Women in Jacobean era
The ideal women in the Jacobean era would be tender, loving, inferior, supportive and not very intelligent. She would be there to support and observe her husband thrive in his chosen career. She is also expected to raise the children, nurture them for they are what the couple will live in the world. This sounds a very concentrated version of the stereotype that we might see in modern times. What i know so far is that Lady Macbeth is not the typical Jacobean women.
Witches in Jacobean era
Witches were thought to make people ill, blight crops and make livestock sicken or become infertile. They had familiar demons in animal forms that did their bidding. They could cause storms, sink ships and fly on brooms. People thought that witches met up to dance with the devil and occasionally have intercourse with him. Many people confessed to meeting a “black” man and signing his book. In reality most of the accused were the elderly, the mentally ill or disabled, herbalists and midwives. It was believed that you could identify a witch by physical marks where they fed their familiars and inability to say prayers. Suspected witches were interrogated by torture.
React!