Which Ethics for Essex? Elizabeth Gaskell, Salem Witchcraft, and the Problem of Forgiveness

Abstract

Abstract Hawthorne notwithstanding, the nineteenth-century literary response to the Salem witch hunt was not unilaterally unforgiving. There was an equally dominant response of compassion and forgiveness. A moral rationalization of resentment, Elizabeth Gaskell’s Lois the Witch articulates this debate and anticipates contemporary questions about the efficacy of forgiving crimes against humanity.