“Did she actually fear that he might dally with the pretty widow? Never had he any reason to be unfaithful before, and certainly he was not fool enough to be tempted. Maggie should know this.”

Thomas is attracted to Margaret’s fiery personality, but in other ways he is traditional in his personal ethics and sense of morality. He takes an early disliking to the Widow Hallett because she flirts obviously with him, a married man, and does not seem to share his sense of propriety. The quiet insistence with which he rebuffs her indecent behavior speaks to his traditional orientation toward sexuality and marriage.

“Poor Anne Hutchinson. Though they had arrived after her banishment, they had heard stories about her many times. A religiously zealous and outspoken midwife, Hutchinson had been deemed a threat to the order of things in Massachusetts Bay. The men in power could not abide a woman speaking her mind and gaining the admiration of others. And so she had been charged with blasphemy and banished to the wilds.”

Anne Hutchinson’s story is a moment of foreshadowing. Like Margaret, she has a body of knowledge (herbalism and midwifery) that is traditionally feminized, highlighting the theme of Women’s Knowledge as a Threat to Patriarchy. Women like Anne and Margaret were suspect both because they were women asserting themselves in a society in which men held all the power and because their remedies were seen as witchcraft-adjacent.

“I never wanted to be under some boisterous, belligerent man’s thumb.”

Margaret differs from many of the women of her era in both her assertiveness and her unwillingness to let the course of her life be set by anyone else. She is drawn to Thomas in part because she is sure that he is confident enough to be with someone as bold as she is, but also because she does not think that he will try to control her. While these qualities make her attractive to Thomas, they are at the root of what makes her so unappealing to many of her peers. She does not conform to the normative gender standards of her day.

“There were no Yule or Christmas celebrations permitted in Massachusetts. The overlords did not allow such Pagan, Papist festivities, though Thomas did not know how they could prevent what went on within the privacy of a man’s home.”

That Christmas celebrations were outlawed in the strict, Puritan society of the colony speaks to the community’s theocratic rigidity. Because Christmas and Yule celebrations contained remnants of pagan traditions, the Puritans in the colony outlawed them. Moments like this add historical depth to the novel and illustrate the strict, fundamentalist nature of the society that would come to reject Margaret and level charges of witchcraft at her.

“I hear Goodwife Weston’s young son crouping, and know the sure remedy and tell her so. She says she will not visit “a cunning woman who deals in the dark arts.” Foolish woman. I tell her she risks her son’s health because of her ignorance. The boy should not suffer when I can surely help him.”

Margaret becomes increasingly suspect within her community when she begins diagnosing illnesses and identifying pregnancies before her fellow townspeople know that they are ill or with child. This demonstrates the extent to which feminized knowledge was treated with suspicion in puritan society, supporting the theme of women’s knowledge as a threat to patriarchy.

“‘Do not touch me! Do not come near me!’ yelled Goody Hall for all the church yard to hear. ‘How can you show your face to me, you cunning woman! You are nothing but the Devil’s Hand.’”

During this scene, Margaret attempts to soothe a woman at whose birth she just assisted. The child was stillborn, and the woman, because she lost the child, has decided that it was Margaret’s fault and likely the work of some curse. This passage illustrates the fine line between healer and witch in the eyes of the public. Often the outcome determines whether or not Margaret is seen as a trusted herbalist and midwife or someone in league with the devil.

“Her defiance in the face of such danger lit a spark beneath his rage. Why should she suddenly be so audacious? He longed to strike her stubborn face. He had to fight the heady desire to do so.”

Thomas, although he loves Margaret deeply, worries that she will bring trouble on herself or on them both. Her unwillingness to alter her behavior becomes a serious source of strain in their once-happy marriage, illustrating the difficulty of Maintaining Relationships Under Public Scrutiny.

“Mary, they’ll never believe you. They’ll never take the word of an Irish indentured servant over a daughter of fortune.”

The tension between the English and the Irish is one of this novel’s important subtexts. The English view the colonized Irish as second-class citizens, and especially in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Irish are further stigmatized because they are, like Thomas himself, Catholic. Thomas does his best to hide his Catholicism and to speak English in public rather than Irish to give himself cover, but women like Mary Doyle cannot hide their identities and are treated poorly as a result.

