This is not a book that is meant to compare and contrast centuries old witch archetypes with the modern woman, but rather is meant to show how the witch hunt has continued to preserve and eternalize the subjugation of women.
The witch archetype was used as a tool of suppression in its heyday but still continues to exist in modern day societies through the topics that Chollet passionately explains. Chollet argues that these “issues” represent the myth, symbol, stereotype, and image of the witch due to the misogyny and patriarchy that continues to control the world. 'In Defense of Witches' is a book that explores how the patriarchal witch invention has been perpetuated since the witch hunt days via women’s issues such as independence, motherhood, ageism, and health.
With fiery prose and arguments that range from the scholarly to the cultural, In Defense of Witches seeks to unite the mythic image of the witch with modern women who live their lives on their own terms. Rather than being a brief moment in history, the persecution of witches is an example of society’s seemingly eternal misogyny, while women today are direct descendants to those who were hunted down and killed for their thoughts and actions. Examining modern society, Chollet concludes that these women continue to be harrassed and oppressed. But who were the women who were accused and often killed for witchcraft? What types of women have centuries of terror censored, eliminated, and repressed?Ĭelebrated feminist writer Mona Chollet explores three types of women who were accused of witchcraft and persecuted: the independent woman, since widows and celibates were particularly targeted the childless woman, since the time of the hunts marked the end of tolerance for those who claimed to control their fertility and the elderly woman, who has always been an object of at best, pity, and at worst, horror. Witches are both the ultimate victim and the stubborn, elusive rebel. Mona Chollet's In Defense of Witches is a “brilliant, well-documented” celebration ( Le Monde) by an acclaimed French feminist of the witch as a symbol of female rebellion and independence in the face of misogyny and persecution.Ĭenturies after the infamous witch hunts that swept through Europe and America, witches continue to hold a unique fascination for many: as fairy tale villains, practitioners of pagan religion, as well as feminist icons.
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