Hour of the Witch

Hour of the Witch takes place in Boston, 1662. At this time, Boston and Salem were both part of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, as was Plymouth Colony, the first colony founded by Pilgrims in America. Desiring greater religious freedom, many English Protestants fled to the New World. Protestants tend to subscribe to doctrines that posit faith, adherence to Scripture, and an individual commitment to God as the key to salvation, although even these doctrines can vary depending on the denomination. There were three different kinds of belief systems present in 1660s Boston: Pilgrims, Quakers, and Puritans.

The Pilgrims believed the only way to truly practice faith in Jesus Christ freely was a total separation from the Church of England (also known as the Anglican Church). They were thus the first group of English Protestants to migrate to the Americas, establishing the Plymouth Colony. The Quakers, who arrived shortly after the Puritans and during the period in which the Hour of the Witch takes place, believed that God resided in every individual and also believed in spiritual equality between men and women.

The Puritans in England originally believed that they did not need to separate themselves from the Church of England, wishing instead to initiate radical reforms within it. They became increasingly defiant of both the Anglican church hierarchy and the monarchy, leading to the English Civil War (1642-1651) and the establishment of the Protectorate under the Puritan Oliver Cromwell. After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, emigration to the Americas became popular with Puritans, who believed that they could establish purer and more godly communities in America. Puritans believed that there were “elect” people who were chosen for salvation, and that through a personal covenant with God and one’s community, they could be saved from original (or inherent) sin. It is also important to note that the person responsible for the fall of humans and original sin in this doctrine is Eve, the first woman.

These distinctions are critical to the narrative and its analysis of the hypocrisy of Puritan society in its treatment of women, witchcraft, and outsiders, as the strictness of Puritan ideology and practice led to women having even less freedom than they did in other forms of Christianity.