Quote 1
"An actress," Tom sneers. "What sort of way is that for a woman to live, without a solid home, husband, children? Running about like she's her own lord and master. She'll certainly never be accepted in society as a proper lady." (3.28)
Besides trying to strong-arm the whole world, Tom has very narrow ideas (like teeny-tiny) about what a woman should be allowed to do and how a man should keep his wife.
Quote 2
"Magic?" Elizabeth asks. "They were witches?"
"Not as we've come to think of witches. They would have been mystics and healers, women who worked with herbs and delivered babies. But it would have made them suspect. Women who have power are always feared," she says sadly. (12.15-16)
In patriarchal society, women are kept quiet, weak, and dependent in order to be easier to control—because nothing's harder to control than empowered people.
Quote 3
"Oh, yes. These women could help spirits cross over into the afterlife. They had the power of prophecy and clairvoyance. The veil between the supernatural world and this one was a very thin one for them. They could see and feel things that others couldn't." (12.55)
Miss Moore seems to be a treasure trove of supernatural lore. In this one little snippet, Gemma discovers more about her magical powers, and so do we.