Image 3 - The Witch Finder

Harper’s Weekly continues the othering narrative with their choice to include an entire column long article dedicated to the witch trials of Salem. Making the connection of Rosanna to the Witch trials can be enhanced through the lens of othering. Both instances show unfair treatment due to some "disability,” while Rosanna’s disability is physical, the women who were killed during the Salem Witch Trials were othered for various reasons, including physical disabilities. The prosecution in the Salem Witch Trials were privileged white men of power who pushed these trials forward. Sergeant Cuff is a white man, who by his body language and roll in section 8 of The Moonstone, seems to other Rosanna Spearmen. The use of the illustration pushes the narrative that she is othered because of her disability. She is suspected due to her awkward and uncommon actions. Puritan society was the catalyst in the Witch-trials. Subsequently, Rosanna is surrounded by Puritan like culture. She answers to Betteredge, who is a white man in power, the house is run much like a Puritan society with social classes being distinguished. Cuff is a white man who comes in and assumes control.

Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone. Edited by John Sutherland, Oxford University Press, 2008