Erika Gasser is posing the argument that witchcraft and possession in the 17th century was a language of power where gender can be validated through disorder. Ministers were able to reaffirm the patriarchy by turning these “irrational episodes” into moments of religious and patriarchal authority.(Tea Aliu)

George Burroughs had been an unordained minister in Salem, but, at the time of his arrest in 1692 was living in Maine. Accused of leading a group of witches in worshiping and attempting to take over New England for the Devil, he was brought back to Salem for trial. The evidence brought against him consisted both of accounts of witchcraft from the possessed or from confessed witches as well as accounts of his behavior that challenged his position as a patriarchal authority figure as a member of the clergy. (Cameron Spivy)

There was a sense that the ministers and magistrates had a pre-agreed upon notion of what bodily affliction and spectral visions look like and how they function in puritan society. (shared culture scripts on witchcraft- and agreed upon behaviors.) (Tea Aliu)

Gasser describes George Burroughs' “sins” as excessive and deficient manhood simultaneously. What Puritan society valued most in men was their ability to be the head of a harmonious household. George Burroughs did not exactly fit this bill: he experienced financial difficulties throughout his life, and for a time, he boarded with another family while himself married. The idea that a married man should be reliant on others in this way was bad enough, but rumors of Burroughs' mistreatment of his wives abounded. Puritan society was deeply patriarchal, but in a paternalistic way, where the male head of household was to show a Christ-like love and mercy to his dependents, all the while ensuring their productivity and obedience. Cruelty and physical violence towards spouses violated this idea of a man's place in his home and in society. However, at the same time, Burroughs was charged with having a sinful pride in his male-coded accomplishments - physical strength and wisdom - that would have been understood as “excessive” manhood. A real Puritan man was strong and wise, but did not brag of being so in the way that Burroughs did. All of this combined to paint a picture of a man who, in the Puritan understanding, violated masculine codes of conduct in quite a severe way through a simultaneous inability to provide and a pride in himself despite his deficiencies.

Accusers connected Burroughs' position of authority within the church to his witchcraft by placing him as a leader in a conspiracy of witches across New England. His masculine authority position, rather than defending him, exposed him to further accusations about his crimes and involvement with witchcraft more generally. (Cameron Spivy)