“‘Just pray with me please.’ He followed her lead, reciting the Catholic Hail Mary over and over. It was embedded in him from childhood, no amount of Protestant reform could erase the impression of the words learned so early on, words so dear.”

This novel depicts the imperfect and uneven erasure of beliefs, practices, and values deemed undesirable by the Puritans. Thomas, Margaret, and several other characters hold onto their Catholic beliefs, if only in private. They cannot express their views openly, but the Puritans have not succeeded in completely eradicating Catholicism.

“‘Run away with me.’ She said, grabbing hold of his upper arm. ‘There is nothing to hold you back now. I will make you a happy man. I will give you everything you desire. I’ll give you a house full of babies.’”

This passage speaks to the ironic contrast between the Widow Hallett’s characterization and that of protagonist Margaret. Although Margaret is treated as a pariah in the community for being “cunning,” the Widow Hallett—widely respected as a wealthy clergyman’s wife after her remarriage—is the novel’s only true cunning woman. Here, she uses her knowledge of Thomas’s private desires to manipulate him, promising the one thing Margaret has been unable to give him: children.

“Maggie threw her head back and had a hearty laugh. ‘It’s naught to do with cursing and everything with you being a foolish cow who would not heed my advice out of your own parsimoniousness.’”

In this passage, a woman whose child is ill comes to procure a remedy from Margaret. Margaret’s impolitic response illustrates both Margaret’s personality and the troubled situation she finds herself in: Margaret does not conform to societal standards of politeness and good manners, making it easy for people to level charges of witchcraft at her when she offends them. Thomas realizes, although Margaret does not, that her willingness to insult people is a large part of why they are so willing to label her an outcast and a witch.

“Sometimes she is really here with me, Thomas. I am not daft. I see her. She comes to me.”

Margaret’s response to the loss of her child becomes further cause for alarm in town. She is so mired in grief that she is sure that Bess is still with her, and she talks to Bess in full view of the neighbors. The ability to commune with spirits is labeled witchcraft, and many cite it as evidence that she is in league with the devil. Margaret’s unwillingness to alter her behavior to stop the flow of gossip is in keeping with her characterization: She does not care what people think of her and is resolute in her convictions.

“This day had been most sorrowful for Thomas, who shed some tears upon his woodwork, knowing that on that day Bess would have celebrated her first birthday. Had it been his fault? Had her death been penance for his great sin?”

Thomas grieves for Bess but also feels that her death was punishment for his indiscretion with the Widow Hallett. This guilt becomes a key aspect of his characterization. Thomas is an ethically grounded man who loves and respects Margaret. He knows that he has betrayed her and feels terrible about it, even though he is sure that he was drugged. Thomas values honesty and has always done his best to be honest with Margaret, and he often berates himself not only for having sex with the widow, but also for keeping it secret from his wife.

“‘Some months back, I heard a woman was hanged for witchcraft in Hartford, Goodwife Young was her name.’ He watched as Maggie rinsed the bowls clean, silently sloshing the steaming hot water over them. ‘I think it not likely that any of the other English settlements are less rigid, as you put it.’”

Here, Thomas and Margaret discuss the possibility of moving to another community but decide against it because all the towns in the Massachusetts Bay Colony are equally religious. Details like these add historical depth to the novel and accurately reflect what life was like during the early days of the colonies in what would become the United States. The extreme religiosity that characterized the Massachusetts Bay Colony impacted every area of life, and that impact is evident in Margaret’s story: She does not conform to societal standards of gender or propriety and is stigmatized because of it.

“‘Lord help us,’ he muttered, shaking his head, tremors coming over him. He knew that at that moment he had been saved from his secret coming to light, but he also knew that Maggie had been cast in a new light, or darkness, by the slut’s dramatics.”

The Widow Hallett marries Longfellow, the town’s new minister, and because of it her social standing rises. Her word now means more than Margaret’s because of her association with a member of the clergy, and she can accuse Margaret of witchcraft with relative assurance that her words will hold sway in the town. This demonstrates the outsized role that religion plays in their settlement and the way that the wealthy and religiously connected can wield their power. His use of a misogynistic slur for the Widow Hallett suggests that he has internalized some of his community’s attitudes.

“Your wife has been accused of the following: witchcraft, dealings with Satan, working with Him through the use of a familiar, bringing harm upon many with the use of tinctures created for the dark arts, for casting malignant curses upon many, and for hexing of one Goodman Storey’s late cow.”

