. Hosted by the family of his uncle in Salem, Lois must learn to fit in a city whose inhabitants observe a superstitious distrust against papists principles of the old continent. Her adoptive family whose members are more strange than each other, is a Protestant family permières outcome of waves of immigration populations Puritan to the New World. While the stories of witches are told in the evening at the fireplace, a mystical atmosphere reigns in Salem. Latest cases of witchcraft that swept the village before the arrival of Lois still mark the oppositions between consciousness and the Puritan church and the Roman church are clearly reflected in the positions taken by the villagers of Salem. How paranoia and religious fanaticism have struck this small American town, is what tells the story of the Salem Witch .
The excellent foreword by Bertrand Fillaudeau recalls the historical context of the case Salem witch : while Cromwell , Politician and military converted to an English Protestant sect, is emulated within the newly immigrant community in New England, the English royalists are accused of supporting a Roman church that performs demonic ceremonies. Witchcraft is so widespread condemnation and New England is an ideal laboratory for these fierce followers of Puritanism . The Salem Witch , says he, "is the description relentless paranoia that seizes a small town ." p. 11
"Based on historical facts, records of the trial and aftermath of the affair, Elizabeth Gaskell succeeds brilliantly at making the rise of risk, the atmosphere of betrayal and hatred, the collective madness that will grind forever beings of flesh and blood. "Excerpt from the presentation of the publisher.
often associated with Charles Dickens who nicknamed her" dear Scheherazade "Elizabeth Gaskell is considered a master of social and political novel or as a writer of tales of folklore. " His sense of justice and responsibility goes hand in hand with his ability to communicate emotion face of innocence and violated human folly ." (From the presentation of the publisher). Marking the Gothic script of his pen humanist, Elizabeth Gaskell was able to show how witchcraft is a superstition promoted by ignorance and credulity.
This novel, perfectly written, is exciting. Elizabeth Gaskell masters perfectly the plot and I just found the characters and their psychology very well studied. We know from the start after tragic story but the objectivity demonstrated the author makes The Salem witch a reference reading on the subject. The decline Gaskell on this matter (the novel is written in the 19th century) gives credibility to his story and we can only observe with horror the evils of religious obscurantism on society of the time. To read without moderation.
see on the subject, the excellent film adaptation of the play by Arthur Miller with Winona Ryder and Daniel Day-Lewis (released to theaters in 1996).
Challenge Classics Français Karine
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