The archetype comes to life. News about witchcraft executions in the nineteenth century

Abstract

This article addresses the survival of superstition in the nineteenth century, introducing the reflections that several authors published in the press after 1763. It explores five news items that appeared during the century, which demonstrate a deep-rooted belief in witches and fanaticism, including the execution of an elderly woman by her neighbours, who were ultimately taken before the local authorities. Such incidents were possible due to the existence of a well-established archetype in the collective consciousness, reflected both in literature and the press; an archetype that is brought to life in the form of a woman with certain attributes and features. In witch hunts, these myths were embodied by a real person, with the significant difference in this case that the individuals who were captured and condemned were not agents of an imaginary crime, but actual real-life perpetrators.