Teaching Documents by ALMUDENA GONZÁLEZ CRIADO
ANALYSIS OF "YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN" BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE, 2023
A brief analysis carried out by Almudena González Criado about the Gothic tale "Young Goodman Bro... more A brief analysis carried out by Almudena González Criado about the Gothic tale "Young Goodman Brown" (1835), written by North American author Nathaniel Hawthorne.
This fiction is set in the historical background of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The tale is an allegory about Puritanism, the loss of faith, and the belief in witchcraft and supernatural phenomena.
Arthur Miller's The Crucible (1952): Analysis of the Play and of the Concept of "Witch-Hunt" as Synonym of "Red-Hunt" in the 1950s American Society
Arthur Miller's The Crucible (1952): Analysis of the Play and of the Concept of "Witch-Hunt" as Synonym of "Red-Hunt" in the 1950s American Society, 2025
Almudena Gonzalez Criado (UNED) elaborates on a comparative analysis of the concepts of "witch-hu... more Almudena Gonzalez Criado (UNED) elaborates on a comparative analysis of the concepts of "witch-hunt" and "red-hunt" in The Crucible through this PowerPoint presentation
Papers by ALMUDENA GONZÁLEZ CRIADO
SALEM 1692 AND AFTER: 17TH CENTURY WITCHCRAFT IN 19TH CENTURY ANGLO-AMERICAN HISTORICAL FICTION, 2025
The Salem witchcraft crisis in 1692 was a historical event with remarkable social, political, and... more The Salem witchcraft crisis in 1692 was a historical event with remarkable social, political, and religious repercussions which affected the future and the formation of what would be the new American postcolonial society. There are many documents and manuscripts of this episode which are preserved in the archives thanks to official and personal accounts written by the very participants involved —judges, accusers, accused, and witnesses.
Hence, the Salem witchcraft delusion is one of the best recorded events of Colonial America. Some 19th Century American authors relied on these historical records to create their fictions with the intention to give their literature a genuine “American” topic. Meanwhile, in Great Britain, Victorian authors like Elizabeth Gaskell engaged with Gothic themes also based on historical events so as to put into context their present social and religious conflicts. This dissertation aims at demonstrating how the Salem trials of the 17th century supplied Anglo-American writers of the 19th century with an appropriate subject-matter for their fictions, which in turn
allowed them to understand their contemporary historical, social, and religious background.
To carry out this study, the fictions chosen will be John Neal’s Rachel Dyer (1828), Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables (1851), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Giles Corey of the Salem Farms (1868), and Elizabeth Gaskell’s Lois the Witch (1859). Each of these authors follows his/her own approach to shape their stories which will be deeply analyzed with the conventions of historical fiction in mind. Characters and events, both fictional and real, will also be explored through a gender perspective, taking into consideration the concept of “otherness,” and how they were historically discriminated and/or used as scapegoats, and subsequently, how they are portrayed in those terms in the fictions studied. The conclusions achieved in this dissertation will prove that, for these authors, it is a must to learn from history to avoid repeating past mistakes in the present and in the future.
Palabras clave
Salem trials, witch-hunts, Rachel Dyer, The House of the Seven Gables, Giles Corey of the Salem Farms, Lois the Witch
Hawthorne “Bewitched”: Puritanism, Witchery and Supernatural Phenomena in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Fiction, 2023
The origins of North American literature will always be attached to the religious principles brou... more The origins of North American literature will always be attached to the religious principles brought about in the colonies of New England by the first European Puritan settlers disembarked at the coasts of Plymouth. Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the dark romantics of the prolific nineteenth century in the United States who emerged from that Puritan ancestry and whose forefathers, William and John Hathorne, were deeply involved not only in the history of his native Salem and in its witchcraft episode, but also in the whole history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony since the seventeenth century. These familiar and historical facts were very influential in his life and in his literary career. In this paper, I will analyze the impact that all this caused on Hawthorne’s literary production.
Keywords: Hawthorne, Puritanism, Salem, Witchcraft, Devil, sin, supernatural phenomena
Los conceptos de serenidad y felicidad a través de la filosofía occidental a lo largo de los siglos. Breve revisión de los libros: Historia de la serenidad de Antonio Ballesteros y Maestros de la felicidad de Rafael Narbona, 2025
En diferentes momentos críticos de mi vida, en los que ansiaba esa quietud y sosiego espiritual, ... more En diferentes momentos críticos de mi vida, en los que ansiaba esa quietud y sosiego espiritual, cayeron en mis manos dos ensayos que me abrieron los ojos y la mente a una nueva forma de entender la vida a través de la sabiduría que nos proporciona la filosofía occidental. Estos textos son dos bellas revisiones filosóficas y literarias de lo que, a lo largo de la historia, ha significado la serenidad y la felicidad para diversos filósofos, escritores e intelectuales. Estos dos libros son Historia de la serenidad (2000) de Antonio Ballesteros y Maestros de la felicidad (2024), de Rafael Narbona.
The Impact of Puritan Sermons in the Literature of Colonial New England, 2023
Sermons have always been powerful devices of persuasion and manipulation in some religions. Howev... more Sermons have always been powerful devices of persuasion and manipulation in some religions. However, the power of rhetoric and oratory is very old, originating in the ancient times of Greek civilization in which discourse “was intimately related to the development of the polis and democracy as an institution” (Garrigós 101). A parallelism could be drawn then with the use of these discourses in the classical world and the religious sermons of Puritan New England and its founding as a “new civilization” (101).
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Teaching Documents by ALMUDENA GONZÁLEZ CRIADO
This fiction is set in the historical background of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The tale is an allegory about Puritanism, the loss of faith, and the belief in witchcraft and supernatural phenomena.
Papers by ALMUDENA GONZÁLEZ CRIADO
Hence, the Salem witchcraft delusion is one of the best recorded events of Colonial America. Some 19th Century American authors relied on these historical records to create their fictions with the intention to give their literature a genuine “American” topic. Meanwhile, in Great Britain, Victorian authors like Elizabeth Gaskell engaged with Gothic themes also based on historical events so as to put into context their present social and religious conflicts. This dissertation aims at demonstrating how the Salem trials of the 17th century supplied Anglo-American writers of the 19th century with an appropriate subject-matter for their fictions, which in turn
allowed them to understand their contemporary historical, social, and religious background.
To carry out this study, the fictions chosen will be John Neal’s Rachel Dyer (1828), Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables (1851), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Giles Corey of the Salem Farms (1868), and Elizabeth Gaskell’s Lois the Witch (1859). Each of these authors follows his/her own approach to shape their stories which will be deeply analyzed with the conventions of historical fiction in mind. Characters and events, both fictional and real, will also be explored through a gender perspective, taking into consideration the concept of “otherness,” and how they were historically discriminated and/or used as scapegoats, and subsequently, how they are portrayed in those terms in the fictions studied. The conclusions achieved in this dissertation will prove that, for these authors, it is a must to learn from history to avoid repeating past mistakes in the present and in the future.
Palabras clave
Salem trials, witch-hunts, Rachel Dyer, The House of the Seven Gables, Giles Corey of the Salem Farms, Lois the Witch
Keywords: Hawthorne, Puritanism, Salem, Witchcraft, Devil, sin, supernatural phenomena