How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
So I said, "Yes, I will go," though in my heart I will never understand why we women are always assigned the task of peacemaking. "I will go, but I will not forgive Ann Putnam. You cannot ask me to do that, husband," I told him. And I wonder, now that I am here, how I can look on her face again without seeing the faces of all whom she destroyed. (Prologue.9)
Right off the bat we know that gender is going to be important in this book—according to Susanna women are the mayhem-makers and the peacemakers in Salem. Ann Putnam wreaked havoc back in the day, and now that it's fourteen years later, Susanna feels like she is expected to bring peace to her community all because she is female. This places Susanna in a pretty tough spot.
Quote #2
"Of course, some of the girls are no longer children. Yet they are not allowed to be women. They are not married. There is no place for them in this way of life here. Except to do hard work or study scriptures. Their hopes and desires die on the vine. This turns them inward. They are seeking ways out of themselves. So they come to Tituba." (2.58)
Tituba has a theory about the teenager girls in Salem: they're not girls, but they're not really women either. Sounds like these lasses are in limbo, and Tituba thinks this limbo is why Ann and her clique are visiting her for magic dealings. What do you think about Tituba's theory? Does it sound like these young women have "no place" in Salem to call their own?
Quote #3
"Where have you been?" Mary whispered. "Here I've been sewing all afternoon, and you've been out sporting. You sly fox."
I heaped my plate with wild venison stew, corn bread, and boiled clams, then filled a small bowl with sallet herbs. "Stitching your dowry again, no doubt," I teased. "I know you love to dream your way through the afternoon, sister. Is Thomas coming to call?" (4.5-6)
Susanna's sister Mary is quite the lady. During the day, she spends her time doing the proper things for a well-off merchant's daughter back in the day, a.k.a. sewing a lot. And the fact that Mary is getting ready to get engaged soon means she's also preparing to be a wife, another expected role for women back in colonial times. Yep, while Susanna is out stirring up trouble with Tituba, Mary is doing super feminine stuff… But keep an eye out, because Mary is also a strong gal, too.