Ms. Petersen, by the end, knew what she believed. “I think that the man he is now is not the person he was in high school and college,” she said. “I believe he’s not that guy now. I believe that he did it, he doesn’t remember it. I feel terrible that his wife and his children are being subjected to this.”

Katelynn Ronan, 24, who has just become an attorney, came down on the other side. After Dr. Blasey testified, she said, “There are parts of her story, her opening statement when she was crying, you want to believe she’s telling the truth.” But by the end, she backed Judge Kavanaugh: “Listening to the judge’s opening statements gave me chills. I do believe something happened to her. I do believe Judge Kavanaugh has been through the wringer. I do look forward to his confirmation.”

For many, listening to the hearings meant wrestling with conscience, pitting personal convictions against what they heard and watched.

“Someone is not telling the truth, but we don’t know which party it is,” said Mary Regan Brakey, 65, a retired associate professor of nursing at the University of Maine who opposes abortion rights. “I’m trying to separate out my political beliefs. It’s very difficult.”

They debated whether there should be an F.B.I. investigation. They questioned why more witnesses were not called. Some women were put off by his display of anger; others saw a man understandably emotional in his own defense.

“I was taken with the amount of emotion and unraveling,” said Pamela Rogoski, a retired project manager who now splits her year between Maine and Arizona. “I feel for him. The amount of venom when he talks about Democrats and the other side, to me is a disqualification right there.”