Margaret and Thomas learn that she has many accusers. Margaret has never shied away from speaking her mind and has angered many of her neighbors, and Thomas has long understood that because Margaret is a midwife and herbalist she is already suspect. In the community, those who are perceived as pious are better situated to influence public opinion, evidence of the theme of humility and the public performance of faith in puritan communities. Margaret is accused of witchcraft not because she is a witch, but because she is a woman who speaks her mind, cares little what others think of her, and possesses traditionally feminized knowledge in a patriarchal society.

“‘I trust none other with my apothecary needs,’ replied Bellingham, ‘and it was exactly that which I plead in her case. But I cannot become entangled in the trial.’”

This line is taken from the scene in which Thomas asks former governor Bellingham to speak on Margaret’s behalf. Although Bellingham notes Margaret’s expertise and does consider her a friend, he will not testify in court that he thinks her innocent of the crimes she has been charged with. This disconnect between what Bellingham knows to be true about Margaret and his willingness to come to her aid speaks to the complexity of many of Margaret’s relationships: Her neighbors are willing to consult her when they need something, but because herbalism and folk medicine are adjacent to witchcraft in the eyes of the church and state, they also keep their distance.

“Alice had brought me some salve of duck fat and chamomile, a better friend none has ever had than my Alice, but it had worn away the day before.”

In this passage, Margaret is in prison, and Alice has come to minister to her, bringing a salve like those Margaret herself administered in her work. Margaret’s cures are a motif in the novel, representing both her expertise and the suspicion that this expertise brings upon her. For Alice to take up the same kind of work in this moment is a strong demonstration of her loyalty.

“You see. I had figured out something at a very young age about men: The lot of them are not to be trusted.”

Margaret is an intelligent character, and here during her trial she demonstrates an understanding of gender politics that many of her fellow townspeople lack. She realizes that she has been singled out because she is an assertive, outspoken woman who knows more than the male doctors in her community about herbalism and midwifery. She also has just realized that no matter how helpful she is to her male neighbors and no matter how often they come to her in times of need, they will never respect her intellect or her abilities. They will always see women’s knowledge as a threat to patriarchy.

“When the constables came to bring me back to the courthouse, I told them to wait a moment, then went to the corner and pissed in the privy bucket. At first they stared in curiosity like two dogs. I stared right back at them, for I had nothing to be ashamed of. They would not make me feel dehumanized.”

This passage speaks to Margaret’s strength of character and assertive nature. During her trial, the townspeople, the magistrates and governors, and the jail staff do their best to make her feel less than human. She has always been strong-willed and has never conformed to societal standards of acceptability. These traits serve her well during the trial because she remains self-confident and self-assured. She knows herself better than anyone and is able to ignore any attempts to devalue or dehumanize her.

“I declare it all evil knowledge! Much like Eve with her apple of temptation for Adam.”

In the society depicted in this novel, male knowledge is seen as natural and female knowledge suspect. Points of connection are drawn between Eve’s desire for knowledge in the biblical Garden of Eden and women who try to amass more knowledge than is seen as appropriate for women.

“Most of them here in Massachusetts had left behind England in order to build a new society based on godliness rather than acres of land and piles of gold.”

Thomas notes on multiple occasions that Puritan society was supposed to assign value to religion rather than wealth. He is struck by how important affluence still is in the colony. Individuals who were wealthy and influential in England retain much of their social prominence in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. To Thomas, this is but one of many examples of hypocrisy in his adopted society. Religion doesn’t matter as much as the appearance of being religious, and although those in power fiercely avow that their power derives from their faith in God not their wealth, it is evident to Thomas that the opposite is true.

“It is a man’s place to be a shepherd of his family, and I have failed. I am no man.”

Thomas remains grounded in his own sense of right and wrong, and he largely applies those ethics to his marriage. He has done his best to be a kind and honest husband and to offset some of the inequality of the society in which he and Margaret live. Still, he feels that he has failed her at the end because he was unable to protect her. The patriarchal notion that a man should be his wife’s “shepherd” adds insult to injury. Margaret never wanted a shepherd; she wanted an equal partner, but in this moment of loss, Thomas cannot resist the sense that he failed her by not conforming to patriarchal norms.