Thread:LucidPigeons/@comment-2175012-20160223035656/@comment-2175012-20160223151923

Don't get me wrong, she does have somewhat of a personality, it's just that the heinous standard is somewhat skewered. You have William, the patriarch of the family, who boards his own children up in a stable (though you could argue that he only did so to save them from dying), and even threatened to kill his own children if he didn't receive a confession from any one of them. Katharine attempts to strangle her daughter to death when her husband was gored to death by Black Phillip (who is, of course, Satan in the form of a black goat), and you could argue that Black Phillip was responsible for the titular witch's actions. However, he doesn't count, because he doesn't do anything that would stand out; he just acts like a fatherly figure for Thomasin towards the end, actually.

The Witch is clearly an evil character, but it's the fact that we're not given an exact definition to her character nor her motives. I am not an expert on folktales, but it just seemed that the Witch's worst action--murdering and making Samuel into ointment--just seems like typical witch behavior, though don't quote me on this. She also hardly ever talks, which makes it even more difficult to get a clear personality out of her.