The Tortured Witches Department

    Taylor Swift's newest album, The Tortured Poets Department, came out this weekend on April 19th. During my first listen, I couldn't help but notice some witchy themes. We have talked a little in class about how she includes witch imagery and descriptions in her music and visuals. This new album is no different. Here are my favorite examples of witchy concepts in Taylor's new album.

The Prophecy:

"I look unstable gathered with a coven round a sorcerer's table"

    This is one of the most clear connections to witchcraft in the album. After a failed relationship, the subject of this song is worried that she is destined to never find true love. She resorts to witchcraft to change the "prophecy" that she will be alone forever.

  I find it interesting how much overlap there is between witches and love stories. A lot of our movies feature love stories / love potions like The Love Witch, Practical Magic, and in a way Witches of Eastwick. These are based on the real love spells that witches would attempt like the one in this Wikihow article. This also reminded me of the Venus Glass experiments the girls in Salem would do. Women, especially back then, are made to believe that who they will marry is one of the most important things in their lives. This drove the girls of Salem to oomancy and Taylor Swift to a coven and sorcerer's table.

But Daddy I Love Him:

"Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best / clutchin' their pearls, sighing, 'What a mess'"

    This song is about a girl who's town doesn't approve of her relationship. All of the people of the town judge and ostracize her because she is not following the traditional religious values they do. This reminded me of how witches were often ostracized because they did not fit into the strict puritan values. When I hear this song, I can't help but visualize the hyper-religious small town from Witches of Eastwick.

    This song is not about trying to fit in, but reveling in the fact that you don't. The subject of this song doesn't fit in and she doesn't want to. She is having too much fun standing out. This also made me think of the witches in the movies we have discussed. Many of them are proud of and have fun with their powers.

Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?

"So I leap from the gallows and I levitate down your street / Crash the party like a record scratch as I scream / 'Who's afraid of little old me?' / You should be"

    The imagery of the "gallows" is very connected to the witch hunts. Taylor uses it here to show how the subject of this song had been outcast from society, but is fighting back. She uses her powers to raise herself from the gallows and show everyone that she is strong. This character has already been convicted, and she is coming back to get revenge on her accusers. They convicted her because they feared her, she is giving them a reason to be afraid. Later in the song she says "I'm fearsome and I'm wretched and I'm wrong" which are descriptors that could easily be applied to witches.

Honorable Mentions:

- Fortnight: "Turned into good neighbors / Your wife waters flowers / I want to kill her"

    - Good neighbors often want to kill each other.

- I Look in People's Windows: "I look in people's windows"

    - Good neighbors often look in each other's windows.      

The Greatest Show

 "In a commonwealth where plays and theatres were illegal, the hearings and trials of 1692 were the greatest show the villagers had ever seen."

- A Salem Witch by Daniel Gagnon

    Rebecca Nurse's questioning was a spectacle. All of the townspeople gathered to see an old, sickly woman be called a witch. Not sure that's how I would want to spend my Saturday night, but let's face it... it's not like they had anything better to do.

    As the quote from our reading mentions, plays and theatres were illegal in Salem. This law stems from the strict puritan religion they followed. This got me interested in what else was illegal in Salem and Puritan society as a whole.

Other things that were illegal in Puritan Salem: 

- Kissing in public

- Wearing lace

- Wearing sleeves that were too short 

- Wearing gold or silver (unless you were rich)

- Swearing

- Drinking

- Being lazy

- Gossiping

- Celebrating Christmas

(Sources:  https://shorturl.at/cjqwD. and https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2007/10/puritan-laws-and-customs.html)

    These strict laws did not allow for much personal expression or fun. In this quote, Gagnon suggests that the sensational nature of the trials were a kind of dark entertainment for many people. Rebecca Nurse's hearing is a good example of the drama that surrounded these trials. During the questioning, the afflicted would have fits and visions. These fits built off of eachother, getting worse and worse over time. The people in the crowd were moved by these fits, some crying out of worry. Interestingly, the fits seemed to be responsive to the line of questioning. Whenever Hathorne would ease up with his questioning, the fits would get worse, causing him to take a harsher tone with Nurse. The questioning was less of a legal process and something more like improv theatre. 

    I think this take on the trials is interesting, but it downplays the terrible things that really happened. The people of the town were truly terrified that witches were taking over. Nurse's questioning showed that no one was safe from the devil's influence.  It's possible that some in the town didn't believe anything, and saw the trials as pure drama, but most took it very seriously.