This project investigates the ways in which the hysteria of witchcraft led to the persecution, torture and deaths of tens of thousands of people. The witch hunts is a period of history that began approximately in the 15th century and lasted up until the 18th century, with the accused being predominantly women, many of which being old or economically vulnerable.
This project will use communication design in the forms of publication design, illustration and print in order to investigate the representation of women who were accused of witchcraft under the witchcraft act. This project explores the witch trials in England, particularly Jacobean drama which had a part in fuelling the stereotypical image of the witch. This project will also investigate the events that took place during the Norwegian witch trials.
I feel that this topic is an underrepresented period in history for the women who were accused and convicted under the Witchcraft Act. These women were not witches; they were women who were victims of brutal scapegoating in a patriarchal society that failed them.
Erin Flood
An Investigation into the Hysteria of Witchcraft and the Persecution of Women that Followed
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